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Actor Jesse Eisenberg called out for using the term 'squaw' in The New Yorker

Actor Jesse Eisenberg called out for using the term 'squaw' in The New Yorker

Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg, star of the Facebook movie The Social Network, has come under fire on social media for a story he wrote that appears in the May 25 issue of The New Yorker magazine.

Eisenberg writes about a "squaw" telling a "Native American chief" to do a "rain dance."

The article uses several different examples of characters convincing, cajoling, and threatening males into dancing. It appears in the Shouts & Murmurs section, a regular feature in the magazine, billed as humourous fiction.

But not everyone is laughing. It didn't take long for members of the indigenous community to call out Eisenberg and The New Yorker on Twitter, for using the word "squaw."

Here is the magazine's original tweet:

Once the article started to be shared online, the indigenous community began responding.

Some people tried to educate The New Yorkereditors and Eisenberg on the racist term.

While others took it a step further...

... and wondered how The New Yorker would portray other cultures.

Eisenberg, who played Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, isn't the first Hollywood actor to insult the indigenous community through what could be called inappropriate humour.

Eight native actors and a cultural adviser walked off the set of the Adam Sandler comedyThe Ridiculous Six saying the script was insulting to native women and elders

A Canadian fashion duo also came under fire for using the same racist term Eisenberg used when describing their fall line this past March.