What she should identify as is a mentally unstable pathological liar with a victimhood fetish.
20
Why are we so obsessed about race? Many people, especially in earlier generations, Anglicized their names to gain acceptance. Professor Lewis Gates announced on his PBS show that to his surprise, he discovered that he had a white English male ancestor! Stephen Colbert said that he decided on his way to enter North Western U. that he would tell people his last name was pronounced the French way (Coll bear). He understood his ancestors were Irish when, in fact, research showed they were French and German! My parents always said we were English, but I found I have Irish and Spanish ancestors as well.
6
Every time I see a Black man with a white woman, I see the result of hundreds of years of Slavery, Self Hate of one own skin color. This woman is a perfect example of that.
Black is Black, not Colored !
Black is Black, not Colored !
1
Defiant? More like unrepentant.
10
Do those who recognize that race is a social construct fully accept the implications of this concept or, when push comes to shove, do they by default still buy into the discredited notion that race is a biological fact? Is a third position possible? Reality is complex, not simple, and in a racist society like ours there are social and political costs involved here that affect different people differently, and those factors help determine peoples' position on the ethical issues surrounding Ms. Dolezal's actions.
9
whatever good she though she was doing she has undermined with her personal obfuscation and omission about who she was
were she to do the things she did and she was an employee/ an acquaintance/a coworker - would you keep her? of course not. it is admirable that she identifies as a black person - but that proclamation has come ONLY because she was compelled to do so and rightly so
her personal misrepresentation ( over the course of YEARS ) now gives fodder for those who would question and undermine the causes she championed as not legitimate issues or overblown issues.
she should be very ashamed of herself .
were she to do the things she did and she was an employee/ an acquaintance/a coworker - would you keep her? of course not. it is admirable that she identifies as a black person - but that proclamation has come ONLY because she was compelled to do so and rightly so
her personal misrepresentation ( over the course of YEARS ) now gives fodder for those who would question and undermine the causes she championed as not legitimate issues or overblown issues.
she should be very ashamed of herself .
8
Maybe she's transracial, like transsexual. Of course, as many African Americans have pointed out, If Ms. Dolezal can be transracial, they should have that opportunity as well.
6
This is a serious question: What is the difference between Ms. Dolezal, a caucasian woman, identifying as a black woman and a man identifying as a woman (or a woman identifying as a man)? And, btw, I'm not talking about those RARE instances when someone is born with outward physical characteristics of one or both genders but internally has the biological characteristics of the opposite gender, in other words those who are intersexed. Thanks.
14
I truly hope someone is watching over this woman, because when her delusion crashes head on into reality she could be a threat to her own physical safety. Sadly I feel her mental health is already over the brink of no return.
7
"I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have white skin." -- Hamlet
6
Are we obsessed with race far beyond reason? As of 4:30 PM, this story has gotten 2135 comments.
4
We started down this ludicrous pathway by supporting the ridiculous notion that men can choose to "identify" as women - or vice versa.
Even though I am a 6 feet tall white man I have decided to identify as a Chinese dwarf. And the rest of you have to "support" me.
I've been thinking I was a Chinese dwarf ever since I was a little girl.
Even though I am a 6 feet tall white man I have decided to identify as a Chinese dwarf. And the rest of you have to "support" me.
I've been thinking I was a Chinese dwarf ever since I was a little girl.
23
People are saying she is a liar, she deceived people, and she made false statements. Has she broken any laws of this country or any of the states? Did she receive any scholarships or financial aid by her claimed racial identity which would have gone to someone else otherwise? Did she get employment solely based on her claimed racial identity? None of them seems to be the case because no police is knocking on her door, and there is no arrest warrant against her.
If she has not broken any laws, she is free to claim what she wants to claim. That is the reason people come to America, and that is the reason people cherish being born in America - to be free to be what they want to be.
If she has not broken any laws, she is free to claim what she wants to claim. That is the reason people come to America, and that is the reason people cherish being born in America - to be free to be what they want to be.
7
I now identify as someone you owe $1000.00
I'll take it all in small bills please.
I'll take it all in small bills please.
8
Disclaimer: I am from Spokane.
Ms. Dolezal is on our Police Ombudsman commission and stated she was a black woman when applying/interviewing for this position.
She has made repeated claims of hate crimes committed against her and her family that more and more appear to be manufactured.
One of her paintings is a nearly exact copy of another artist's work.
I think she's a sociopath and the surface is only being scratched so far.
Ms. Dolezal is on our Police Ombudsman commission and stated she was a black woman when applying/interviewing for this position.
She has made repeated claims of hate crimes committed against her and her family that more and more appear to be manufactured.
One of her paintings is a nearly exact copy of another artist's work.
I think she's a sociopath and the surface is only being scratched so far.
17
We are now in the anything goes society. If a man can claim womanhood with a male sex organ, then it stands to reason people will jump any line. The race line has been jumped and it public. I don't get her motivations. Viola Liuzzo died for Civil Rights the same as Dr. King and she lied to no one about herself. The NAACP was founded by a group of mixed individuals.
9
I'd say whatever Martin Luther King, Jr. expected from the "content of one's character," aside from the color of one's skin, is sorely lacking in Rachel the Revisionist. She's got a checkered past, to put it mildly, apart from whatever her Boehner-Orange skin color was at the time. She's a grifter on the scale of "Christian Rockefeller," jailbird.
10
Rachel, I am with you. What does it really matter what you call yourself, what color is attributed to you, by you or others, what sexual orientation you happen to be, who you chose to love and standby, to whom you choose to devote your life, what cheap points Matt Lauer wants to try to score over you in a public forum? Very little if at all, after all its all your choice.
What every American SHOULD take exception to is the phrase "and god bless the United states of America". How selfish and self-centered is the essence of that phrase which is calling upon the allmighty to give America preferential treatment over the rest of the world!!
Of course some of us have the sense to see that it is a political throw away phrase expressing a patriotic zeal but EMPTY in actual substance yet the masses pander to it.
Rachel, did not or does not just mouth utter nonsense, she just does good works for the benefit of others and who cares what color they are?
What every American SHOULD take exception to is the phrase "and god bless the United states of America". How selfish and self-centered is the essence of that phrase which is calling upon the allmighty to give America preferential treatment over the rest of the world!!
Of course some of us have the sense to see that it is a political throw away phrase expressing a patriotic zeal but EMPTY in actual substance yet the masses pander to it.
Rachel, did not or does not just mouth utter nonsense, she just does good works for the benefit of others and who cares what color they are?
4
Agreed, I don't care about the lies or if she thinks she's a polka-dotted zebra. The only issue I see is the false police reports. She should be prosecuted for that and, if found guilty, made to pay back all the expenses of the investigation and court costs. Then I'll support a ticker-tape parade for her through downtown Spokane.
1
Don't we have enough verbal fabricators in politics?
Must we have the same in non-profit organizations as well?
I'm not condemning her decision to call herself black.
I am referring the stories she told that were fantasy not fact.
Good luck to her as a black, orange or yellow.
She's pretty effective to fire or have her resign.
Must we have the same in non-profit organizations as well?
I'm not condemning her decision to call herself black.
I am referring the stories she told that were fantasy not fact.
Good luck to her as a black, orange or yellow.
She's pretty effective to fire or have her resign.
2
Rachel did not represent herself as black to any university she attended or to Eastern Washington University where she is an adjunct professor and considered and expert in the black American experience. Her parents have expressed, with contained fury, that she is trying to destroy their family. She is assisting the victim in a case against a brother, Joshua, on four counts of child sexual assault. She has assumed custody of an adopted brother who accused the parents of abuse. He wanted to live, he said, in a multiracial home where black culture is celebrated and where he could connect with the black community. The reporter, Jeff Humphrey, who represented Rachel as pretending to be black had to withhold information to look credible doing that. He did not ask her to explain the single piece of physical evidence of fraud, a form for a volunteer position in which she is asked with which race/races did she identify. She checked the boxes for white, native american and black. She is white, native american, an expert on the black experience and is raising two black sons. Jeff is adversarial in the interview. He accuses her of staging hate crimes. The police aren't investigating the question, no proof. Jeff makes the heinous claim that a mother who is a professor and advocate with impeccable credentials is deliberately terrorizing her children. He then repeatedly asks her to claim her estranged white father, she does, THEN he asks her if she is black, and she doesn't claim to be.
2
Rachel did represent herself as a black woman professor at Eastern. Google the interview she did with a student in the Africana studies department; it's on youtube.
7
More than anything else, this furor over Rachel Dolezal, convinces me again that I live in a childish and ugly society. Everybody is jumping on a white person for wanting to identify as black? With most of us and the world in serious trouble -- this is important? This woman's work for black people doesn't matter? I couldn't care less what she calls herself.
15
And THAT folks is why the nation is falling apart. People like this that just don't care so long as it does not hurt them directly.
First they came for the....
Then they came for me.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
First they came for the....
Then they came for me.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
7
Funny how Ms. Dolezal's white fundamentalist back-to-the-land Christian cultist parents seem genuinely more inclusive of other cultures than she does. In her wedding photo they seem quite happy to welcome their very dark-skinned son-in-law into their family. That's not the same as being on a mission to adopt black children, which they apparently saw as their Christian duty to "save."
What does it mean to have "nothing white about me?" She comes from a rich and diverse cultural heritage of Europeans who brought much fine art and literature into the world canon. She joined and headed a chapter of an organization founded by blacks and whites working towards a common goal. Her contempt for her antecedents is more than just rejecting parents who raised her in what anyone would consider a rather challenging environment.
"White people" didn't invent the hatred and suspicion of "the other" that permeates the history of human civilization. "Foreigner" is an insult, or was, in most human languages.
To be a champion of human rights and justice is to take each person as an individual, unburdened by some imaginary collective guilt for the crimes of individuals who collectively supported injustice. Ms. Dolezal is the furthest from that one can possibly be, per her own statements.
What does it mean to have "nothing white about me?" She comes from a rich and diverse cultural heritage of Europeans who brought much fine art and literature into the world canon. She joined and headed a chapter of an organization founded by blacks and whites working towards a common goal. Her contempt for her antecedents is more than just rejecting parents who raised her in what anyone would consider a rather challenging environment.
"White people" didn't invent the hatred and suspicion of "the other" that permeates the history of human civilization. "Foreigner" is an insult, or was, in most human languages.
To be a champion of human rights and justice is to take each person as an individual, unburdened by some imaginary collective guilt for the crimes of individuals who collectively supported injustice. Ms. Dolezal is the furthest from that one can possibly be, per her own statements.
8
She's sooo unbalanced that on ABC 20/20 she told the interviewer that "no one witnessed my actual birth" to the married couple claiming they'd sired her, and that the provenance of the Montana birth certificate the interviewer showed her was suspect. In other words, she's her own "birther," and a magnitude more deluded than Donald Trump, top "birther." She flew east, Donald flew west, and both landed in the cuckoo's nest.
14
It's OK for Bruce to Caitlyn. Why can't this kid be who she wants to be? She'll never get the traits of a black person just like Bruce will never be able to change his chromosomes to XX. The only difference is that Bruce came out and said, "I'm a guy and now I want to be gal". Rachel should have said something along those lines and the story might have ended differently.
5
I'm astounded at the hypocritical comments here. Everyone is on board to support Bruce Jenner turning into Caitlyn, and the obvious multitude of lies that preceded that both with his family and over the course of his life. And yet is not the first to identify as a gender other than he was born, he is now one of many who've publicly come out. This woman has not had the many precedents come before her of HOW she should have handled an obvious identity crisis, so she too has lied. But article quotes like this: "It was one thing for Ms. Dolezal to identify with, appreciate and even partake in black culture, some critics said, but it was another thing for her to try to become black, going so far as to change her physical appearance." <-- this is just ridiculous and speaks to the exact same discrimination that transgender people face. She is absolutely welcome to change her appearance and so is anyone else. If she identifies with being another race, how is that any different than identifying with being another gender?
3
"Everyone is on board to support Bruce Jenner turning into Caitlyn, and the obvious multitude of lies that preceded that both with his family and over the course of his life."
Be careful when you say everyone; I'm not on board with it.
Be careful when you say everyone; I'm not on board with it.
4
the obvious multitude of lies that preceded that both with his family and over the course of his life.
--------------------
If they're so obvious, then list a few of them. Be specific, without generalities.
--------------------
If they're so obvious, then list a few of them. Be specific, without generalities.
2
After her Howard University discrimination lawsuit, RD felt that "white privilege" wasn't working out for her and decided to try "black privilege" instead.
14
I don't care how you twist the facts the lady lied and was dishonest about her race. The issue is about integrity rather than race. Ms. Dolezal has a freaky fetish about being black. She should seek psychological intervention as soon as possible.
When her little fetish fantasy has ended or has ran its course I guess she can always convert back to white and blonde. This is quite simple to do for a person who doesn't value integrity and honesty.
When her little fetish fantasy has ended or has ran its course I guess she can always convert back to white and blonde. This is quite simple to do for a person who doesn't value integrity and honesty.
14
As Anne Heche did.
2
Darn last night in the bars I tired to tell girls I'm not what they see I actually Identify with Bradley Cooper, but no luck.
Also, going to start having my kids apply for minority only loans and grants for colleges because their is no "biological proof" that us central Europeans bred them.
Also, going to start having my kids apply for minority only loans and grants for colleges because their is no "biological proof" that us central Europeans bred them.
10
There are many issues reported in the NYTimes since they outbreak of Ms. Dolezale's story about genetics and racial identity. While some commentors have attempted to make distinctons between Ms. Dolezale's circumstances and Ms. Jenner's recent Vanity Fair exposé I submit both Ms. Dolezale and Ms. Jenner are two sides of the same coin; individuals holding deep seated beliefs that their racial and gender identities are choices not immutable biological consequences.
It may be inappropriate to characterize Ms. Dolezale's representstions as African American as deliberate falsehoods. I exempt from my this Ms. Dolezale's dubious historical recounts of racially motivated assaults. Our Constitution protects an individual's life right to hold, act upon and promote their deeply held beliefs and this protection isn't limited to matters of faith. Respectfully there are many religious beliefs which run counter to biologic and scientific facts about which millions of citizens hold as indicies of their faith as much as Ms. Dolezale's.
I haven't come across any allegations that Ms. Dolezale's racial representations defrauded anyone or where she engaged in any activity directly contradictory of her African American identification. In fact, the reports acknowledge Ms. Dolezale's passion and sincerity in promoting human rights. For that alone perhaps we can allow Ms. Dolezale to maintain her chosen racial identity without public recriminations.
It may be inappropriate to characterize Ms. Dolezale's representstions as African American as deliberate falsehoods. I exempt from my this Ms. Dolezale's dubious historical recounts of racially motivated assaults. Our Constitution protects an individual's life right to hold, act upon and promote their deeply held beliefs and this protection isn't limited to matters of faith. Respectfully there are many religious beliefs which run counter to biologic and scientific facts about which millions of citizens hold as indicies of their faith as much as Ms. Dolezale's.
I haven't come across any allegations that Ms. Dolezale's racial representations defrauded anyone or where she engaged in any activity directly contradictory of her African American identification. In fact, the reports acknowledge Ms. Dolezale's passion and sincerity in promoting human rights. For that alone perhaps we can allow Ms. Dolezale to maintain her chosen racial identity without public recriminations.
6
I have been following this story at a distance. What surprises me is the fact that America still has a long journey to make in matters of race. Here we are in 2015 discussing Rachel´s choice of what she considers herself to be as regards race. Of course she might might have driven some of the facts of her African roots to a level of absurdity.
But she has all the right to choose her racial traits if this is guided by some beliefs if there are any that define a person in America along racial lines. This sounds not good but when Rachel faced the realities of real life in America coupled with the experience of being black which she must have experienced through living with a black man, she might have taken a decision to dispense with the dominant culture. Now we should be careful in trying to understand the reasons of disclaiming one´s racial origins, but there are times when some afro-Americans looking for upward mobility adopted the white culture. They might not have succeeded in shading off color, but reason in ways that places them on the other side called the white America with a European heritage. In a certain way, these are Rachels. The only difference is that no one has written an article about them. Oh I heard that about the President of the USA, Mr Obama.
But she has all the right to choose her racial traits if this is guided by some beliefs if there are any that define a person in America along racial lines. This sounds not good but when Rachel faced the realities of real life in America coupled with the experience of being black which she must have experienced through living with a black man, she might have taken a decision to dispense with the dominant culture. Now we should be careful in trying to understand the reasons of disclaiming one´s racial origins, but there are times when some afro-Americans looking for upward mobility adopted the white culture. They might not have succeeded in shading off color, but reason in ways that places them on the other side called the white America with a European heritage. In a certain way, these are Rachels. The only difference is that no one has written an article about them. Oh I heard that about the President of the USA, Mr Obama.
1
Unlike Ms. Dolezal, the kids she's raising must spend the rest of their lives as actual, dark-skinned black people, and she has already taught them that when you get in a jam, lie (see Summary of Cases linked to this story). I think most black parents of black children would regard that as a bad life lesson.
Instilling a strong sense of grievance in one's children is bad parenting for anyone. Every commenter who applauds Ms. Dolezal for her supposed dedication to improving the lives of black people should think carefully about who and what she has truly shown herself to be.
Instilling a strong sense of grievance in one's children is bad parenting for anyone. Every commenter who applauds Ms. Dolezal for her supposed dedication to improving the lives of black people should think carefully about who and what she has truly shown herself to be.
7
All of us are complex, multidimensional, beings. And none of us--including our heroes--are upstanding in all aspects of our lives. Dr. King and Jesse Jackson and John Kennedy likely (or surely) violated their marriage vows. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned slaves. But their accomplishments, as well as their faults, are real.
This lady did some good in her advocacy, judging by assessments of those who knew her. Her life appears to be a web of truths, half truths, calumny and confusion--with a dose of illness and maybe abuse thrown in. False police reports are not the things of heroics. Whatever formative experiences she had, and however she incorporated them and modified them through her own life experience and cultural adaptation, will certainly influence her children's formative experiences in turn. The behavior parents model has great effect on children. Her children, at a minimum, must be confused.
I note,too, you say most black parents of black children would think it a poor lesson to teach kids that the way out of a jam is to lie. I certainly would hope most white parents of black children, black parents of white children or parents of kids of any other race or background would think the lesson poor, too. Why single out any group of parents or children?
This lady did some good in her advocacy, judging by assessments of those who knew her. Her life appears to be a web of truths, half truths, calumny and confusion--with a dose of illness and maybe abuse thrown in. False police reports are not the things of heroics. Whatever formative experiences she had, and however she incorporated them and modified them through her own life experience and cultural adaptation, will certainly influence her children's formative experiences in turn. The behavior parents model has great effect on children. Her children, at a minimum, must be confused.
I note,too, you say most black parents of black children would think it a poor lesson to teach kids that the way out of a jam is to lie. I certainly would hope most white parents of black children, black parents of white children or parents of kids of any other race or background would think the lesson poor, too. Why single out any group of parents or children?
3
human being: Ms. Dolezal has said in interviews that in order to parent her black adopted brother, she had to be black. So I am discussing this in the context of her own responses, since she has created this imaginary need for a racial divide...
It would be one thing if Ms. Dolezal had from the get go said that she was white but identified as black. I don't think anyone would have been bothered with that to any extent. But, to claim you're black when in fact you have no right to that claim is something else entirely. To frizz your hair and tint your skin darker in order to support your claim for being black seems almost symptomatic of a mental illness. Suing a university on the grounds you were discriminated against based on you being white begs the question of how you go from being demonstrably white to pretentiously black.
11
I suspect--and secretly hope--that one day in the very, very distant future, this entire country will achieve the sense of trans-racial identity that Dolezal avows.
5
You all realize that while the left was celebrating Caitlin Jenner's coming out as female, Jenner still possesses male genitalia. All Jenner has changed is outward appearance, and self-identification.
Basically, exactly what Dolezal has done. Albeit without a publicity agent, or reality TV show contract.
Those who celebrate Jenner, while not celebrating Dolezal as well, are simply hypocrites.
Basically, exactly what Dolezal has done. Albeit without a publicity agent, or reality TV show contract.
Those who celebrate Jenner, while not celebrating Dolezal as well, are simply hypocrites.
4
If Jenner was president of the Trans-Gendered Society of America, rather than just a transvestite, you'd have a point.
5
I celebrate neither. I celebrate those who are strong enough to be themselves without the need to alter their outward appearance to conform to a norm or a expectation. What is the point being born unique if you are willing to change what makes you unique.
7
As a biracial person I applaude Rachel Dolezal. Growing up I was taught to hide my race. I was told to avoid the sun. I had my hair straightened or cut short. I was instructed to give vague responses in reference to my ethnicity. Rachel Dolezal choices celebrate blackness as something beautiful.. She informs us that it is something to be desired. She has done no one harm. She has raised her children and strengthened their self esteem. The legions of black people out there whitening their skin and trying to "pass" would do well to take a leaf from her book.
8
She has done no one harm.
----------------------
Baloney. She perpetrated a massive fraud on the black folks of Eastern Washington, esp. the feminist ones, by occupying the top leadership position as if she was sent from Whiteville to administer to the local cohort of freed slaves.
----------------------
Baloney. She perpetrated a massive fraud on the black folks of Eastern Washington, esp. the feminist ones, by occupying the top leadership position as if she was sent from Whiteville to administer to the local cohort of freed slaves.
3
" . . . nothing about white describes who I am.". How discriminating is that statement? Rachel Dolezal appears to be confused about not only herself, but what the word means. This quote clearly indicates a loathing for her own background, but for "whites" in general.
9
I have to give her this. In all the pictures I've seen of her with white skin and straight blond hair, she looks awkward and uncomfortable. Even in her wedding day pictures. In pictures where she has dreadlocks or has the darker skin, she looks confident and secure. So maybe there is something to this being born with a black soul.
13
One's soul is neither "black" or "white".
5
This is a much more thoughtful piece than I have read up until now in the media and I'm grateful for that. It seems that Ms Dolezal is not just some deceitful con artist but a woman who intentionally has chosen to identify herself with the Black community, for a variety of reasons, cultural and psychological.
It is sad to me that so much of the media has chosen to make fun of Ms Dolezal when it seems there is a lot in her story that we can learn from to better understand race in America.
One news show host referred to Ms Dolezal as 'that crazy white lady' which trivializes the story completely. If she were a black woman who had intentionally chosen to live as a white woman, would people make fun of her and cal her a 'crazy black lady'? I think that reverse situation would instead spark a serious debate about 'passing' and its legacy in America. The same goes the other way round. We should see Ms Dolezal's story as an opportunity to see things differently and debate the meaning of racial identity, not as a punchline to a joke.
It is sad to me that so much of the media has chosen to make fun of Ms Dolezal when it seems there is a lot in her story that we can learn from to better understand race in America.
One news show host referred to Ms Dolezal as 'that crazy white lady' which trivializes the story completely. If she were a black woman who had intentionally chosen to live as a white woman, would people make fun of her and cal her a 'crazy black lady'? I think that reverse situation would instead spark a serious debate about 'passing' and its legacy in America. The same goes the other way round. We should see Ms Dolezal's story as an opportunity to see things differently and debate the meaning of racial identity, not as a punchline to a joke.
11
I have been following this story at a distance. What surprises me is the fact that America still has a long journey to make in matters of race. Here we are in 2015 discussing Rachel´s choice of what she considers herself to be as regards race. Of course she might might have driven some of the facts of her African roots to a level of absurdity.
But she has all the right to choose her racial traits if this is guided by some beliefs if there are any that define a person in America along racial lines. This sounds not good but when Rachel faced the realities of real life in America coupled with the experience of being black which she must have experienced through living with a black man, she might have taken a decision to dispense with the dominant culture. Now we should be careful in trying to understand the reasons of disclaiming one´s racial origins, but there are times when some afro-Americans looking for upward mobility adopted the white culture. They might not have succeeded in shading off color, but reason in ways that places them on the other side called the white America with a European heritage. In a certain way, these are Rachels. The only difference is that no one has written an article about them. Oh I had that about the President of the USA, Mr Obama.
But she has all the right to choose her racial traits if this is guided by some beliefs if there are any that define a person in America along racial lines. This sounds not good but when Rachel faced the realities of real life in America coupled with the experience of being black which she must have experienced through living with a black man, she might have taken a decision to dispense with the dominant culture. Now we should be careful in trying to understand the reasons of disclaiming one´s racial origins, but there are times when some afro-Americans looking for upward mobility adopted the white culture. They might not have succeeded in shading off color, but reason in ways that places them on the other side called the white America with a European heritage. In a certain way, these are Rachels. The only difference is that no one has written an article about them. Oh I had that about the President of the USA, Mr Obama.
1
She has 4 black adopted siblings, married a black man, had a child with him who by society's definition is black (We say Obama is the first "black" president, not bi-racial president), and attended a black college. She is surrounded by black people at her place of employment, an organization that advocates for black people. I say she probably does genuinely "feel black", whatever that means to her. I'm not saying there wasn't deception, but that psychologically she identifies with black people so strongly that she didn't feel as if she was being deceptive. I have a white friend who married a chinese man and had 3 kids--she went Asian for a while, dying her hair black and practicing Asian customs at home. . . isn't that kind of the same thing? We all want acceptance and to fit in.
9
This disturbs me. If she strongly identifies with the African-American culture, that is wonderful. But, she lied when she said that gentleman was her father and that man lied when he went along with it. If she had said he was her spiritual father or like a father, that would have been one thing. I don't think that race can be something that can be chosen. Your biological ancestors are who they are and no amount of lying or wishing can change that. I am a white woman and no matter how much I want to be, I cannot be Chinese as none of my ancestors are. I don't think she should be vilified for her actions because I think that she is probably an unhappy person who probably needs some professional help in understanding her need to identify as someone she isn't.
8
When I moved to Alabama from DC in 2005, I attended a few churches to see which I might like. I liked the Black church best. It was a little awkward, truthfully, being the only White person among about 150 congregants. However, I have dark, very curly hair. Freckles. I can tan if I work at it. But, the green eyes give me away as being from the Irish. I admit there was a moment when I thought ... it would be a lot easier to fit in here, it would make us all more comfortable (because sorry to say, Alabama has more race/segregation issues than I've seen in my experience in the US) if I ... got some ... darker contact lenses. But I didn't. I would have been a Sunday Black.
I do have one question - if you don't have to deal with Black hair issues, or issues related to stereotyping, or unfounded fear of you, covert or outright discrimination - can you really call yourself Black? I can easily understand a person admiring the best in Black culture and wanting to identify with it. But, do it honestly?
I do have one question - if you don't have to deal with Black hair issues, or issues related to stereotyping, or unfounded fear of you, covert or outright discrimination - can you really call yourself Black? I can easily understand a person admiring the best in Black culture and wanting to identify with it. But, do it honestly?
2
If she wanted to identify as Black and then work to fight for social justice at an organization which blacks and whites founded, so what? Her crime is not being honest, nothing more.
3
I do not find this compelling, nor do I find myself sympathetic. I find myself perplexed at anyone who would support and cheer this behavior. This is a scam of the highest proportions. Additionally, I am shocked and appalled that Blacks in America haven't more forcefully and vocally denounced this behavior.
Jimmy from Greenville states "gender, race and sexual preference should be a choice". News flash Einstein, your only choice here is sexual preference.
Bruce Jenner can have all the feelings he wants and all the cosmetic surgery he can afford, he can NEVER change his gender because biologically he's a man.
By the same token, you can say you're any race you want, but your ancestry and heritage don't lie. We are what we are, deal with it.
Jimmy from Greenville states "gender, race and sexual preference should be a choice". News flash Einstein, your only choice here is sexual preference.
Bruce Jenner can have all the feelings he wants and all the cosmetic surgery he can afford, he can NEVER change his gender because biologically he's a man.
By the same token, you can say you're any race you want, but your ancestry and heritage don't lie. We are what we are, deal with it.
4
I was inclined to be sympathetic to her but I really don't like the way she is treating her parents. In the black community respect for ones parents is very important. She said she doesn't know if her parents are really her parents because she hasn't had a DNA test. That's disgusting. She's a manipulative. selfish woman. She needs help.
10
I believe ms. Dolezal is mentally ill, and I am sorry she is so fractured.
if Ms. Dolezal wants to identify as Black, fine, whatever. Throw your hat in whatever ring you want.
However, consciously taking a leadership role? That confuses me. She had to know something wasn't kosher if it took a lie to make her identity "true".
I don't doubt she did some good "as a black woman" but it was a lie, and with the truth now out, she has under,ones all her good work.
if Ms. Dolezal wants to identify as Black, fine, whatever. Throw your hat in whatever ring you want.
However, consciously taking a leadership role? That confuses me. She had to know something wasn't kosher if it took a lie to make her identity "true".
I don't doubt she did some good "as a black woman" but it was a lie, and with the truth now out, she has under,ones all her good work.
5
I'm somewhat off-put by the attempt to spin her story in a way that normalizes it. It is apparent that, whatever her intentions, she is clearly a very disturbed person. I can give her a pass for "identifying as black," (feeling an affinity for blacks and their struggles) but her attempts to pass for one clearly have an element of the pathological - the modifications to her appearance, her posts about allowing her hair to go "natural," the attempts to pass off a black man as her father etc. In addition, she's claimed other's artwork as her own, and told fabulous tales about a false childhood spending her youth in South Africa and being born in a teepee. Putting aside considerations of political correctness, she should be called what she is: a pathological liar with an obvious personality disorder.
11
NYTimes like other digital media outlets will spin a story to fit a certain narrative or view point. Go on Fox News this story would get buried down at the bottom of the screen if mentioned at all.
You must not watch Fox News very often, damon. They are on this like white on rice w/ Gutfeld, Kelly, The Five and Big Bill. It's sooo stupidly PC they were giddy.
The problem with Rachel's claims is that one cannot simply "choose" a racial identity because there are physical markers--skin color being the most important--which disallow those with darker skin from "choosing" their race; rather racial identity is imposed on them. Our identities are defined by social and historical structures over which we have no control individually, so identity can never just be an individual "choice."
Thus, I do agree with the argument that Rachel Dolezal, even as she is deeply affiliated culturally with African-Americans, cannot choose to identify as black. I don't believe that she is lying, though. Her felt affiliation clearly runs very deep.
However, I am confused by the argument that somehow Rachel's actions are entirely different from transgender acts. Gender identity is analogous to racial identity in that both social categories of gender and race are based on biological differences. But, unlike race, the biological attributes associated with gender can be altered by surgery and hormones, so it is possible for anyone to transition to a gender that is felt to be more authentic for the individual.
So, the arguments are not so clear cut. In both cases, race and gender, the transitioning individual assumes the historical burdens of his or her new category of identity. Whether this is an undeserved "cultural appropriation" is a very debatable point.
Thus, I do agree with the argument that Rachel Dolezal, even as she is deeply affiliated culturally with African-Americans, cannot choose to identify as black. I don't believe that she is lying, though. Her felt affiliation clearly runs very deep.
However, I am confused by the argument that somehow Rachel's actions are entirely different from transgender acts. Gender identity is analogous to racial identity in that both social categories of gender and race are based on biological differences. But, unlike race, the biological attributes associated with gender can be altered by surgery and hormones, so it is possible for anyone to transition to a gender that is felt to be more authentic for the individual.
So, the arguments are not so clear cut. In both cases, race and gender, the transitioning individual assumes the historical burdens of his or her new category of identity. Whether this is an undeserved "cultural appropriation" is a very debatable point.
3
Because one believes a lie long enough doesn't make it true. Even with gender assignment surgery the process isn't 100% complete. Given a man estrogen does't allow him to have children or grow female organs on the inside i.e. ovaries and a uterus...switching gender and race isn't like horseshoes where getting close counts.
5
I read yesterday an interview in the Washington Post with David Chappelle, who was in town to give a speech at the high school for the arts that he had attended to give a graduation speech to seniors, and he said that for now he would avoid any jokes about Rachel Dolezal in his comedy routines. But he did state that white citizens are just as welcome to become members in the N.A.A.C.P. to promote civil rights for our African American citizens as its black members. And this observation came from a black comedian known for his outrageous, politically incorrect sense of humor. Just surf over to YouTube and watch his routine of a blind black man who is a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
And having come of age in the sixties, I can recall a national best-seller entitled "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin, a white journalist, published in Sepia Magazine that funded his expenses in which he recounted his experiences as a black man traveling through the South during the era of Jim Crow segregation on Greyhound buses or sometimes hitchhiking. It was published as a book in 1961. A doctor artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man prior to his journey across the South. A Hollywood movie adapted from his book was make into a film starring James Whitmore in 1964. Griffin was a national celebrity for a time But he later wrote an essay in 1975 and described the threats to him and his family and moved to Mexico for safety for a couple of years.
And having come of age in the sixties, I can recall a national best-seller entitled "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin, a white journalist, published in Sepia Magazine that funded his expenses in which he recounted his experiences as a black man traveling through the South during the era of Jim Crow segregation on Greyhound buses or sometimes hitchhiking. It was published as a book in 1961. A doctor artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man prior to his journey across the South. A Hollywood movie adapted from his book was make into a film starring James Whitmore in 1964. Griffin was a national celebrity for a time But he later wrote an essay in 1975 and described the threats to him and his family and moved to Mexico for safety for a couple of years.
5
Occam's Razor: What is the simplest explanation for Ms. Dolezal's behavior? She is a self-absorbed, self-promoting, fraud. How much more complicated could it be?
18
What is all the fuss about? Who cares who this person thinks she is? Why all the publicity.
2
When the donations and bequests to the NAACP in Washington drop by 90%, you'll have your answer.
2
1. I'm perfectly entitled to declare myself a donut, put up pictures of myself dressed as a donut about the house, wear jammies decorated with chocolate sprinkles, and dream about it at night, but I'm medium sure nobody walnts to walk into their local Dunkin Donuts and see me jammed up into the display case.
2. The bad thing about what she's done is that she's repeat the right wing-fantasy about affirmative action, civil rights etc.--that it's all just a matter of people's fantasies, there's no actual serious history or ongoing culture involved at all.
2. The bad thing about what she's done is that she's repeat the right wing-fantasy about affirmative action, civil rights etc.--that it's all just a matter of people's fantasies, there's no actual serious history or ongoing culture involved at all.
14
The many comments supporting Ms. Dolezal are well intentioned and strike me positively as another sign of our society's growing acceptance of difference. But I think it's important that we use the language of "choice" carefully. Sexual orientation is in a different category from the issues surrounding Ms. Dolezahl; it is neither a "choice" nor a "preference" but a deep-seated reality for every individual, whether straight, gay, or bi (I for one have never met a straight person who said that he or she had considered the options and "chosen" heterosexuality). Decades of evidence are indicating that gender identity is similarly intrinsic in the individual.
I'll leave it to others better qualified than I am to continue the discussion of the nature of racial identity, but let's keep in mind that when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity, the rhetoric of choice does not apply.
I'll leave it to others better qualified than I am to continue the discussion of the nature of racial identity, but let's keep in mind that when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity, the rhetoric of choice does not apply.
So...I have a deep-seated reality while you are merely making a choice or expressing a preference.
3
This column should be titled "How Rachel Dolezal Came to Lie About Being Black".
15
Yes, she really identified herself as Black when as a student at Howard University, she sued the school for discriminating against her because she was Caucasian.
No, but when she lost those lawsuits, it is my opinion that she decided that it would be advantages for her to represent herself as a black woman. That may sound crazy, as actual black women (and men, too) are discriminated against, but for her, she saw little downside.
Well, the downside has occurred. Rachael, stop lying.
No, but when she lost those lawsuits, it is my opinion that she decided that it would be advantages for her to represent herself as a black woman. That may sound crazy, as actual black women (and men, too) are discriminated against, but for her, she saw little downside.
Well, the downside has occurred. Rachael, stop lying.
13
She has mental problems. Who doesn't get it?
15
Agree. A victim of her verrrry scary parents who didn't spare the rod.
3
Even more interesting that this woman's story is the reaction it has provoked among the U.S. media and its audience. This incident (and the uproar about it) once again shows that racial relations and identities are a big open wound in our country.
3
Will someone please offer this woman some psychological help and get her out of the news cycle. It is ridiculous how much time the press and television has spent on this obviously deranged woman's issue.
15
Last time I checked, it was still a free country. Wall Street bamlers amd hedge fund operators masquerade as honest people, politicians present themselves as representatives of the people while serving corporrations, Army Generals can fool people into thinking they walk the straight and narrow, some people alter their bodies to be a certain gender they identify with-----
I think this woman is doing a lot to make us think about race and ethnicity and perhaps, given the chance, the public can begin to see the hypocrisy of being outraged that someome seems to have labeled themselves dishonestly.
What if we all checked "OTHER" on those forms that combine race with ethnicitiy and ask us to categorize ourselves? What structures would crumble?
I think this woman is doing a lot to make us think about race and ethnicity and perhaps, given the chance, the public can begin to see the hypocrisy of being outraged that someome seems to have labeled themselves dishonestly.
What if we all checked "OTHER" on those forms that combine race with ethnicitiy and ask us to categorize ourselves? What structures would crumble?
8
Dolezal has a very active imagination. But does that make her black?
Her parents' factual declaration settled the question.
Okay, her out-of-control imagination embarrassed the NAACP. Why can't she keep working for the NAACP's cause, less her factual distortion?
Her parents' factual declaration settled the question.
Okay, her out-of-control imagination embarrassed the NAACP. Why can't she keep working for the NAACP's cause, less her factual distortion?
2
If it is ultimately decided in the court of public opinion that a person can choose their racial identity, how will this affect programs like Affirmative Action? In fact, according to recent DNA studies, everyone can trace ancestry to the African continent. So, maybe that idea isn't as far fetched as it seems....
6
Walk a mile in my shoes: looks to like RD took someone up on that.
6
As a parent, I would never "out" my child the way Rachel Dolezal's did. It would not matter if we were estranged. The fact that her parents are the kind of people who would do this at least partially explains why she is as confused as she is.
12
It appears that she falsely accused the parents of child abuse in order to gain custody of her son. Who knows if its true, but it sure fits the emerging pattern.
13
I believe that the woman has serious emotional problems and needs attention other than the type she is currently receiving. The countless lies about her family and her past are due to some deep seeded self loathing and the deisre to be the opposite of what she is which is a very confused and troubled white woman.
13
You have bought into it big time. You missed the narrative arc. She was a single mother living in a basement. Presented with an opportunity, she picked up the ball and ran with it. All the way to the Today Show.
She is not confused. She is deliberate. The object is to get ahead, as all O.Henry fans would attest. This is not normal ambition driven by talent and reward. This is grifting at it's zenith. And she has got you (and me) writing about it. All she ever had to do was learn the leftist activist mumbo jumbo and live it till it ran out, and play the part. She gave them what they wanted, and now must convince them she was always what she said she was even though they were duped.
But now they are bailing on her.
She is not confused. She is deliberate. The object is to get ahead, as all O.Henry fans would attest. This is not normal ambition driven by talent and reward. This is grifting at it's zenith. And she has got you (and me) writing about it. All she ever had to do was learn the leftist activist mumbo jumbo and live it till it ran out, and play the part. She gave them what they wanted, and now must convince them she was always what she said she was even though they were duped.
But now they are bailing on her.
7
Girl, this is so yesterday.
2
You do not become anything outside which you are not already are inside. The outside is only the manifestation of who we are inside. Have you heard the reference to a young child as an "old soul"? Or a white person being referred to as being "a black soul in a white body"? We just witnessed the transformation of Chris Jenner into "who he really is". We are a human race, period. All other sub divisions are essentially unnatural.
By the same token, regardless of how we judge Ms. Dolezal, it will never change anything. We cannot stop her from being black nor change her back to white just as much as we can never have Cate Jenner change back to Chris. Let us stop all this wasteful emotion and judgement and let her be.
By the same token, regardless of how we judge Ms. Dolezal, it will never change anything. We cannot stop her from being black nor change her back to white just as much as we can never have Cate Jenner change back to Chris. Let us stop all this wasteful emotion and judgement and let her be.
5
The singer Joni Mitchell has said many times that she identified with black culture far more than the white options. In her case it was driven by musical identification. It happens. Allow people to live their lives.
11
Puleeeze. She is getting just want she so desperately craves: attention.
13
She set the NAACP back 100 years due her stunt.
7
A woman who considers herself culturally black doesn't have to wear hair weaves and use dark makeup a disguise. But enough! This story is not worthy of such extensive coverage in the NY Times.
12
Dear Human-beings, Color your hair, skin, nails and teeth, and dress, feel, and believe, as you please, but please don't lie to me about your life story and resume.
26
This woman has struggled to create a self affirming identity, but carrying it to the point of claiming to be of African descent ( although Homo Sapiens is of African origin) is a bit thick. Oh well. Remember NAACP in its early days had a lot of well received support , both financial and organizational , from many who were not ' black ' .
4
But, at least those early non-black supporters were not pretending to be black.....
9
Thank GOD she wasn't a member of the GOP. The Times wouldn't write puff pieces about the why's and how's!
What she did was to purposely deceive her employer, the NAACP. She should be ashamed of herself for trying to lie about it after she was outted by her own parents. They did the right thing.
Quite frankly, it is she who is racist in this instance.
What she did was to purposely deceive her employer, the NAACP. She should be ashamed of herself for trying to lie about it after she was outted by her own parents. They did the right thing.
Quite frankly, it is she who is racist in this instance.
7
As far as I can see, Dolezal's fault is not that she chose to live as an African-American, but that she lied about that choice. Why does she, or anyone else, need to "earn" being black. Are these commenters who are making this claim, the same people who defend the right of transsexuals to choose their gender? Should I say to a man who transgenders, "How dare you live as a woman when you haven't endured thousands of years of patriarchal oppression?" I don't think so.
Moreover, what do we say to Africans, or African-Americans who, like Barack Obama, grew up in less hostile settings such as Hawaii, or abroad in Europe or Asia? Can you only claim to be black if you grew up in a racist culture? That seems to be the gist of the "How dare she!" comments. If being black means that your ancestors came to the Americas on slave ships, then all of sub-equatorial Africa is disqualified. If being black means that you have yourself suffered from white racism, then anyone who passes as black in a white culture makes the grade.
Rachel Dolezal was dishonest, and dishonesty, especially when you are the head of an advocacy organization, is unacceptable. She needed to resign, and she did. I am otherwise not troubled by her choice.
Moreover, what do we say to Africans, or African-Americans who, like Barack Obama, grew up in less hostile settings such as Hawaii, or abroad in Europe or Asia? Can you only claim to be black if you grew up in a racist culture? That seems to be the gist of the "How dare she!" comments. If being black means that your ancestors came to the Americas on slave ships, then all of sub-equatorial Africa is disqualified. If being black means that you have yourself suffered from white racism, then anyone who passes as black in a white culture makes the grade.
Rachel Dolezal was dishonest, and dishonesty, especially when you are the head of an advocacy organization, is unacceptable. She needed to resign, and she did. I am otherwise not troubled by her choice.
17
Again, how many people want to identify themselves with you, be sympathetic to your cause? Watch what you wish for.
1
Dolezal is white and so can enjoy all the benefits of being white anytime she wants, without question or effort. What black person can do that?
9
What matters is not what she claims to "identify" as or what her race is but the life of lies she's led.
“But there are times, I suspect, when a mind is a terrible thing NOT to waste.”*
~ JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN
(born James Boylan, 1958)
American author, professor, political activist;
Contributing Op-Ed Writer for The New York Times
* EMPHASIS mine
“But there are times, I suspect, when a mind is a terrible thing NOT to waste.”*
~ JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN
(born James Boylan, 1958)
American author, professor, political activist;
Contributing Op-Ed Writer for The New York Times
* EMPHASIS mine
2
Way too much coverage and spotlight on one troubled woman.
6
Even for me as a black liberal this is ridiculous.
4
It's all about the lying. If she wants to identify as black and support social causes, there's no harm. But fabricating such a damaging portrait of her childhood, possibly creating her own hate mail, inventing a father...none of that is honorable to her chosen ethnic identity. But the jig is up, she's lost her position, and there's nothing more for her to say. Let's move on and leave Ms. Dolezal to reinvent herself again.
On the plus side...unlike Caitlyn Jenner, no one is commenting on Ms. Dolezal's clothing or womanly attributes.
On the plus side...unlike Caitlyn Jenner, no one is commenting on Ms. Dolezal's clothing or womanly attributes.
6
Like Ms. Dolezal, I feel the need to reject my genetic heritage also, even to the point of rejection of the human race. Maybe I'll take to wearing a tight red space suit and go around yelling "Nano,Nano!"
2
Bizarre; and a distraction from what she says is her important work.
2
Wonderful. I idientify as Bobby Orr.
1
This woman needs professional help.
8
What a waste of print, time and money
3
She's nuts, you can identify as anything, but don't lie and make up stories to hurt other people, especially your own family. Also, she sued the college for discriminating against her for being white, where does that ft into all this, is she a chameleon that changes depending on what suits her?
7
JEB, (the acronym candidate), identifies as Hispanic, Dolezal identifies as black, Bruce Jenner identifies as a woman, and Trump identifies as a "presidential candidate".
Going forward I identify as Martian. Don't like it? Sue me.
All of that silliness said, aren't we paying way too much attention to a woman and a position of little or no consequence? A little bit I am surprised that this made The Times. To keep this going like this is tabloid stuff. Has it been that slow a news week?
Going forward I identify as Martian. Don't like it? Sue me.
All of that silliness said, aren't we paying way too much attention to a woman and a position of little or no consequence? A little bit I am surprised that this made The Times. To keep this going like this is tabloid stuff. Has it been that slow a news week?
9
so if you can "identify" as Black (or Latino, native American, woman, etc.) all you'd need to do to benefit from affirmative action is join an organization representing that group
2
This woman misled and lied to people. She also posed as a black person to gain advancement in her field.
1
Enough. She has done no harm. What difference does it make. If she gained something from pretending to be black it is of little significance and the story should be about who let her get away with it. Let's talk about the Republican Party controlling both houses of Congress and offering nothing.
6
What I can't figure out is if it is only Rachel herself who is nuts, or is the whole family nuts. Is she nuts in part because of dysfunctional family dynamics?
Is Rachel constantly accusing her natural family members of various kinds of abuse for real, or does she do this because it is she herself who has some kind of personality disorder?
Is Rachel constantly accusing her natural family members of various kinds of abuse for real, or does she do this because it is she herself who has some kind of personality disorder?
6
Or both?
Or maybe there is some reality to her "identity" as she says, or affinity as her uncle says emerged in her, after her family adopted four black children.
She could simultaneously be a very confused person who has done some good work, who has also engaged in misrepresentation but does have close identification with her adoptive black sibs, her ex-husband and her own son. If she is sincere in saying she identifies as black--whether this is based on a disorder blocking her from accepting her background, childhood abuse, a true search for identity that has led her down this path, or some amalgam--I am willing to believe she believes she is telling the truth as she conceives it.
If she is not sincere...then, at least in part, she is a charlatan.
I am struck, though, that she says she "identifies as" black, not "is" black. She never dispelled the impression of the latter, no matter the reality of the former.
If we are going to maintain race is a social construct and we know from study that culture is acquired, then her identifying as black might be seen as unusual but not illegitimate. If race and physical appearance have a one-to- one relationship, then a host of other issues arise.
Or maybe there is some reality to her "identity" as she says, or affinity as her uncle says emerged in her, after her family adopted four black children.
She could simultaneously be a very confused person who has done some good work, who has also engaged in misrepresentation but does have close identification with her adoptive black sibs, her ex-husband and her own son. If she is sincere in saying she identifies as black--whether this is based on a disorder blocking her from accepting her background, childhood abuse, a true search for identity that has led her down this path, or some amalgam--I am willing to believe she believes she is telling the truth as she conceives it.
If she is not sincere...then, at least in part, she is a charlatan.
I am struck, though, that she says she "identifies as" black, not "is" black. She never dispelled the impression of the latter, no matter the reality of the former.
If we are going to maintain race is a social construct and we know from study that culture is acquired, then her identifying as black might be seen as unusual but not illegitimate. If race and physical appearance have a one-to- one relationship, then a host of other issues arise.
Anyone can also identify as a Martian--if all is simply construct. This chaos (where nothing is "true" except what any individual deems to be so) is the logical conclusion of the philosophically flawed thinking around identity.
This story brings back hurtful memories of the rampant colorism within the Afro American community with which I was burdened as a young girl. I cannot debate Rachel's motives, because she became what was and is the "ideal" black woman/woman of color: Very light skinned and close to white, exalted in communities of color because of the distance in appearance from African features and hair texture.
What is most disappointing is this distraction is so easy to chew on, much easier than hungry children, homeless families, harassed immigrants, climate change, etc. Her story is her story. Can we please move on?
What is most disappointing is this distraction is so easy to chew on, much easier than hungry children, homeless families, harassed immigrants, climate change, etc. Her story is her story. Can we please move on?
8
Let's look at fundamentals: "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." So said the great Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fraud is at the core of Dolezal's character. Her "black" identity is built on lies and misrepresentations.
The Dolezal case is where we finally find the limits of the postmodern intellectual turn involving race, gender and identity. Race as a social construct? Ok, but it's still a construct. Constructs have principles that hold them together.
Dolezal is not black and has no authentic experience of being black. Those in her biological (yes) lineage have no history of being black. Lying and making misrepresentations about identity are not an act of "deconstruction." They're fraud.
So Dolezal can go on asserting she is black or identifies as such, but she's either deluding herself or trying to delude others, or - more likely - both.
Fraud is at the core of Dolezal's character. Her "black" identity is built on lies and misrepresentations.
The Dolezal case is where we finally find the limits of the postmodern intellectual turn involving race, gender and identity. Race as a social construct? Ok, but it's still a construct. Constructs have principles that hold them together.
Dolezal is not black and has no authentic experience of being black. Those in her biological (yes) lineage have no history of being black. Lying and making misrepresentations about identity are not an act of "deconstruction." They're fraud.
So Dolezal can go on asserting she is black or identifies as such, but she's either deluding herself or trying to delude others, or - more likely - both.
7
Most humans confuse skin pigmentation with race, just as most humans confuse biological sex with gender. Our gender is not the same as our biological sex any more than our human race is the same as our human subspecies (Homo sapiens sapiens).
In zoology, which is the scientific study of animals including humans, an identifiable race is a subset of a species that has become geographically cut-off from other subsets of the same species, preventing interbreeding between the subsets. Charles Darwin described such races of finches, generally unable to interbreed with other races of finches because of the unsurpassable ocean stretches that separated them in the Galapagos.
Humans are higher animals who construct categories such as human gender and human race for many purposes, many of them designed in countries like the USA by old white men to keep their wrinkled hands on the reins of power. (I am being slightly facetious here, of course). Generally, the man-made concepts of gender and race can be used by those with power to enslave, intimidate, threaten, disenfranchise, exclude and belittle those who belong to a different 'gender' or 'race'.
In zoology, which is the scientific study of animals including humans, an identifiable race is a subset of a species that has become geographically cut-off from other subsets of the same species, preventing interbreeding between the subsets. Charles Darwin described such races of finches, generally unable to interbreed with other races of finches because of the unsurpassable ocean stretches that separated them in the Galapagos.
Humans are higher animals who construct categories such as human gender and human race for many purposes, many of them designed in countries like the USA by old white men to keep their wrinkled hands on the reins of power. (I am being slightly facetious here, of course). Generally, the man-made concepts of gender and race can be used by those with power to enslave, intimidate, threaten, disenfranchise, exclude and belittle those who belong to a different 'gender' or 'race'.
7
The question I would put to Rachel Dolezal is, Would you have preferred to be African- American when African-Americans were slaves? Beaten incessantly, lynched, tortured and raped? Would you have preferred to be 'down with the cause' under those life circumstances? Would you have preferred to dress and look like a black woman as a domestic in the house of her 'master' who was subjected perpetually to sexual assault by any or all male members of that household?
I deem it to be personally insulting to jump on the bandwagon of a people who couldn't 'turn off their blackness' to end their suffering, while all you have to do is 'cut out the weave' and 'ditch the tan'.
I deem it to be personally insulting to jump on the bandwagon of a people who couldn't 'turn off their blackness' to end their suffering, while all you have to do is 'cut out the weave' and 'ditch the tan'.
4
Melissa Harris-Perrys' interview of Ms. Dolezal left me thinking this woman is just stringing everyone along in her "weird adventure". I don't think she is trustworthy. Very strange and troubling.
8
Has anyone considered the possibility that she might be mentally unbalanced?
15
As a woman with feminist leanings I take issue with society rallying around Caitlyn Jenner's glossy, expensive, "coming out" Vanity Fair Cover. The big plastic breasts, the anti-aging plastic surgery, the hair extensions cut from some poor woman's head and sewn onto the scalp of a rich woman, the over-sexualized male gaze image created by Annie Leibowitz. Is that all being a woman is? A pampered pin-up with a Mean Girls make-over? What about poor, gender transitioning men, are they not beautiful if they can't afford Caitlyn's superficial luxuries, treatments and designer duds? So I understand the questions black woman by birth would have. It feels demeaning, but that's just aspect of the complicated lives we live. The reality is, this woman has done much more than adopt the style and dress (which is an expression of personal liberty) she's taken on the experience as a full "identity" and wants all that comes with it (presumably Jenner also). Dolezal and Jenner are the only people who can know if they are happy in their chosen skin, regardless of society's approval of the finished product we see in a picture.
6
Applaud her professional goals and accomplishments...not so much her misrepresentation of herself.
Had she just left it with the skin & hair changes and let people draw the wrong conclusion, while being straightforward if asked, this all would have been a none starter. That she did not would seem to indicate some deeper psychoses that could, perhaps 'should,' be professionally evaluated.
Had she just left it with the skin & hair changes and let people draw the wrong conclusion, while being straightforward if asked, this all would have been a none starter. That she did not would seem to indicate some deeper psychoses that could, perhaps 'should,' be professionally evaluated.
3
Is there a stronger emotion in this cyber time of ours than the hunger, desire, and unceasing quest to be, in some way, noticed?
2
I see no moral qualms with her actions and activities in defending human rights and working for NAACP. what is wrong with she has done does not upend my sleeping habits. Yes, lets talk about other things like the police shooting and the Iraq, Libya wars etc. etc. Those wars has no moral basis and it has left whole countries reeling.
5
I'm amazed at the amount of attention that this story is getting. What she did is unusual, but really? It's not as if she broke any laws or our used her Black identity for some nefarious personal gain.
If anything this woman gave up white skin privilege and assumed the social burden of walking through life as black person. This story should be about what was different in her life after she assumed a "Black identity'? Maybe others will listen to her about the reality of race in America simply because she has actually lived on both sides of the color line.
If anything this woman gave up white skin privilege and assumed the social burden of walking through life as black person. This story should be about what was different in her life after she assumed a "Black identity'? Maybe others will listen to her about the reality of race in America simply because she has actually lived on both sides of the color line.
3
Its one thing to appreciate others differences whether its based on race,gender, or orientation...its another thing to claim something that you are not. Living a lie and lying to others to gain an unfair advantage in one's personal and professional life is down right dishonest. She isn't the only one just the one whom made the national news. What is done in the cover of darkness will eventually be brought into the light of day.
1
"Larry and Ruthanne were kind of the quintessential Jesus people, hippies, back to nature, and they set up a tepee and lived in it for a year."
Seems to me people like this more often than not produce weird children.
Seems to me people like this more often than not produce weird children.
5
Before watching the Today Show interview, I was appalled at what I thought was Ms. Dolezal's appropriating blackness for her personal gain. Did she allow half-truths to be believed as full-truths? Yes. Does that mean she lied? Yes. But watching her answer Mr. Lauer's questions, I was struck by her sincerity in trying to choose just the right words to describe her identity. I think that she lied because she wanted to belong to a race and culture with which she felt more genuinely connected. The best explanation of her identity was provided by one of her son. Ms. Dolezal quoted him in the interview: "Mom, racially, you're human, and culturally you're black." Now that is a beautiful full-truth.
4
The New York Times has a side article, A Summary of Cases Relating to Rachel Dolezal, that is troubling because in one case her son claimed racial harassment caused property damage that in truth was the result of his goofing around in a store. A visit to the store manager would have given Ms. Dolezal an accurate explanation of the situation and an opportunity to parent her son, but I guess that didn't fit into her mind set. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
5
Just watched The Today Show interview. While I cannot begin to imagine what would motivate Rachel, I do appreciate the comment of her son who stated that, "mom racially you are human and culturally you are black." Seems she has done good work and is raising conscious and compassionate children. Hopefully this experience will teach them not to lie.
3
I have to say, as misguided and deceitful as it seems, no one would accuse her of living a dull life without meaning! Compared to the office drones I work with (me included) she's a person of conviction AND action.
7
Few private individuals have been exposed to such and intense media storm, which shows just how crazy we are about race. Such intense exposure does not bode well for Ms Dolezal's future as a black person.
3
I can sit in my garage for months on end, but I'm still not going to become a car. Deceit is not an admirable trait.
13
Best comment I have seen so far......'She can now self-identify as unemployed'.
2
It strikes me as curious that most of the commenters who suggest that Ms. Dolezal should be allowed to choose her race are male (either black or white). As recently as a few weeks ago, the focus was on whether one can choose one's gender as Ms. Jenner has done. I believe that 'choosing' one's race or gender as an adult suggests that race/gender has no impact on a person from the moment of birth......I am quite sure that every African American and every female (and particularly African American females) would say that one's race and gender are much more than just physical attributes.
3
There are historical precedents for this type of behavior. In the Thirties the noted and esteemed Canadian "Native American" conservationist Grey Owl, who lived as a traditional native, was in fact Archibald Belaney from Hastings England. This ruse was not uncovered until after his death.
5
The school did discriminate against her for being transracial. That's clear from the context. She, like most liberal leftists, defines race as a cultural constract rather than a biological category. To claim that blacks are biologically essentially different was racist, last I heard. Leftist media needs to decide on which concept of race they will use and stick with it.
4
There seems to be an epidemic of people trying to be something they "aren't". From re-enactment groups (with 'persona') to role playing games to gender discomfort to cultural 'appreciation and fandom'.
I have long wondered about members of groups recreating historical periods and their loss of self to an idealized concept of authenticity in another person's identity. Americans love to go abroad for travel, fall in love with the culture and come home as an "honorary" whatever. True, there is a broad spectrum of gender idendification and some will want to change, but 'discomfort' can also be temporary. Children are fed this "be what you want to be" from early on. No wonder that plastic surgery and identification changes are so widespread.
There really is something to looking within and learning to like what you are - and not always thinking that "if I were xyz, life would be so much better". Perhaps WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get - being a real human being and interacting with a diverse group and working to be accepted as what you really are would be an approach to strive for.
I have long wondered about members of groups recreating historical periods and their loss of self to an idealized concept of authenticity in another person's identity. Americans love to go abroad for travel, fall in love with the culture and come home as an "honorary" whatever. True, there is a broad spectrum of gender idendification and some will want to change, but 'discomfort' can also be temporary. Children are fed this "be what you want to be" from early on. No wonder that plastic surgery and identification changes are so widespread.
There really is something to looking within and learning to like what you are - and not always thinking that "if I were xyz, life would be so much better". Perhaps WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get - being a real human being and interacting with a diverse group and working to be accepted as what you really are would be an approach to strive for.
8
When a black person 'passes' for white, using lies, deceptions & even denial of birth family, it is the entire black community that feels the pain of betrayal. What I find particularly disturbing, in this rush by some in the black community to justify her deception, is this insinuated proposition that the 'white culture' is so offensive & evil that Rachel's family (and the white community at large) deserves to be denigrated by her, with their wholehearted support. IOW, it's not enough for whites to be empathetic & support of certain black causes; what's required is to be hostile to our own history & culture, even to the point of rejecting our families. This is an outrageous supposition and, quite frankly, shows how divisive & hostile many in the civil rights community have become.
6
It feels to me like you're projecting an awful lot of stuff on "black people." Most of whom are likely indifferent and not at all as invested in the affairs of a troubled person working out issues with her (white) family as you seem to think.
2
Hmmm... I wonder if some of the time being spent on categories of race and gender (which seem to be giving way) should perhaps be devoted to class differences as well, given that 1% of the world's population holds half the world's wealth?
Maybe the world could use more "class fluidity" as well! How would the 1% feel about that?
Maybe the world could use more "class fluidity" as well! How would the 1% feel about that?
7
Hmmm....It is interesting to note that the 99% of the world's population holds exactly 99% of its ignorance. And it's never going to get any better.
From now on I'm going to self-identify with the Buffets and Gates of the world, and see how long I can get away with it.
From now on I'm going to self-identify with the Buffets and Gates of the world, and see how long I can get away with it.
2
Thanks for giving a more complete story today. I'd read bits on other media pages. That she identifies as black, I can get behind that. The lying, that is too bad for all. I noticed when I am with my brown friends/adopted family in Oaxaca, I can easily think I am brown skinned but I am white.
3
Ms. Dolezal has committed the sin of refusing to let society decide her identity. Without individual submission to society's definition of one's race or heritage, how is society going to enforce its rules regarding who is allowed where and when, who is trusted, and who is feared?
Dolezal says "Submission to society's rule is acquiescence to racism."
She offended the hive, and the hive now wants to sting her to death.
Dolezal says "Submission to society's rule is acquiescence to racism."
She offended the hive, and the hive now wants to sting her to death.
9
Re: Rachel Dolezal, in Center of Storm, Is Defiant: "I identify as
Black." Hindu and Buddhist philosophers and mystics reject the notion of identity as an illusion. No identity, racial, ethnic, religious, or national can withstand the assault of rigorous analysis. However, every human being is provided--in a free society, that is-the choice of being good or bad; doing the right thing over the wrong; speaking truth or falsehood; being just or unjust. In other words, my actions and my words define me, not my thinking, which is a bottomless abyss. Ms. Rachel Dolezal at the time of entering public life should have announced: "Black people have been, from time immemorial, unjustly discriminated against because of their color. I consider that injustice. As a white person, I hunger and thirst for justice for all people, especially black." She did not do so.
Ms. Rachel Dolezal is not a criminal; she is a confused but good person. I recommend for her reading Hindu and Buddhist philosophical texts; Samuel Beckett's Trilogy of novels, containing "Molloy," "Malone Dies," and "The Unnamable." But first, she should immerse herself in a work of genius, the great novel, "Invisible Man," by the African American writer, Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison, for immediate enlightenment on the subject of identity.
Black." Hindu and Buddhist philosophers and mystics reject the notion of identity as an illusion. No identity, racial, ethnic, religious, or national can withstand the assault of rigorous analysis. However, every human being is provided--in a free society, that is-the choice of being good or bad; doing the right thing over the wrong; speaking truth or falsehood; being just or unjust. In other words, my actions and my words define me, not my thinking, which is a bottomless abyss. Ms. Rachel Dolezal at the time of entering public life should have announced: "Black people have been, from time immemorial, unjustly discriminated against because of their color. I consider that injustice. As a white person, I hunger and thirst for justice for all people, especially black." She did not do so.
Ms. Rachel Dolezal is not a criminal; she is a confused but good person. I recommend for her reading Hindu and Buddhist philosophical texts; Samuel Beckett's Trilogy of novels, containing "Molloy," "Malone Dies," and "The Unnamable." But first, she should immerse herself in a work of genius, the great novel, "Invisible Man," by the African American writer, Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison, for immediate enlightenment on the subject of identity.
4
Clearly this woman has personal issues, don't so many ( if not all of us?) There are two issues as I see it. one is the existential issue of identity - what it means to BE ( Sartre attempted address this as did Kirkegaard ) this is not a easily answered question for many people. Some search for the answer, others could care less.
The other issue is what has her fabrication of her race meant to those around here. Did she commit the fraud for gain, to misuse this charade for some nefarious purpose ? undermining a group or person or business? and i think to that the answer is a resounding NO.
Her inner demons , were hers alone, her accomplishments in her guise were noble.
The discussion of racial identity that she has brought to the fore is indeed important, but her crime? her guild? It lies within herself. I can understand her defiance to the press. She has done no crime, she endangered no policy or group, she has diminished no one by her ruse. Her troubles belong and reside with her alone.
The other issue is what has her fabrication of her race meant to those around here. Did she commit the fraud for gain, to misuse this charade for some nefarious purpose ? undermining a group or person or business? and i think to that the answer is a resounding NO.
Her inner demons , were hers alone, her accomplishments in her guise were noble.
The discussion of racial identity that she has brought to the fore is indeed important, but her crime? her guild? It lies within herself. I can understand her defiance to the press. She has done no crime, she endangered no policy or group, she has diminished no one by her ruse. Her troubles belong and reside with her alone.
6
Is it possible to get back to basics here? This woman, for whatever reason, is a liar, pure and simple. Perhaps at some future time in our history race will be a choice, but it is not a choice today and, as many people have pointed out, in our society race involves a good deal more than playing dress up and getting a do. I feel sorry and amazed at the number of people who twist themselves into pretzels to try to find a way to excuse this woman's inexcusable behavior. Plain and simple. She is a liar. Can we get over this pathetic tale of a delusional woman and move on?
6
Rachel Dolezal can alter her physical appearance in any way that she wants. People all over the world use makeup and fuss with their hair, every single day. Nothing unusual there. It is that Rachel Dolezal has purportedly lied for so long, about so many things, that she has become an inveterate liar. Like others, I feel that the most unnecessary deceit in her charade has been her alleged threats of harassment that appear to be untrue. Besides being a crime to report a false police report, and besides it being unethical and fraudulent, if Ms. Dolezal did cry wolf in this way, what does that say about her character?
13
At the end of the day, the "identification" and cultural issues aside, Ms. Dolezal is a talented albeit classic pathological liar. It has aided her well over the years to achieve what she has accomplished. She knows what she's doing and has masterfully deflected her actions into a national "conversation". It surprises me that more mental health professionals are not outing her for what she truly is.
7
People who focus on the ways and means have little regard for results. However, Rachel Dolezal conducted herself, she did not harm to anyone and did much good for her cause, social, especially racial, justice. To quibble about her claim to identity is, I think, to ignore the worthiness of her purposes and, conversely, to call into question the purposes of the quibblers.
6
As long as we continue to identify by skin color, then we as a species are doomed to an eternity of conflict.
We are all human. We love, we cry, we get angry, we get sad. At the end of the day we bleed the same types of blood.
Elevate your thinking to embrace your humanity.
At the end of the day your old model of "race" is just a holding cell of limited freedom.
We are all human. We love, we cry, we get angry, we get sad. At the end of the day we bleed the same types of blood.
Elevate your thinking to embrace your humanity.
At the end of the day your old model of "race" is just a holding cell of limited freedom.
5
What I find most interesting is the tendency in our society today to lie and, when exposed, for people to double down on the lie instead of admit to the truth. Truth does not seem to matter if it conflicts with the alternate reality people create for themselves. We had a foster child whose response to a fact that she didn't like was to respond "I don't believe it" as if denying something somehow made an inconvenient truth go away.
7
Rachel's physical changes may be unusual in our world of plastic surgery, designer clothing, personal trainers, etc. If one tries comparing nose jobs, dying one's hair, plastic surgery, gender reassignment, cross-dressing, and all the other things that we do - in the name of disguising heritages, slowing evidence of aging, enhancing ability to get jobs, passing as white or male or female, etc - then what really stands out is that this is ultimately about race.
If any segment of our society was truly and fully race-blind then no-one would care what measures she or anyone else took to be comfortable in their own skins - pun intended.
No-one cares about face lifts or erasing a Jewish nose, for example - but we sure as heck care about the color of Rachel's skin, and how she defined herself. I can't deny the dishonesty, but would it really be so widely condemned if as a society we were not so obsessed with the color of skin?....
If any segment of our society was truly and fully race-blind then no-one would care what measures she or anyone else took to be comfortable in their own skins - pun intended.
No-one cares about face lifts or erasing a Jewish nose, for example - but we sure as heck care about the color of Rachel's skin, and how she defined herself. I can't deny the dishonesty, but would it really be so widely condemned if as a society we were not so obsessed with the color of skin?....
8
A white perpetrator gets humanized, a black perpetrator gets criminalized. White perpetrators are individuals with complicated, sad, abusive pasts we seek to understand. Black perpetrators are part of a group/culture that engages in anti-social/criminal behavior we seek to control and repress. As Dolezal's abusive past emerges, we will see article after article explaining her behavior until we are all experts in "why Rachel did what she did," and we will forget what it is she actually did. This is white privilege at work and this is exactly why Dolezal is not, cannot be, Black.
5
I identify with real characters that lived a hundred years ago, depending on what area of history interests me at the time. Nonetheless, i am a 59 year old man in 2015, not someone in their 30's in Europe before WWI or the years before WWII, When my interests in history change I'll psychologically identify with people from that period and place. Nonetheless, I am who I am.
Pretending to be something you are not, such as black when you are lily white is both patronizing and insulting to the black community, Its almost like Ms Doleful is saying that it takes a totally white individual pretending to be black to add true force to the black movement. I think the black community has a real basis to be furious with her,
Pretending to be something you are not, such as black when you are lily white is both patronizing and insulting to the black community, Its almost like Ms Doleful is saying that it takes a totally white individual pretending to be black to add true force to the black movement. I think the black community has a real basis to be furious with her,
5
this woman is a sham and doesn't answer any questions where she has to attest to her actual racial/ethnic background. Have empathy for equality and racial justice does not change your DNA and her opportunism for modifying for skin tone and wearing her hair to support her fraud is indicative of a psychologically troubled person who artfully responds to questions with disingenuous allusions to who she would like to be than who she really is. Shame- she can not claim an experience of racial prejudice or hate or having been raised as a person of Color and her rejection of her family and her parents and complete fabrication of how she specifically was raised by those birth parents should relegate her to defamation hall of shame and the NAACP should shun her and disavow any connection to her lies and deceit. National media should stop giving her a platform for self absorbed litany of half truths and innuendo and lies.
2
She clearly has lied throughout her life in a way that is not uncommon, twisting facts in her mind, rationalizing until facts change and she convinces herself "it's okay." Of course she's benefited financially while furthering her career as well.
But once I see someone vilified as she has been, day after day, on every kind of media, the spur to a so-called conversation about race and identity - forget it. Even though she almost appears to be relishing the attention, I sympathize with her - and anyone who finds herself the victim of such extreme cruelty. Did she murder someone?
But once I see someone vilified as she has been, day after day, on every kind of media, the spur to a so-called conversation about race and identity - forget it. Even though she almost appears to be relishing the attention, I sympathize with her - and anyone who finds herself the victim of such extreme cruelty. Did she murder someone?
7
I understand the transformation between changing religions, political philosophy, going vegan vrs eating meat, the transgender thing. But I need a little help with going from being inherently caucasian to being black. I think that's where most of us are getting hung up. While scientifically she is not in the true sense of the word black, people on both sides of the black/white color barrier are a bit miffed because she technically is not 'black' and has 'lied' to those whom she has said otherwise. If I suppose there were some lineage to having black parents, grandparents perhaps the public would be more accepting. However, the path she chose to become 'black' in a sense is more upsetting to some. Maybe down the road declaring ones self black or white or whatever may without the scientific basis become acceptable in a society that is in a constant state of flux and political correctness
4
I'm uncomfortable with policing racial identity in this country. This country has a history of legal discrimination; the law categorized people as black and disadvantaged them on that basis. That was wrong and we all know it was wrong. Now people want to put up a fence between blackness and whiteness because someone born white wants to identify as black.
It doesn't appear that this woman claimed to be black because there was some kind of profit in it. She did it because she feels that blacks get a raw deal, she has black family members, and she wants to participate in their struggle. She wanted to take on the hate and do something about it.
The idea that this somehow insults black and bi-racial people in America by minimizing their black experience misses the fact that such people have widely differing experiences. Some were not brought up in America, some are light-skinned and 'pass' as white to people who take the trouble to care about such things. But regardless of actual experience no one challenges the legitimacy of blackness as long as there is some African ancestry.
It's a statistical fact that people are treated differently based upon how people perceive their race and ethnicity. We need to recognize racism and address it, so it would be naïve to insist that we're all members of the human race. Nevertheless, for those who desire to and can 'pass' as a race they weren't born to, I think the world has bigger fish to fry than to attack and demean them.
It doesn't appear that this woman claimed to be black because there was some kind of profit in it. She did it because she feels that blacks get a raw deal, she has black family members, and she wants to participate in their struggle. She wanted to take on the hate and do something about it.
The idea that this somehow insults black and bi-racial people in America by minimizing their black experience misses the fact that such people have widely differing experiences. Some were not brought up in America, some are light-skinned and 'pass' as white to people who take the trouble to care about such things. But regardless of actual experience no one challenges the legitimacy of blackness as long as there is some African ancestry.
It's a statistical fact that people are treated differently based upon how people perceive their race and ethnicity. We need to recognize racism and address it, so it would be naïve to insist that we're all members of the human race. Nevertheless, for those who desire to and can 'pass' as a race they weren't born to, I think the world has bigger fish to fry than to attack and demean them.
12
We show again that we are a nation obsessed with trivialities, as the news media is clearly aware and only too willing to capitalize upon. As much as I try, I can't seem to escape this story so I may as well comment.
Why has this family squabble been national news for what is approaching a week? All reports I've read indicate that this woman energized the NAACP chapter she led and was doing good works for the African American community in Spokane. According to this story, she was raised with four black siblings, and is raising a black child. The more I observe the hullabaloo about this, the more convinced I am that she really is black because Rachel Dolezal sure seems to be catching a lot of hell behind some foolishness. Would that we as a country we were as concerned about our crumbling infrastructure, income inequality, climate change, and the impact of our ongoing role as global policeman.
Why has this family squabble been national news for what is approaching a week? All reports I've read indicate that this woman energized the NAACP chapter she led and was doing good works for the African American community in Spokane. According to this story, she was raised with four black siblings, and is raising a black child. The more I observe the hullabaloo about this, the more convinced I am that she really is black because Rachel Dolezal sure seems to be catching a lot of hell behind some foolishness. Would that we as a country we were as concerned about our crumbling infrastructure, income inequality, climate change, and the impact of our ongoing role as global policeman.
9
The level of interest in this issue is more fascinating perhaps than the plain and simple facts, interesting as they are. Complex questions about race and identity are being discussed with intensity across a broad swathe of society.
But with each new report providing more details of her background, Ms. Dolezal is emerging as a flawed yet sympathetic character. She has clearly made mistakes and shown questionable judgement in her struggle to find an identity, yet her work and outward motivations appear honourable.
I hope this story continues to encourage substantive discussion around the issue of racial identity in America, but that Ms. Dolezal is not unfairly vilified. It is a shame to see her subjected to the humiliation of having her family's dirty laundry aired just for the sake of proving she isn't black.
Unconventional personal identity journeys are quintessentially American, but with hers Dolezal has touched on the hot-button issue of racial identity in a massively public way. The current controversy advances her cause better than she could have hoped for by quietly heading the NAACP in Spokane.
But with each new report providing more details of her background, Ms. Dolezal is emerging as a flawed yet sympathetic character. She has clearly made mistakes and shown questionable judgement in her struggle to find an identity, yet her work and outward motivations appear honourable.
I hope this story continues to encourage substantive discussion around the issue of racial identity in America, but that Ms. Dolezal is not unfairly vilified. It is a shame to see her subjected to the humiliation of having her family's dirty laundry aired just for the sake of proving she isn't black.
Unconventional personal identity journeys are quintessentially American, but with hers Dolezal has touched on the hot-button issue of racial identity in a massively public way. The current controversy advances her cause better than she could have hoped for by quietly heading the NAACP in Spokane.
6
Of course, being black is the best way to get official favors -- affirmative action for individuals and companies alike -- and, if you are in the private sector, every time somebody does something you don't like, you can blame it on racism and file a lawsuit, often taken over and financed by the federal government. Who wouldn't want to be black?
But since she lied on some official forms, the liberals are really in a bind -- do we punish someone for lying on official forms about being black (and thereby getting goodies reserved for people of color) or do we let it slide because she really loves "being" black?
Or, of course, we could declare that everyone has to compete on the basis of merit, rather than on the basis of color and whether or not they vote for the Party of Welfare and Illegal Aliens.
But since she lied on some official forms, the liberals are really in a bind -- do we punish someone for lying on official forms about being black (and thereby getting goodies reserved for people of color) or do we let it slide because she really loves "being" black?
Or, of course, we could declare that everyone has to compete on the basis of merit, rather than on the basis of color and whether or not they vote for the Party of Welfare and Illegal Aliens.
1
If our society was truly free and equal we wouldn't need race based preferences to level the playing field. Real opportunity is possible for everyone when we have equal access to the same resources.
2
How Rachel Dolezal identified as silly, an adventerous job seeker, an individual with an obvious personality disordered, deceitful and eligible to author a book!
2
The NAACP and the rest of our political structure can't survive without racism. If whites no longer actively racist, then it will manufacture a controversy, like this embarrassing drama.
1
She has mental problems, just as BRUCE Jenner does. (He's not a female for those paying attention). These people have no idea who they are so they become something or someone else. So just because she was once married to a black man, she now thinks she's black. Weird. I have heard white women change their voice and speech after being around the black community, which is also stupid. Be yourselves people.
4
While Rachel Dolezal may have brought forward a larger discussion about race and identity, she herself is emerging as more and more bizarre as she takes advantage of a national platform to attempt to explain herself.
One one hand, she says she has identified as black since childhood; yet she did not hesitate to identify as white when suing Howard University as a graduate student - why?
Racial shape-shifting, apparently for convenience, is simply wrong. The national media are encouraging Ms. Dolezal and giving her a airtime to promote her evolving tale (the latest element is that she claims there is no "proof" that her biological parents are, in fact related to her) - not for any substantive discussion of race and identity, which would actually be meaningful, but just for her own self-promotion.
It's a twisted story of manipulation, misrepresentation and pathology. Unfortunately, there's no doubt a book deal and a made-for-TV movie in the works - no chance Ms. Dolezal will be out of our collective consciousness anytime soon - the spotlight is simply too alluring, and too many people are willing to buy what she's selling.
One one hand, she says she has identified as black since childhood; yet she did not hesitate to identify as white when suing Howard University as a graduate student - why?
Racial shape-shifting, apparently for convenience, is simply wrong. The national media are encouraging Ms. Dolezal and giving her a airtime to promote her evolving tale (the latest element is that she claims there is no "proof" that her biological parents are, in fact related to her) - not for any substantive discussion of race and identity, which would actually be meaningful, but just for her own self-promotion.
It's a twisted story of manipulation, misrepresentation and pathology. Unfortunately, there's no doubt a book deal and a made-for-TV movie in the works - no chance Ms. Dolezal will be out of our collective consciousness anytime soon - the spotlight is simply too alluring, and too many people are willing to buy what she's selling.
6
Rachel Dolezal can alter her physical appearance in any way that she wants. People all over the world use makeup and fuss with their hair, every single day. Nothing unusual there. It is that Rachel Dolezal has lied for so long, about so many things, that she has become an inveterate liar. Like others, I feel that her worst deceit has been her alleged threats of harassment that appear to be untrue. Besides being a crime to report a false police report, and besides it being unethical and fraudulent, if Ms. Dolezal did cry wolf in this way, what does that say about her perpetuated charade and her character? Some lies are more harmful than others.
4
While on the far end of the bell curve of normal, it is still normal for some people to identify as something other than they are born. Whether gender, race, or culture, people cross over all the time: Grey Owl in Canada; tons of Canadians who claim to be aboriginal who have the merest traces of native genes or childhood culture; historically many 'black' Americans who 'passed' as 'white'. Race is not Black and White. Lets quit judging race or racial identity.
2
Sadly, bizarre and outrageous behavior is usually exposed at some point. The tanned skin, the hair...all of it is a bit extreme. Why she couldn't simply care about her causes as she is is a mystery to many.
3
I don't condone what Ms. Dolezal has reportedly done, which seems to me deceitful at best. I also confess I haven't read the other 1,817 comments that have already been posted here, so I don't know if the following issue has been raised. Johnny Otis (1921-2012), a Greek-American rock musician and producer best known for "Willie and the Hand Jive" (1958), represented himself as African-American for at least part of his career. I heard him give a talk at Indiana University in the late '90s, and he said something to the effect of "You had to decide whether to be white or black, so I decided to be black." I am unaware of this ever having generated controversy.
5
In the 1950s and 1960s for a black R&B artist or group to crossover in order to sell to a white audience, the record label would put a white couple on the album cover.
Why does anyone give a tinker's dam about such nonsense. It fits right in with the whole country's fascination over the Brenner epiphany or the steatopygia demonstrated by the Kardashian derriere. The whole phenomenon is a good indication of why this country is being taken over by such as the Brothers Koch and their newly found free speech while the hoi polloi gawk at the carnival side shows rather than pay attention to the downfall of their Democracy.
8
Same thing happened to Rome before it fell. Rome was giving out bread and circuses to distract the masses while Rome was burning down around them.
1
My question about this has always been "Why was there a private investigator involved, who hired them and why? Why did this become a major story?" There is something going on that we are not hearing about. This morning I finally realized what Ms. Dolezal is trying to say. She wants no part of being the "white" that many people in Idaho promote. The article says, "He recalled her journey from being a down-on-her-luck single mother who took part-time teaching jobs, tried to sell her artwork, and worked in the camera store he owns in Coeur d’Alene, in a part of the Idaho panhandle that was once the headquarters of Aryan Nations, the white supremacist group." A single white mother is often as discriminated against as any black person in our society. She relates more to their struggle than the white population just as women identified Dr. Martin Luther King's position on "human rights". The black community judges their own on how "black or white" they are and seem to revere lighter skinned members. This is simply a ridiculous story to be taking up our time to keep our minds off the real news. VOTE FOR CHANGE IN AMERICA. VOTE FOR MS. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON - PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES - 2016. VOTE!
6
Yes - the Coeur d'Alene angle of this story is completely overlooked! Don't people get, she lived in the city that welcomed and headquartered the Aryan Nations? You'd have to have the sensibility of a toad not to become passionately concerned about black causes and black people, living there - unless you were yourself a sympathizer of the Aryan Nations.
1
Well, she has what she wanted, which is a lot of attention, so she has in fact prevailed. She'll sell her story for a lot of money and in her mind she will have succeeded. By lying about who she is.
1
I suffer from another rare disease, transwealthy. I think I am rich even though I am not so I should be able to spend all the money I want and not be responsible for it.
Transracial, what a bunch of crap. Just another created condition to justify lying, cheating etc.
Transracial, what a bunch of crap. Just another created condition to justify lying, cheating etc.
4
There this no such thing as race, period.
Just cultural identies and perceptions.
Just cultural identies and perceptions.
2
After all we are all part of one race, the human race!
With all the articles in the press these days, including the NY Times, about transgender people, most of which are positive and sympathetic, it is hard to understand the reaction to someone who wants to be transracial. What is the difference, and, if there is a difference, why is it important?
4
There lies the problem, that you don't understand the difference.
I have advised my daughter to "identify" as black. It will be a great help to her. Preference in your college admission, affirmative action promotions at work, access to grants to start a business, and then preferred status as her business bids on contracts. I should have "identified" as black a long time ago.
2
Narcissism manifests in many ways. Maybe she has a few mental issues.
5
So if her son gets fed up with all this, she'd be fine if he rejects her claims of parenthood and identifies as somebody else's kid, or an orphan, or alien. Play a Rachel on Rachel. Yeah, sure she'd be cool with that.
1
Clarence Thomas has been identifying himself as white for decades, in a way, yet no one seems to care. Genetics no longer offers a useful guide to determining whether someone is black or white (many people are often, and increasingly, some combination of both). Culture might offer a better roadmap but there, too, lines continue to blur. Both blacks and whites have been adopting each other's culture for years. Unfortunately, the one thing that still works well to determine who is black and who is white in the USA is money and privilege. Many more blacks are poor, sick, discriminated against, killed and imprisoned, proportionately, than whites are. This is something everyone in our society will need to continue working on.
4
This person seems to relish all the media attention. What might we suppose is really at work here?
1
Of course it is ok to "identify" and sympathize with another culture....to a certain point. What is not ok is to declare oneself a member of that culture in order to gain employment, scholarship, and other financial advantages. It appears that Ms. Dolezal did that, and that, in my opinion is wrong.
Also, as the mother of children that are truly African-American in heritage, ironically, I think that Ms. Dolezal is doing her children a disservice by confusing them about their heritage. If everyone can declare themselves African American, then what exactly does that heritage mean anymore?
Also, as the mother of children that are truly African-American in heritage, ironically, I think that Ms. Dolezal is doing her children a disservice by confusing them about their heritage. If everyone can declare themselves African American, then what exactly does that heritage mean anymore?
2
It may well be that, as some have asserted, race is a sociological construct, not a biological fact. If that were Ms. Dolezal's belief, she could have been entirely honest and straightforward by taking the position that her "race" was of no relevance or concern to anyone. But she did not do that. She adopted the language of race, acknowledging that it exists and that it matters, when she started saying she was black. And in the language of race, she is not.
3
This is in no way the correct situation to have the complicated discussion of race over. This woman is a straight up fabricator and seems to have problems much more deep seeded than that.
Race is both pigment and culture, much in the same way that patriotism involves service to country and a culture of honoring those who serve.
But when someone who honors military service begins to conduct themselves in a way that, while continuing to honor those who serve, also leads others to believe they actually served in the military themselves, that crosses a line.
While we should remember the stakes in this case are incredibly small, it appears Ms. Dolezal, at some point, crossed a similar line.
But when someone who honors military service begins to conduct themselves in a way that, while continuing to honor those who serve, also leads others to believe they actually served in the military themselves, that crosses a line.
While we should remember the stakes in this case are incredibly small, it appears Ms. Dolezal, at some point, crossed a similar line.
2
Rachel Dolezal can alter her physical appearance in any way that she wants. People all over the world use makeup and fuss with their hair, every single day. Nothing unusual there. It is that Rachel Dolezal has lied for so long, about so many things, that she has become an inveterate liar. Like others, I feel that her worst deceit has been her alleged threats of harassment that appear to be untrue. Besides being a crime to report a false police report, and besides it being unethical and fraudulent, if Ms. Dolezal did cry wolf in this way, what does that say about her charade and her character? Not all lies are created equal.
3
Ms. Dolezal has now been demonized here and elsewhere in the media in ways that even the escaped murderers in NY were not. Anything that's ugly about her or her past or her family members is being dragged out to denigrate her. Given the response to her, if this were Salem, would she be burned? The response is mob-like, thoughtless and inappropriate. Angry people need to get a grip.
5
Well said, blgreenie. Your comment should be a NYT Pick.
The entire article is kind of ironic, as the NY Times write tries to definitively claim who and what should be called black and white, when the whole question is about who gets to claim identity and how.
2
Identifying as black and having an appreciation for another culture is one thing, but has anyone thought of how potentially harmful this ambiguous concept could be to the very organization Ms. Dolezal once represented and was supported by-- The NAACP? Take EEOC, for instance. If it becomes acceptable for a Caucasian to register their race on a job application as "Black" because that's how he or she identifies, then where does it leave the equally qualified and biologically black applicant? There goes EEOC and about a million other issues the NAACP has fought for. In a way, by supporting Ms. Dolezal's behavior, the NAACP is showing the world that it buys into this tenuous concept and it is putting itself at risk. They need to make their position clear on this issue; otherwise, there will be a lot of self-serving people misusing the concept to their advantage. I don't even want to think about the damage it could do.
2
I have just recently started to pay closer attention to this situation. It strikes me that if it is done as a "teachable" moment then I see value & a positive gesture on her part.. From what I am learning she has done good for social change & perhaps helping some others - but she has deceived and more importantly or sadly - she continues to want to deceive or lie about who she is. If I were a person who has lived throughout my life with certain challenges of "racial identity", mixed families, whatever - I would be angered or frustrated by her lies. It is not so unusual for a person to wish they could change who they are at some point - but growth comes from accepting who we are- not living in profound denial.
5
This is a woman who may sound rational while explaining herself, but seems to me she's rather disturbed. She's living a fantasy. It's news because it's about race in America, always a fraught subject.
7
I just wonder why someone who supposedly believes in racial equality is so concerned about the color of her own skin. I would argue that a person's culture/behavior/lifestyle is not a product of his or her race, (race being inherited biological characteristics). True racial equality would make the color of one's skin unimportant and independent of that person's identity. But Ms Dolezal does not share this thinking, because if she believed in this type of color-blindness, she would have never changed her appearance and deceived people like she has. The fact is that Rachel Dolezal is totally consumed by the physical characteristics of race. She made that clear in her Today interview when she said "there is not a single part of me that is white" in response to a question about her race. This statement shows that Ms Dolezal equates character with skin color; in other words, she believes that a person's culture is dictated by that person's race. That's the very definition of racism. Does whiteness tell us anything about her or anyone else? It shouldn't because identity is not the same as race, but she believes otherwise. It's this race-centered attitude that compelled her to alter her appearance, because in her mind being white was totally incompatible with the culture she identified with. If you're white you're in this group and you behave this way and you think these things - that is how Ms Dolezal views race and it's a mindset I hope we can eventually purge from this country.
13
Thanks much for your comment. My sentiments exactly. Would that she had not taken it to an even further extreme by apparently fabricating racial harassment as well.
genetically she carries mainly Caucasian genes, but socially she embraces the blacks' culture. what is the problem? this need to put people in boxes (black or white, male or female, old or young) creates social and cultural segregation. it is also impossible because the boundaries are impossible to define
6
Rachel Dolezal was inevitable given our cultural trend. Genetically she's not black; genetically Bruce Jenner is not a woman; and genetically a fellow in an institution who claims to be Napoleon is not Napoleon. But we are starting to encourage a culture in which people may be deemed to be what they wish to be, even though they aren't, and the person who speaks the fact of the matter is condemned. That's a very dangerous place for society to go. And if the price of being truthful about it is that some people will be disappointed by reality, that's a price very well worth paying.
5
After this story I believe you're going to see a remarkable increase in minority applications for medical and law schools.
3
She likes to be a "victim". I've been around many people of this mindset in my life (56yrs), and know one common attribute to ring true - the more victimization in their life, the happiest they are! Incredible I know, but that's it in a nutshell. I've witnessed these people being sulky, and upset when the world and their life is going along rather smoothly. But, when troubles set in, or they feel victimized by someone either by friends, co-workers, or the guy standing in line next to them at the store, they 'light-up' - feeling they now have to fight the fight, undo the wrong, etc and this makes them truly happy. I'm sure a psychologist would have a lot to say about all of this w/this woman.
5
It seems the only goal of the media(mostly tv) today is "gotcha' type journalism. It must have been a slow news day on the day this came to the editors desk. Give us the news please not petty gossiping, there are a lot more important news worthy items to fill your space. I hope she got paid for her interview and is laughing all the way to the bank.
4
Black folks have been trying to "pass" for years so it is ironic that we have at least one example of a white person trying to pass as black.
I suppose we will have to endure some false argument about her genes or her brain or some other pseudo-scientific excuse that tries to hide the fact that she is a very confused individual. The explanation for her confusion lies somewhere in her family history---not her physiology.
This brings to mind John Howard Griffin's 1961 book "Black Like Me" where Mr. Griffin a white man purposely darkened his skin to highlight racial issues.
But it seems Ms Dolezal has no such noble purpose---just her own confusion and uncertainty about her race.
Why is it everybody must be "equal" and nobody can make bad choices? Bad choices are a part of life. I don't think anybody should get special treatment because they've made bad choices and expect privileged treatment because they are "victims". Everybody has rights---even non-victims. It seems we are obsessed with everybody "feeling good about themselves" and anybody can do anything they want without fear of criticism because we don't want to be "incorrect". That is the first step towards stifling dissent.
Barney The Dinosaur with an AK.
That is certainly not a world I want to live in.
I suppose we will have to endure some false argument about her genes or her brain or some other pseudo-scientific excuse that tries to hide the fact that she is a very confused individual. The explanation for her confusion lies somewhere in her family history---not her physiology.
This brings to mind John Howard Griffin's 1961 book "Black Like Me" where Mr. Griffin a white man purposely darkened his skin to highlight racial issues.
But it seems Ms Dolezal has no such noble purpose---just her own confusion and uncertainty about her race.
Why is it everybody must be "equal" and nobody can make bad choices? Bad choices are a part of life. I don't think anybody should get special treatment because they've made bad choices and expect privileged treatment because they are "victims". Everybody has rights---even non-victims. It seems we are obsessed with everybody "feeling good about themselves" and anybody can do anything they want without fear of criticism because we don't want to be "incorrect". That is the first step towards stifling dissent.
Barney The Dinosaur with an AK.
That is certainly not a world I want to live in.
3
Regardless of her beliefs, feelings, accomplishments she has lived the life of a 'lie' and 'delusion'. That was quite apparent during an interview when she continually hesitated and failed to answer questions relating to her past actions. She must have the
Walter Mitty syndrome; she needs help.
Walter Mitty syndrome; she needs help.
9
In a 1962 speech that foreshadowed his "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, John F. Kennedy said "...the proudest boast is to say, "I am a citizen of the United States." And it is not enough to merely say it; we must live it." From all I've read, it would appear that Ms. Dolezal has lived, most of her adult life, as a black American. This is what makes her black. Her lies and deception make her less human.
Sexual behavior is a matter of personal choice and does not have to be justified. Gender is also now a matter of choice and does not have to be justified. Religion is a matter of choice and belief. Why should race be different? If a person wishes to undergo surgery or other modifications such as skin lightening or darkening, hair color change or treatments to straighten or kink, or other changes, then why not make race a matter of choice too?
If a person is born into a family with the presumption that they are going to be a Caucasian Baptist Straight Male, how can that be the end for the person? Should they not have the right to become a Black Episcopalian Lesbian Female? We certainly have the technology. Where and who sets any boundaries? Do we allow someone to say Gender, Religion, Sexual Orientation are all fine, but Race is a line we cannot cross because it would somehow break down barriers that we have all come to accept? If we are going to celebrate Caitlyn for 'bravery' and we are going to accept her as a woman, then we have to celebrate Rachel Dolezal and accept her as Black, end of story. And if we had a hundred thousand or a million or 10 million 'Rachels' choosing to cross the color and culture lines, black to white, white to black, Asian to black - whatever people chose - wouldn't it help matters, make race a non-issue, a choice, a thing that is based on cultural identity and self identification, and not something forced or inescapable?
If a person is born into a family with the presumption that they are going to be a Caucasian Baptist Straight Male, how can that be the end for the person? Should they not have the right to become a Black Episcopalian Lesbian Female? We certainly have the technology. Where and who sets any boundaries? Do we allow someone to say Gender, Religion, Sexual Orientation are all fine, but Race is a line we cannot cross because it would somehow break down barriers that we have all come to accept? If we are going to celebrate Caitlyn for 'bravery' and we are going to accept her as a woman, then we have to celebrate Rachel Dolezal and accept her as Black, end of story. And if we had a hundred thousand or a million or 10 million 'Rachels' choosing to cross the color and culture lines, black to white, white to black, Asian to black - whatever people chose - wouldn't it help matters, make race a non-issue, a choice, a thing that is based on cultural identity and self identification, and not something forced or inescapable?
3
Unfortunately, out of this media circus, I see emergeing a reality TV show, a book deal, a Hollywood movie, lucrative speechmaking deals on race, ethnicity and identity politics -- and potentially an honorary doctorate from one of our selective universities. Way to go, Rachel.
5
Some commenters as well as some professional commentators have argued that MS Doleful has worked hard to help African Americans and harmed no one by identifying as black. That, into and of itself, may be the case, but in the context of identifying as black, MS Dolezal did indeed say things that are arguably harmful. For example, she said that her father is black and that he was a ranking officer in the Marines for decades, and that when in the Marine corp, on three different occasions "white subordinates" made attempts on his life. That is a harmful, slanderous lie (though I fully expect that there will be some who will insist that slandering whites and the military is a wholly justifiable way of "speaking truth to power," or something like that, where "truth" of course refers to narrative truth rather than factual truth).
2
sigh.
how about identifying as a human being.
leave it at that.
ego and insecurity can be a destructive. face these and you will grow as a human i think/hope.
how about identifying as a human being.
leave it at that.
ego and insecurity can be a destructive. face these and you will grow as a human i think/hope.
If people can change their gender identity, then why not their racial identity?
4
I have difficulty believing any explanation Rachel gives about her identity. Apparently her narrative about her childhood has also been exposed as questionable. Her allegations of racial harassment haven't held up under scrutiny.The only aspect of "her truth" that is consistent is that it's riddled with alleged falsehoods. I know a label that accurately describes Ms. Dolezal-pathological liar. It's all just such a shame as the great work she has done at the NAACP has been undermined by her decision to lie about who she is. Her accomplishments would've been all the more extraordinary if she had had the courage to be honest.
7
I accept that, from an early age and for reasons that became more complex and significant as she grew up, Dolezal "identified" deeply with Black culture. I believe that. That identification makes the lies she has told even more disturbing. Her many, allegedly false, claims of being the victim of racially motivated hate crimes perpetuate the victimization of people of color and feed the adversarial racial tensions that distinguish American life today. Those consequences are at odds with the work of the NAACP and the HREI. As others have said, it is her right to live whatever individual racial construct she chooses, but she has no right to lie about something so important.
1
A complete screwball.
6
I can't decide. Is she Jay Gatsby or Elizabeth Warren?
And Brian Williams was a bomber pilot.
5
So Ms Dolezal is not Black.
What does that do?
What does that do?
4
All of race and ethnicity are social constructs of the fears the binds us all; that is our acceptance of the things that truly make us human. In all that is editorial and opinionated rhetoric about the subject of Rachel's intent; to he who is without fault, throw the first stone. You are White because someone told you that you were White just as you are Black because some told you that you are Black. Rachel believes herself to be something other than what she is told she is. Why does the outside world feel entitled to decide what she feels she is on the inside as a human being?
3
Governor Brown has the same problem. He believes illegal aliens from Mexico are Californians. Voters like you allow him to act on his delusion in detriment of all law abiding taxpayers.
This story is about the nature of reality. Is reality physical or is it mental? Does the genetic makeup of your body determine who you are, or do your beliefs about who you are describe you? Is reality objective or subjective? Is identity fixed and predetermined, or fluid and changeable?
2
When one's personal reality doesn't match up with the external one that becomes the definition for insanity.
Just wait;book,movie, reality show? What disrespect she has and continues to show.
4
The summary judgement on her lawsuit against Howard suggests a person who will say anything to accomplish her goals; someone who feels justified in claiming anything that furthers her interests. I am accepting the judge's commentary, obviously, but this is revealing.
12
This woman is sick and needs a proper treatment.
It's okay if a person wants to look different, but has no claims on changing his/her racial identity.
She just need to look ate her white parents, siblings etc and everything will be clear. She' just a deeply tanned white girl!
It's okay if a person wants to look different, but has no claims on changing his/her racial identity.
She just need to look ate her white parents, siblings etc and everything will be clear. She' just a deeply tanned white girl!
3
This issue goes to show how crazy the "race" question is in America. The concept that race matters was born out of the demand for cheap labor in 17th century agricultural America. Read what Thomas Jefferson thought about Africans and how the "white" land owners decided to import Africans to make cotton, tobacco, etc the foundation of American capitalism. The problem I have with this lady is she perpetuated a lie probably not intentionally at first but she allowed it to grow. That's her "crime" a little "white" lie that has grown into a big "black" lie.
This is not the time to be bashing her, especially from people of color. We need as many people who support us. She did well, let her be. The organisation should not have accepted her resignation. instead they should have rallied around her and supported her to prove that race is not a factor. This is a missed opportunity by the Black/Colored people to show solidarity with someon who has supported our cause.
5
why is it that we'll accept equivocal and deceptive statements about gender but not about race? i say this as a supporter of fluid gender and racial identity.
1
You're a "supporter" of gender fluidity? I'd love to hear what you'd say about it you WEREN'T a supporter.
What can you say? We have come a long way as a country. We have a black president, that is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Now we have people who aren't black, who wish they were. I never thought I would see that, either.
The cup is half-full on this one.
The cup is half-full on this one.
2
She's delusional. Look at it this way. What if she told a co-worker her parents were coming to visit. She and her parents bumped into this co-worker who later exclaimed about her parents saying something like, "Wow. They look white." What would she say? She'd lie, that's what. She doesn't identify as black; doesn't say, "I'm white and I identify black." She lies. If she somehow believes she's black then she's mad.
3
i've seen discussions where the line of difference that is drawn between transgender and transracial discussions is hereditary.
so, give that we all originated on the african continent, then what's the difference here from the standpoint of hereditary?
if it comes down to a point in time then who gets to decide when that point in time occurs?
so, give that we all originated on the african continent, then what's the difference here from the standpoint of hereditary?
if it comes down to a point in time then who gets to decide when that point in time occurs?
2
Zeno of Citium disapproved of liars. Liars are weak people who lie to others and themselves--they assent to their impressions. Furthermore, her race is "not up to" her. Epictetus is writhing in his grave.
1
Upon first seeing her interview on the Today show, I was convinced that this woman was a sham. But reading about her past and how she has identified as black for quite a while now makes this a much more complex story. I agree with the other commentators that her lying is the core of the issue here. But put yourself in this woman's shoes...she has a family that is clearly unwilling to accept her race identity and will go to such lengths as appearing on national television to counter her claims. They might have even been behind hiring the private investigator.
This is a story of a woman desperate to hold tight to an identify formed long ago and a family who refuses to accept it. Her reaction to this is to hold ever more tight to her identity even if it means lying to discredit those who have not accepted her. It's not like in recent years she put on blackface and deceived NAACP about who she is in order to land a job. This identity has been in the making for a while. Let's judge her on her actions and not on her exterior.
This is a story of a woman desperate to hold tight to an identify formed long ago and a family who refuses to accept it. Her reaction to this is to hold ever more tight to her identity even if it means lying to discredit those who have not accepted her. It's not like in recent years she put on blackface and deceived NAACP about who she is in order to land a job. This identity has been in the making for a while. Let's judge her on her actions and not on her exterior.
6
I commend you for trying to follow the story. Many commenters have not done nearly so much, just flipped off knee-jerk "OMG LIAR LIAR" reactions without really knowing a thing about this woman or her life and work.
2
Fully agree. As a mixed race child in a predominantly white school and raised by my white single mother I identified as white, I actually lied for years saying I was Native American to better fit in. Granted, I actually hold mainly Irish and Czechoslovakian ancestry my skin is naturally tan (father is black Irish) and I am always very angry when it is assumed I am merely African American as I do not identify as such.
She seems to be exhibiting a severe case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (possibly lead by acute sense of primogeniture entitlement after parents' adoption of two black children...); in any case, this supremely self-centered, fraudulent, and delusional woman obviously needs professional help, quickly.
17
I suppose it's a matter of semantics if one says they identify with a given race. I have no problem with that. But it seems Ms. Dolezal went beyond this and was stating she was black to gain an advantage. That I have a problem with.
6
The NAACP is well rid of her. What she has done is no worse than Bruce Jenner, and she probably has the same mental disorder as he, but when race enters the discussion the way it has, media support disappears.
1
All of the people who support this woman's fraud should be ashamed of themselves. Her use of Affirmative Action by lying, deprived some Negro of the benefits she used illegally. I am amazed at how anyone can support a person who lies, cheats and steals. Where have America's ethics gone? How did we get to be a Nation no longer abiding by rules, regulations and laws? When did lying become so prevalent in our culture? I don't have the answers, and that is why I am dumbfounded at the number of people who approve of what she did.
13
On what basis do you accuse her of "using affirmative action by lying"? What makes you think she used affirmative action AT ALL?
The confusion of some commenters about the basic facts here is breathtaking.
The confusion of some commenters about the basic facts here is breathtaking.
1
Dumbfounded? I would start with the character trait of empathy and the lack of it in comments like yours. It's as important to ethics as anything you listed. Why did she "lie"? How do you know she cheated or stole? You do not wish to understand her life, you seek only to judge it and dismiss it.
Basic facts aside she lied to herself, her family, and the outside world. Goes to show you anyone can be conned,bamboozled, and ran amok.
Yesterday on NPR African American students at Howard, Dolezal's alma mater, expressed their opinions on this topic. Out of about surveyed, only one had favorable remarks, the others basically said they were insulted by her claim to be black. A following discussion with 3 African American academics on the topic reflected the student's views, as one saw it favorably, and the others disagreed with Doleza,, one saying her claim to be black was an insult to African Americans. I agree with the African Americans who oppose Dolezal, as I believe her claim is disingenuous, insulting, and trivial. She has taken an important issue such as racial identity and trivialized it; she has stolen its meaning, and made as superficial as most other issues trivialized by loopy white liberals.
7
I was with you until you wrote "loopy white liberals". You defer to the African Americans as academics (which we have to take your word for for now) but whites, especially liberal whites, are loopy. Our prejudices take many forms and our language is often more revealing than we wish. Your name calling at the end seems to reveal a preference for one racial group over the other, which makes you a lot like Rachel. Sigh.
Ms. Dolezal seems to be living a 3D version of the online "Catfishing" phenomenon that's bubbled up over the past few years. She lives a real existence within a made up world, delivering an ever changing panoply of "facts" about her background, with just enough outrageous tidbits and drama thrown in to keep you hooked and wanting more. She is decidedly bold, but her shtick shouldn't be mistaken for bravery. It's pure con.
4
the use of terms like "post-racial" are sure indicators that we have not and will not move beyond racial discrimination any time soon. the view of hanging progress in this transition on any one individual (e.g., president obama) or event (e.g., election of an african-america president) is either disingenuous or disrespectful to the individual or the event. hope is not a course of action here and the solution will involve difficult and contentious public conversations. but we will be better for it if we embrace this challenge.
1
Saying she is black disputes science - can we all agree that science matters more - much more - than one's opinions or beliefs? Otherwise let's just accept the suns rotation about the earth - because, well, just because I say so. And that's about how close I can get to framing the argument that this woman is a fraud; and perpetuted this fraud as a means to advancing herself - selfishly - into a position of black leadership and respect. She may be articulate, creative, intelligent, etc. - but so were the best of history's cheaters and foolers.
3
Every time I think this story is over and Dolezal will finally admit she perhaps overstated her affiliation or that she was speaking more or less metaphorically or,... I dunno,... something,... something new. Instead of owning up to the double-speak and the lies, she digs her heels in and muddles her case even further, and the latest is today's (Tuesday) NBC interview during which she admits, as usual, that she hasn't had a DNA to prove she's black, but neither has she had a DNA to prove her white parents are her biological parents. When the interviewer presses her, she shrugs and makes faces and meanders on suggesting that unless one has a DNA test, well, how can one know for sure. Therefore, how can she really know for sure she's the biological daughter of her white parents. It's one of the most bizarre interviews I think I've ever seen. "Up to this point, I know who raised me,... I haven't had a DNA test,... there's been no biological p-p-proof that Larry and Ruthanne are my biological parents," she says, shrugging and smiling. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rachel-dolezal-race-controversy-naac...
2
Her behavior is consistent with the mental health version of Munchausen's disease. It's interesting, and probably useful for so many people to come forward and hit the ground running on the subject of racial identity, but what has happened to her is something totally different. The first reaction anyone has upon hearing of her extreme confabulation is one of nonplus-edness. This is the clue that something profound has happened inside her head. If she were a textbook case of physical Munchausen's she would be garnering attention at least in her doctor's office for repeated mysterious and serious illnesses or by demanding surgeries for nonexistent disorders.
2
It's interesting to me that as a South Asian, a minority, I see millions of other Asians using skin-bleaching, hair lightening, taking on elements (language, dress, aspirations), and even surgery in some cases, to resemble more a predominately majority culture. These alterations - to be closer in identification to a majority race - are not met with the same scrutiny that has met Ms. Dolezal. Potentially what is so shocking, is that a person of the 'majority race' is aspiring to be part of a 'minority race' and that is what is part of the vehement reaction to her. I prefer to measure her by what she has accomplished, v.s who she proposes to identify with - and hope this discourse does not swallow her seemingly positive accomplishments.
7
Please answer - If I am white and living in SA and my ancestors arrived in the country in 1805 (200 years ago), am I an African? (The reason I ask is because the ruling ANC government doe not consider me to be an African?)
regarding the police reports describing here as white; i have a coworker who is asian but is identified as "white, non-hispanic" on a recent traffic ticket. so much for the evidentiary validity of police reports.
3
This has nothing to do with the transgender debate. White people are not born with some overwhelming urge to be black. Common sense tells us that Ms. Dolezal has lost her way in racial matters. That is hardly a crime. In fact, it would be innocuous if she hadn't pursued positions of leadership in the black community. For a white person to claim to be black in seeking to lead the NAACP or teach African American Studies, is to claim leadership and expertise in racial matters, in which she actually is woefully deficient. She can live as she pleases. But when she deceives those to whom racial identity is fundamental, she has stepped way over the line.
3
I think this is more complicated morally than people are willing to acknowledge. Of course she lied- that's the simple part. The real question is why she lied and here is where opinion divides. My take is frankly more sympathetic than most of the readers so far. From what I see, Ms. Dolezal took on the burden of being black as her life project- to call her involvement as a Christian in racial reconciliation and her ambition to go to Howard and her immersion in the African- American community as activist and parent simple opportunism misses the point. From where I sit as an lifelong observer and participant in North American racism- I am a beneficiary of white privilege like many others- Ms. Dolezal's identification as black reads as an act of conscience but also as an act of desperation especially her physical transformation. That's why I can't write her off even though I worry about her mental health.
8
emotional arguments aside, the uncomfortable truth is that there doesn't seem to be much difference between the position held by ms. dozeal and those in the transgender community.
6
At the end of the day, what Ms. Dolezal wanted more than anything is attention, and we are all helping her achieve that goal.
2
Ms Dolezal gets kudos for her work improving the life situation for African Americans in Spokane, and she has done so much more than government programs, and even many African Americans who have long talked a good game but haven't really achieved anything. Her accomplishments are on record, god bless her.
2
Why aren't any of the interviewers pressing her about her other lies? Remember, she stated that she grew up in a teepee, lived in Africa and was whipped as a child because she's black. She said that her father fleed the deep south to avoid being killed by a racist cop. Her ex-husband said that she lied to their son about him. One of her adoptive brothers said that she lied to and brainwashed their other brother.
The woman is a pathological liar and these news outlets are giving her the benefit of the doubt by only focusing on her lying about her race. She can give the excuse that she's "transracial" but how does she explain the countless other lies she's told over the years?
The woman is a liar and a charlatan who switches back and forth between races when it benefits her. There is no such thing as "transracial". This is nothing like transexuals, because for one it's entirely scientifically possible that transexuals brains don't match up with their physical anatomy due to all fetuses being feminine in utero (not possible in the case of race), and transexuals don't switch back and forth for personal gain.
The woman is a pathological liar and these news outlets are giving her the benefit of the doubt by only focusing on her lying about her race. She can give the excuse that she's "transracial" but how does she explain the countless other lies she's told over the years?
The woman is a liar and a charlatan who switches back and forth between races when it benefits her. There is no such thing as "transracial". This is nothing like transexuals, because for one it's entirely scientifically possible that transexuals brains don't match up with their physical anatomy due to all fetuses being feminine in utero (not possible in the case of race), and transexuals don't switch back and forth for personal gain.
3
The usual White media game of focusing on something trivial to evade the bigger issue of White supremacy.
1
If race is a social construct like gender, then why can't she change her race like some people change gender? For consistency in thoughts and values, then it seems you must accept that this woman can choose to be black.
Is her "blackface" really more offensive than a man appropriating physical markers associated with women? Sure, Rachel has had white privilege & it may be demeaning to reduce "blackness" to skin tone & hair texture....yet, a long history of male privilege and misogyny doesn't make reducing womanhood to corsets, long hair and makeup the least bit problematic?
Except it isn't the same, because there IS major biological evidence for being physically male or female. Classification of such is not a matter of fashion taste. Racial classification is much murkier. Although, it is not true that neither has any connection at all to biology. So the line people want to draw is one of identify vs fact. She can identify with blacks, but must be upfront about her birth status and life experience as a white person. She can take on black culture, "act black", etc, but not BE black. She should not be allowed to legally identify as black or receive benefits from a black identity. Suggest a similar "honesty" to transgender people and you will get a riot.
If you find flaws in the popular reasonings in light of facts, then maybe it is time to reevaluate other politically correct values. Facts will make you hateful, however. Forget truth in favor of what makes people feel good!
Is her "blackface" really more offensive than a man appropriating physical markers associated with women? Sure, Rachel has had white privilege & it may be demeaning to reduce "blackness" to skin tone & hair texture....yet, a long history of male privilege and misogyny doesn't make reducing womanhood to corsets, long hair and makeup the least bit problematic?
Except it isn't the same, because there IS major biological evidence for being physically male or female. Classification of such is not a matter of fashion taste. Racial classification is much murkier. Although, it is not true that neither has any connection at all to biology. So the line people want to draw is one of identify vs fact. She can identify with blacks, but must be upfront about her birth status and life experience as a white person. She can take on black culture, "act black", etc, but not BE black. She should not be allowed to legally identify as black or receive benefits from a black identity. Suggest a similar "honesty" to transgender people and you will get a riot.
If you find flaws in the popular reasonings in light of facts, then maybe it is time to reevaluate other politically correct values. Facts will make you hateful, however. Forget truth in favor of what makes people feel good!
4
Some of the commentators on here prefer the fiction over the truth.
Is she actually a liar or is she simply trans-truthful?
10
In many ways, she's acting consistently with contemporary (read: uniquely modern) emphases on individual interiority—esp. individual passions or desires—as decisive in the question of identity. There is no shared, external standard by which our fixation on individual desires is gauged. The consequence is that, given this lack of a shared external gauge, we frequently insist that people's desires should not only be permissible, but also at some level affirmed in the name of something called "tolerance": the quintessential (only?) virtue of contemporary Western culture.
4
Ms. Dolezal and her story bring together many of the elements of the identity politics movement which has blossomed in American society in the past 5 years. Her story also illustrates its problems and pitfalls.
Identity politics is a way of trapping a participant in an unwinnable game of social advocacy. The activist uses variations of the argument that because you aren't me, you can't understand what I am advocating, or who I am. These statements are undeniable and incontrovertible. No bridge building is happening during such a discussion. It is social hostility masked as a victimization argument. There is nothing the participant can say in the face of such statements without appearing to be intolerant, or racist. Either the participant agrees, and gets verbally mugged, or they walk away. It is an assault as much as it is a civil rights discussion. When conclusions are foregone, so are the results.
Ms. Dolezal can engage in her fantasy identity, and we are free to engage in our beliefs that she is a deluded, manipulative, aggressive person. She can assert who she believes herself to be until kingdom come, but saying so doesn't make it so, except in fairy tales. She was foolish to go on national television with her assertions. Go away, please.
3
Please Honey, do you NOT unmderstand, you've had your 15 minutes of fame,
the hall is empty, the klieg lights are off, now will you just GO AWAY?
the hall is empty, the klieg lights are off, now will you just GO AWAY?
This woman is definetly disturbed and the media should back off.
I identify as a chipmunk
1
If Bruce Jenner can become a woman, Rachel Dolezal can become a black.
And, I as a man, can give birth to a baby. Or maybe not.
And, I as a man, can give birth to a baby. Or maybe not.
2
I understand that Ms. Dolezal is going to produce and star in a new soapopera, "White is the New Black." It will be proceeded by the provocative comedy, "Up is Down."
1
These are an unusual form of lies of aggrandizement, even though whites have historically viewed African-Americans as "less grand" than they. It's still a form of aggrandizement, of puffing oneself up.
How dull to be just another white girl from the western U.S. How much more exciting--dramatic--to be a member of a demographic group that endured 100s of years of slavery in the recent past, and which still struggles against bigotry, hate and unfairness. How exciting to have a righteous cause.
It reminds me of James Frey's deception in his "memoir" (actually fiction) called "A Million Little Pieces," which told the story of how Frey supposedly bottomed out as an alcoholic and crack addict. Tales of missing teeth, macho fist fights, criminal arrests, multiple root canals without anesthesia, a love interest at the rehab who either hangs herself or cuts her wrists, depending on which version of the tale Frey was telling. It was all very "paint-it-black," and oh-so dramatic, so much more so than the humdrum truth.
From what I've seen, narcissism (in the descriptive sense; not a diagnosis), which is fueled by deep shame & an inability to accept oneself, is what causes people to lie to aggrandize themselves. They're usually pretty poor liars, because they're trying to fool themselves (to live the dream, as their dream self) as well as others. They're not in control of the lies, the way a person who lies in a calculated way, to avoid getting in trouble, tends to be in control.
How dull to be just another white girl from the western U.S. How much more exciting--dramatic--to be a member of a demographic group that endured 100s of years of slavery in the recent past, and which still struggles against bigotry, hate and unfairness. How exciting to have a righteous cause.
It reminds me of James Frey's deception in his "memoir" (actually fiction) called "A Million Little Pieces," which told the story of how Frey supposedly bottomed out as an alcoholic and crack addict. Tales of missing teeth, macho fist fights, criminal arrests, multiple root canals without anesthesia, a love interest at the rehab who either hangs herself or cuts her wrists, depending on which version of the tale Frey was telling. It was all very "paint-it-black," and oh-so dramatic, so much more so than the humdrum truth.
From what I've seen, narcissism (in the descriptive sense; not a diagnosis), which is fueled by deep shame & an inability to accept oneself, is what causes people to lie to aggrandize themselves. They're usually pretty poor liars, because they're trying to fool themselves (to live the dream, as their dream self) as well as others. They're not in control of the lies, the way a person who lies in a calculated way, to avoid getting in trouble, tends to be in control.
5
She's a con artist and she's never gong to stop lying. Race is not the issue. Lying is.
2
More attention should be paid to Ms. Dolezal's admirable record of public service (NAACP, police commission, etc.) and less to the eccentric and, for many, offensive choices she has made in her personal lifestyle. Should his notorious philandering compromise the aims and achievements of MLK (or JFK)?
4
I've recently seen some Facebooks posts of Dolezal's, and some information about the "adoption as a mission field" cult. The prairie attire worn by Ruthanne Dolezal was seen as a red flag by some who have experienced abuse by this cult's members.Rachel Dolezal, with all her lawsuits and harassment claims, did nothing but add fuel to the flame of ignorant, blind racism. She lived in places that have made headlines in the last five years as being "hot beds" for supremacist groups. Why?It's difficult not to suspect that she expected special treatment or benefits, or even just extra attention, living in a place that has a small population of blacks. While her actions have made us examine how we, as a society, continue to "see" skin color as a defining category of identity, Dolezal's exploitation of an identity that isn't hers to claim, while attempting to create contempt against her actual ethnicity, is deplorable. Is she trying to make whites look bad...or blacks? People who have been abused as children often become abusers themselves. She definitely relates concepts of race with violence.
1
I think of the Kurt Vonnegut line: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." I also think of the work of sociologist Erving Goffman, especially "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life," the main point of which there isn't any essentialist authenticity: all of us, every day, play one or more roles, complete with costumes, props, and modes of speaking.
If someone is fully pretending to be black, and acting that role convincingly and "sincerely" (i.e., fully invested in playing that role, perhaps believing her own portrayal in all its details), then it may well be unfair to treat her as reproachfully as some commentators have done. Doing so seems to be an ironic recapitulation of one of the most poisonous relics of the Jim Crow era. That is, if Ms. Dolezal had "one drop" of documented African-American ancestry, say a black great-grandparent, then would the people howling against her "deception" be quite so loud about it?
For a long time now, thoughtful people have realized that something as genetically trivial as race is simply a social construct. Treating a racial identity as the property of certain gatekeepers, who get to decide who is in and who out, and who can condemn people like Ms. Dolezal for what amounts to copyright infringement, does no one any good.
If someone is fully pretending to be black, and acting that role convincingly and "sincerely" (i.e., fully invested in playing that role, perhaps believing her own portrayal in all its details), then it may well be unfair to treat her as reproachfully as some commentators have done. Doing so seems to be an ironic recapitulation of one of the most poisonous relics of the Jim Crow era. That is, if Ms. Dolezal had "one drop" of documented African-American ancestry, say a black great-grandparent, then would the people howling against her "deception" be quite so loud about it?
For a long time now, thoughtful people have realized that something as genetically trivial as race is simply a social construct. Treating a racial identity as the property of certain gatekeepers, who get to decide who is in and who out, and who can condemn people like Ms. Dolezal for what amounts to copyright infringement, does no one any good.
4
Ms. Dolezal has a perfect right to think of herself as "black." She has a perfect right to reconfigure her appearance to convey the persona of a black woman. If she simply had so described herself to others, there would not be any controversy about her at all at this time.
3
People who are outraged by Rachel's self-identification are subconsciously thinking along a racist divide. This conversation would be different if this was about an African-American passing as a white person. Not so long ago, African-Americans with one drop of African-American heritage were classified as African-American and were subjected to slavery and Jim Crow. People who did not even look African-American were subjugated until they decided to pass.
Passing required these people to shun their families and live in constant fear of being exposed. Does anyone remember what happened to Sarah Jane on Imitation of Life.
We need to re-examine our understanding of racial identification.
President Obama's mother is white. His father is Black. However, President Obama has been established as the first African-American President.
And I still don't understand why Rachel's parents have such an issue with her racial self-identification.
Passing required these people to shun their families and live in constant fear of being exposed. Does anyone remember what happened to Sarah Jane on Imitation of Life.
We need to re-examine our understanding of racial identification.
President Obama's mother is white. His father is Black. However, President Obama has been established as the first African-American President.
And I still don't understand why Rachel's parents have such an issue with her racial self-identification.
3
I wonder what all the uproar is about. If she says she is black,let her be. Only in America people create problems out of nothing. Come to Europe @RachelDolezal nobody cares about this things, we need people like you that will fight racial discrimination as long as you fight for black rights and identify as Black..then it's what you are. Let nobody take that from you!. I SUPPORT YOU.
4
She has undermined her work for black people. There is a difference between passionate admiration for people and appropriating their identity because in your tortured mind, something is missing from your own life to the point where you think deceiving others and yourself is not only justifiable, but laudable.
4
i've yet to see an argument here that logically, rationally explained why one can change gender identity but cannot change racial identity. if there is a necessary difference then it needs to be rationally presented in an understandable way or both simply become a matter of whim and whimsy.
6
I would be careful in trying to split hairs on this one. If we adopt definitions of blackness from the not too distant past, then a single drop of black blood would qualify you as a member of the black race. Modern DNA analysis, however, shows how much interbreeding has occurred since the founding of this country. Go back far enough and we are all related.
Agree or disagree, this woman is an outlier. There are so many real issues that need to be solved that they prevent me from putting her very high on my worry list.
Agree or disagree, this woman is an outlier. There are so many real issues that need to be solved that they prevent me from putting her very high on my worry list.
6
What Rachel Dolezal does is not my business. It is not my right to make a judgement about it. I don't believe it's anyone's business. It belongs to her and her life. People can accept her the way she chooses to live or not. I personally am not offended that she wants to identify as black. She obviously feels black. Maybe deep down she feels her parents preferred black idenity also, choosing to adopt her black siblings..was she, a little white girl, not enough? And now they chastise her for being dishonest. I think there is more to this than meets the eye. As Rachel says herself, it's complicated. They judge her now without mercy. I think the story goes much deeper then we know.
6
Whether it's gender, sexuality or race and culture, those who identify themselves in those categories should live as they please without negative repercussions as long as they do not adversely impact on others. That certainly applies to Ms Dolezal. She is obviously intelligent, committed and has apparently done some good work. The problem is that she has been consistently untruthful and has now been pilloried for it. If she identifies as black and relates to their causes, that's fine, she should go ahead and assist, but she should jettison the bogus back story and rationalization. People are angry because they don't like being played.
15
This is outlandish. Dolezal claims that "Nothing about being white describes who I am", but to actually to do what she has done screams white privilege. It takes a great deal of arrogance and ignorance for someone who is not actually connected by blood to a heritage, to simply choose the heritage that she sympathizes with the most. Not to mention that to do this on so many levels also requires that the person be a pathological liar of extraordinary proportion. The conditions we came into this world with, be it race, gender, sexual preference, are not our choice, and it is how we deal with this truth that defines who we are. These are the conditions James Baldwin called every individual's rock, from which there is no hiding place. You deal with the rock and find true freedom. What Rachel Dolezal has done is neglect her true heritage, her real identity, and insult anyone who has really dealt with the hand they were dealt with coming into this world. What an absolute fraud.
22
and I identify as French but my parents were of Irish/Scottish descent and lived in Brooklyn. Real question is whether she has been effective leader for the black community.
5
You had better tell her that because she apparently believed that was not enough.
2
the ends justify the means? i think not or much becomes acceptable that ought not be so.
Identifying with another race and to lie about being a race are two totally different things.
Most are understanding of others who would like to live a lifestyle in which they participate in cultural events other than the ones they were brought up with, decorate their home and dress in whatever cultural style they prefer, dress however they want. If Dolezal was all the above, but honest about her race, this wouldn't be a story.
However, a line is crossed when someone lies about their race. That's is something genetic, it can't be changed. It's different than sexual orientation, so I have no idea why so many people are drawing comparisons. When I read comments that suggest one should be able to choose their race, I feel like people are taking the "freedom of choice" thing a little too far and entering the realm of silly.
Most are understanding of others who would like to live a lifestyle in which they participate in cultural events other than the ones they were brought up with, decorate their home and dress in whatever cultural style they prefer, dress however they want. If Dolezal was all the above, but honest about her race, this wouldn't be a story.
However, a line is crossed when someone lies about their race. That's is something genetic, it can't be changed. It's different than sexual orientation, so I have no idea why so many people are drawing comparisons. When I read comments that suggest one should be able to choose their race, I feel like people are taking the "freedom of choice" thing a little too far and entering the realm of silly.
9
'That's something generic"
No, it's not. Race is not genetic. Please inform yourself. It isn't hard to do. Quite a few people have pointed out this simple fact in these debates, but old myths die hard, it seems. Race - genetic - no.
No, it's not. Race is not genetic. Please inform yourself. It isn't hard to do. Quite a few people have pointed out this simple fact in these debates, but old myths die hard, it seems. Race - genetic - no.
Surely this case shuts to door on the silly and offensive myth of "White Privilege"! It is quite clear that as a black woman, Dolezal had access to a vast expanse of privileges forbidden to Whites. She had a powerful black racial lobby behind her in the NAACP and similar groups for which there is no White equivalent. She had what seems to be a very lucrative career in avenging imagined racial slights and claiming victimhood (I have read how she complained about White kids in Spokane who stared at those with "ethnic hairstyles" and her advocacy via suspect "hate crimes" is strident at best). She had access to, and looks as though she may have availed herself of, affirmative action. Most importantly, she gained membership to a race, which, unlike Whites, can act in its own self-interests without the threat of being tarred as "racist".
14
It's even worse if: She attended a historically black college, Howard University. (While there, though, she identified as a white woman, even filing a lawsuit in 2002 for discrimination, since dismissed, on race and other grounds.) - From Tamara Winfrey Harris NYT Op-Ed 17 Jun 2015.
Schizophrenia comes to mind, pardon the pun.
Schizophrenia comes to mind, pardon the pun.
1
Lucrative career - affirmative action - where are people getting this? None of this is true.
"The threat of being tarred as a racist"?
Can one act in their own self interest without oppressing others?
I think though doth protest too much...
Can one act in their own self interest without oppressing others?
I think though doth protest too much...
Rachel Dolezal has begun a nationwide conversation concerning preconceived notions of race and identity. Rather than doing so intentionally by way of her public efforts, she has done so unintentional was by way of her secret. The irony is almost literary in its perfection.
10
There is so much deception on her part, on many different levels; that's what disturbing about this story. "Identifying" as black is not the same thing as being born black. Why isn't she truthful? Lots of lying and self-delusion happening here. Most black folks don't have the luxury to change their skin color and appearance to pass for white. For her to do it in reverse? To what end? The whole thing is quite bizarre.
9
Before coming down on Rachael Dolezal, think about the part of the country she has chosen to do civil rights advocacy in and think about how few people in the Spokane and Idaho Panhandle area are doing such work. Think about the courage it takes to do this work in a place that was the home of the Aryan Nation. Never good to fabricate but before coming down like a ton of bricks on her, think about this.
11
Basically a liar, but it is OK because it is for the cause.
3
Those who would mock or question her identification as a trans-racial individual are bullies who do not understand the pain she must have gone through as a teen and young adult discovering that she was born the wrong color. She is, indeed, courageous and brave for weathering the storm of criticism to claim her own truth! You go girl!
4
She certainly has every right to choose her political agenda, her causes and her personal priorities. She even has the right not to get along with family. Neither Rachel Dolezal nor the rest of the world has the right to blatantly deceive others for advantage, deny provable facts about her biological heritage and couch her absurd premises in some fuzzy logic of political correctness.
8
There is a difference between IDENTIFYING as/with something, and BEING that thing. Ms. Dolezal has every right to identify WITH black culture, history, etc., if she chooses to. But that does not make her Black.
And this is setting aside the web of lies she has spun for decades now, including sometimes claiming to be Black, sometimes not, as the situation suited her.
She has done good work, and should not have resigned. She should simply have said, "I was born of white parents, and was sister to four adopted black children. I began identifying with that culture early on, and continue to do so." Had she spoken these simple words, the controversy would have ended, and there would not be over 1700 comments on this thread.
And this is setting aside the web of lies she has spun for decades now, including sometimes claiming to be Black, sometimes not, as the situation suited her.
She has done good work, and should not have resigned. She should simply have said, "I was born of white parents, and was sister to four adopted black children. I began identifying with that culture early on, and continue to do so." Had she spoken these simple words, the controversy would have ended, and there would not be over 1700 comments on this thread.
15
Thank you, Maani, for articulating so clearly what I have been thinking.
It's all about her. Read a story that involves Ms. Dolezal and she is the center of attention. Watch a video in which she is talking about "issues" and she has plenty to say about herself and her experience (yet the authenticity of considerable parts of her experience is now in question). Ms. Dolezal on hate crime is a story about how many times she has been the victim of hate crimes.
5
In a matter of one week , this woman has produced 2 unforgettable responses, " I don't understand the question" and " I identify with…" that will far outlive any debate over her race, illness or hairdo. She missed her calling…advertising, politics, media relations…or maybe she didn't.
9
At first I thought this woman was a lying scoundrel who uses the sympathy people feel towards minorities to her advantage. Then it hit me! This woman is a lying scoundrel who uses the sympathy people feel towards minorities to her advantage.
16
The comments are absolutely fascinating to read and digest. Much more so than the sad story itself.
6
She missed a great opportunity to make real stride in her hometown, a place very much in need of awakening. Beyond that, she could have made an impact elsewhere, if for the fact she didn't lie. The sad, recurring fact that it has become the norm to lie in this country, even in the face of cold, hard facts.
1
If we can momentarily put aside the (mis)representation of her racial/ethnic background, I wonder if we can step back from focusing on Ms. Dolezal or Ms. Jenner to consider what these cases tell us about where Americans are and aren't in thinking about race/ethnic identity and sex/gender identity, on the one hand, and our shared humanity, on the other. For many, the cases are quite distinct; for others, parallel—itself a telling observation. Under the law, race and sex have traditionally been considered immutable characteristics (unlike religion); at the same time, in some quarters, society's understanding of gender identity is changing quickly and dramatically. Yet, the sex/gender binary is useful—and likely necessary—if we are to understand systemic forces like discrimination (though some women are privileged while some men are not, depending on the context, especially in cross-class settings). Given our history, race/ethnicity seems even more complex though nothing having to do with race/ethnicity or sex/gender is ever simple. My plea is not that folks stop being outraged or fascinated, but that we spend some serious time reflecting on what our outrage or fascination tells us about our own investments in categories like those related to racial/ethnic or sex/gender identity or expression. Wherever we are with these issues, it seems like we've all got work to do if we are to understand our own lived experiences as well as those of others with whom we share this land.
9
Well, all I can say is that being married to a Taiwanese, living in Taiwan, and speaking the language does not make me Taiwanese. Maybe the blond hair, blue eyes and the extra height give it away - That, and I like who I was born as. Perhaps Ms. Dolezal does not.
8
She is simply a liar and a fraud.
1
How many other whites will work so hard to defend blacks?
Race is socially determined. She is what she believes that she is now.
Race is socially determined. She is what she believes that she is now.
6
Race, meaning a set of inherited, physical characteristics shared amongst populations as a result of evolution in a given environment, is not socially determined. However, you could make a valid argument that culture, as in the common traditions, behaviors, and ideas of a certain group, is a social construct. True racial equality would make the color of one's skin totally independent of culture and lifestyle. If Ms. Dolezal believed in this type of color-blindness, she would have never changed her appearance and deceived people like she has. The fact is that Rachel Dolezal is totally consumed by the physical characteristics of race. She made that clear in her Today interview when she said "there is not a single part of me that is white" in response to a question about her race. This statement shows that Ms Dolezal equates character with skin color; in other words, she believes that a person's culture is dictated by that person's race. That's the very definition of racism. And it's this racist attitude that compelled her to alter her appearance, because in her mind being white was totally incompatible with the culture she identified with. If you're white you're in this group and you behave this way and you think these things - that is how this person viewed race and it's a mindset I hope we can eventually purge from this country.
This woman is brave. She worked for a living and got fairly compensated. It's obvious that she doesn't want to be pinned down but I'm not bothered. Her deeds are what matter to me and she's a refreshing addition to the perverse media hysteria that usually runs for one new cycle. This story has real legs, certainly so, if we paid more attention to what she says.
10
I identify as someone not required to pay taxes. Please let it be so.
16
Why is the biological element--the actual "blood"--so important in these discussions? Why is that the defining element. Obviously the woman has kinship ties to blacks: her step brothers and adoptive son, her biological son, her ex-husband. As a black woman she is now victim to discrimination, her son and family are. She is choosing to share the burden with them and to partake of the beautiful aspects of black culture which have inspired her art, her political work (even before the "external" transformation. It is not as if she were a total outsider to the black community. What is this "essentialist" thinking that seems to inform so many comments about? Nor is she disrespecting nor satirizing black culture (as in blackface). Only in America can this uproar come about. If one wants to be even more punctilious she is strictly speaking a woman of color too (she has some Native American "blood" running in her "veins" or DNA or whatever the repository for these bodily based identities is ....
19
Black and African American seem ti be synonymous in many of these comments. I wonder if that is correct. RD "identifies" as "black". What is black really? Somehow this identification is deeper than skin color, culture, or even what i credible or not credible. RD is a woman thinking out of the box, acting on her own conscience, and leading a life wholly on her own terms, whatever those are.
7
Filing false police reports is a crime and should be investigated. Given her numerous deceits it would come as no surprise to most if those 8 or 9 "hate crimes" are fiction as well.
2
This has reached the stage of who cares!
2
I see a very slippery slope in accepting someone who "identifies with" being something that they are really not. Where do we draw the line?
Can I identify with having graduated from Harvard, when I really didn't?
Can I identify with being a doctor and practice medicine?
Can I identify with being a lawyer and practice law?
Can I identify with being a pilot and fly a commercial aircraft?
How far do we want to go with this nonsense?
Can I identify with having graduated from Harvard, when I really didn't?
Can I identify with being a doctor and practice medicine?
Can I identify with being a lawyer and practice law?
Can I identify with being a pilot and fly a commercial aircraft?
How far do we want to go with this nonsense?
12
Is this a modern racial trial by the public?
6
when does the book come out?
3
I'll read it. She's had a very interesting life, and has obviously accomplished more with it, and done more good for more people, than many of her detractors. I'd like to hear her story.
How is it possible for her to not have a "hint of blackness "? Is there really anybody on this planet that does not have black ancestors?
Has the archeology community been lying to us all this time?
Has the archeology community been lying to us all this time?
4
I wonder if, as a society, we're teetering toward lunacy. There are lots of comments saying such things as, "Gender, race and sexual preference should be solely by choice." Say what? I thought these things were innate, thus things that merit legal protections against discrimination. This women is not merely unstable, she appears to be either so deeply delusional that she's convinced that the more often you tell a lie with conviction and a smile it will eventually be believed or she's a charlatan extraordinaire. There are many people who want to defend her by saying she has the right to choose her race - wait a second, I think I see the edge of insanity just up ahead! When she can, lying like this, benefit from special programs and positions intended for people who have truly suffered discrimination in their lives? Why don't we just toss out all the labels that give us our identities and our individual characteristics? Perhaps our brains are just too feeble to resolve the problems we create, either important or ridiculous. Why is it so difficult for us, as a society, to simply recognize a liar as a liar? It's one thing to dress yourself and make yourself up as you choose as a means to celebrate a culture other than your own, but she goes way beyond.
16
Excellent post Nancy. I only differ in believing that we have already crossed over the line into insanity. Reality is not PC.
What "special programs and positions" are you referring to? She was white when she attended college and graduate school. Her NAACP position was volunteer and open to anyone regardless of race. Her other community position is also volunteer. There are very few programs or positions that benefit only minorities--in fact I don"t know of any. And no evidence that Dolezal ever lied to get money or a paid position.
i'm amazed that nobody has mentioned all the half-white black entertainers who immerse themselves in hip hop and other black stylings just to be more cool,and definitely self-identify with being black.what i think is truly sad is how they basically disown the white mother who raised them and identify with the black father who abandoned them at a young age
6
I'm "amazed" you have the gall to sterotype biracial hip hop artists as products of single parent broken homes where mommy was white & the black daddy left...really? Broken homes exist in every walk of life and across all racial lines.
in your mind biracial artists are synonymous with an absentee black father with a shunned white mother watching from the wings? and you know this how?
Please....Have a seat!
in your mind biracial artists are synonymous with an absentee black father with a shunned white mother watching from the wings? and you know this how?
Please....Have a seat!
3
It is unfortunate that Rachel Dolezal is able to exploit the racial divide for ultimately self-aggrandizement, despite whatever good works she has orchestrated. Much like Senator Elizabeth Warren, yet with less DNA credibility for racial identity confusion, Ms. Dolezal has put her finger on the pulse of the media and been able to weasel her way to prominence with nary a challenge due to the innate fear of the stain of racism. When a President raised in a white family with a white mother is able to self-identify solely as black for political gain, the invitation is open to anyone with a physical question mark in our current society of polarization and divide.
It is sad that Ms. Dolezal is now history as a leader in the minority she champions and self-identifies despite no hereditary biology and belonging. Her actions should suffice, despite the hollowness of her words.
It is sad that Ms. Dolezal is now history as a leader in the minority she champions and self-identifies despite no hereditary biology and belonging. Her actions should suffice, despite the hollowness of her words.
1
Ms. Dolezal obviously decided her life would be better if she masqueraded as black and lied about her background. I assume she made the decision to gain academic and financal advantage, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Regarding her former position as an adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington, how do bachelor's and master's degres in fine arts qualify one to teach Africana?
I suspect we will learn about more of Ms. Dolezal's lies before this tempest blows over.
Regarding her former position as an adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington, how do bachelor's and master's degres in fine arts qualify one to teach Africana?
I suspect we will learn about more of Ms. Dolezal's lies before this tempest blows over.
6
Accepting or excusing Rachel Dolezal's blatant Blackface and appropriation of Black identity and culture is troubling. Race is not fluid, as Dolezal claims. A Black or Brown person cannot one day decide they are White, and be as easily accepted in White spaces or the White community. Rachel Dolezal, in all her "good intentions," is simply taking advantage of her White privilege and harming the Black community she claims to love.
3
We all create a social construct of who we are or want to be.
Whether that is as extreme as Norma Jean going from brunette to blonde and adding a Hollywood name, Michael Jackson lighting his skin and altering his nose (was he white or black then?), Bruce Jenner coming out as Caityln, an infinite list of celebrities who've had tucks or breast implants, children of multi-racial relationships who choose to "pass" as white, or Rachel Dolezal identifying as "black", we all create our identities. Some of us construct an identity closer to what is expected for us by our social settings, others not so much. The furor is due to how closely we as a society hold on to these constructs of social identity.
Is this any more or less outside the "norm" than the Sworn Virgins of Albania who are women who live as men when there is no male family member left to become head of the family? Race, gender, religion, politics -- these are ALL social constructs.
Whether that is as extreme as Norma Jean going from brunette to blonde and adding a Hollywood name, Michael Jackson lighting his skin and altering his nose (was he white or black then?), Bruce Jenner coming out as Caityln, an infinite list of celebrities who've had tucks or breast implants, children of multi-racial relationships who choose to "pass" as white, or Rachel Dolezal identifying as "black", we all create our identities. Some of us construct an identity closer to what is expected for us by our social settings, others not so much. The furor is due to how closely we as a society hold on to these constructs of social identity.
Is this any more or less outside the "norm" than the Sworn Virgins of Albania who are women who live as men when there is no male family member left to become head of the family? Race, gender, religion, politics -- these are ALL social constructs.
11
The difference is, she didn't come out. She LIED and was outed.
As a person of mixed race descent, I am absolutely fascinated by this story. I agree that she could have been more up front from the beginning, but I instinctively get the concept of racial identity as fluid. She just stretched it farther, and to her credit fought passionately for her chosen race.
The recent novel Your Face in Mine explores this topic. In a few years, this will become a more common phenomenon, and thru surgery, the changes will be irreversible and not as easy as flipping a switch as some of her critics have stated.
The recent novel Your Face in Mine explores this topic. In a few years, this will become a more common phenomenon, and thru surgery, the changes will be irreversible and not as easy as flipping a switch as some of her critics have stated.
7
Exactly. The physical changes are easy to manage and not really terribly dramatic. Judging by all the pearl clutching, you'd think she transformed herself into a rhinoceros or something.
I had a friend who pretended to be Jewish, but he, like Rachel, was a Caucasian with identity issues. Also like Rachel, he overcompensated. Like her overdone waist-long braids (probably extensions) or massive curly perm died black, he pretended to be Hasidic, and wore an untrimmed beard and curls in his hair. In reality, he, again like Rachel, was a compulsive liar. Yes, that is what we call people like this in the real world. Opportunists and compulsive liars. You can't just claim the race without the struggle. You're white, Rachel, just like both of your parents, and you lied your way into a job.
4
Thank you..theres a STRUGGLE behind being black. You can FEEL connected all you want but you don't get to claim it as your own .I don't care how long your beard is, you arent Jewish & they can't trace your lineage to judiasm. And no matter how kinky your braids or how tan you get...you can't trace your roots to Africa! Your ppl didnt live through slavery, jim crow & second class citizenship in a country they helped build.
It's insulting to the ppl that lived through it.
She's coining the term "transracial" to justify her deception. She did it for her own personal gain bc it fed her pyschosis/delusion..and it benefited her FINANCIALLY as well. She built a career on identifying as black. How can you teach a course on Black Women studies...when you merely paraded as one for 5 yrs? You can understand the black woman's experience in America in 5 years time? Really?
...Jbc she FEELS it doesn't make her black. She needs to come up with a better excuse for what she did.
"Just bc you poor syrup on it, don't make it pancakes! "
It's insulting to the ppl that lived through it.
She's coining the term "transracial" to justify her deception. She did it for her own personal gain bc it fed her pyschosis/delusion..and it benefited her FINANCIALLY as well. She built a career on identifying as black. How can you teach a course on Black Women studies...when you merely paraded as one for 5 yrs? You can understand the black woman's experience in America in 5 years time? Really?
...Jbc she FEELS it doesn't make her black. She needs to come up with a better excuse for what she did.
"Just bc you poor syrup on it, don't make it pancakes! "
Actually religion is one area where you CAN self identify and believe in whatever gibberish you choose to believe.
American culture is advancing rapidly.
If the biologically Male, Bruce Jenner, can identify himself as the Female Caitlyn Jenner, why is it wrong for the White Rachel Dolezal to self-identify as as being Black? Jenner's declaration of being Female is accepted as a cultural self-identification.
Certainly, gender is scientifically, physically defined by DNA. But there is no scientific basis at all for Race, except in the mind of racists. We're all Homo Sapiens who possess a varying range of superficial qualities such as skin, eye and hair coloring / texture.
I've known Blacks who look quite white and have blond hair. I've know Whites with kinky hair and/or dark skin, including Jews, Italians, Arabs and Asian Indians. I've known Whites who grew up in Black neighborhoods, and who spoke Black English and culturally were Black.
I think Rachel Dolezal honestly identifies as Black, but not as African-American, because she has had no ancestors who were African, for thousands of years.
But there are many Africans who are White, especially north of the Sahara, but also in South Africa and other African nations.
Many Western Hemisphere Blacks, living in the Caribbean, Antilles and Brazil, are descended from Africans but do not identify as African-Americans if American means from the USA.
Much of this has to do, more with cultural identification rather than physical.
It appears that no harm was done by Rachel Dolezal, but it's all food for thought among the American Rainbow.
If the biologically Male, Bruce Jenner, can identify himself as the Female Caitlyn Jenner, why is it wrong for the White Rachel Dolezal to self-identify as as being Black? Jenner's declaration of being Female is accepted as a cultural self-identification.
Certainly, gender is scientifically, physically defined by DNA. But there is no scientific basis at all for Race, except in the mind of racists. We're all Homo Sapiens who possess a varying range of superficial qualities such as skin, eye and hair coloring / texture.
I've known Blacks who look quite white and have blond hair. I've know Whites with kinky hair and/or dark skin, including Jews, Italians, Arabs and Asian Indians. I've known Whites who grew up in Black neighborhoods, and who spoke Black English and culturally were Black.
I think Rachel Dolezal honestly identifies as Black, but not as African-American, because she has had no ancestors who were African, for thousands of years.
But there are many Africans who are White, especially north of the Sahara, but also in South Africa and other African nations.
Many Western Hemisphere Blacks, living in the Caribbean, Antilles and Brazil, are descended from Africans but do not identify as African-Americans if American means from the USA.
Much of this has to do, more with cultural identification rather than physical.
It appears that no harm was done by Rachel Dolezal, but it's all food for thought among the American Rainbow.
10
Wow. That is an interesting way of looking at the situation, and one which you articulated very well. Thanks.
Rachel Dolezal says, "Nothing about being white describes who I am.” Oh, I
can think of at least two things, her parents!
can think of at least two things, her parents!
It's not just that she crossed the line between white and black, it's that she ditched being a white woman to become black. I think THAT's what some people find disturbing. Sort of a relic of KKK-think. She despoiled her own white womanhood, so she must be lynched.
She didn't uphold white womanhood--she abandoned it. And she abdicated the white family--her own parents. Seems to me she made some poor choices, and some idiosyncratic but brave ones too.
Last point. White privilege is absolutely real, but something about the way that phrase gets flung around sometimes strikes me as too righteous. As if an idea of "white privilege" can be used to bludgeon racial impostor Dolezal back into the white-woman identity where she "belongs".
She didn't uphold white womanhood--she abandoned it. And she abdicated the white family--her own parents. Seems to me she made some poor choices, and some idiosyncratic but brave ones too.
Last point. White privilege is absolutely real, but something about the way that phrase gets flung around sometimes strikes me as too righteous. As if an idea of "white privilege" can be used to bludgeon racial impostor Dolezal back into the white-woman identity where she "belongs".
7
Sounds like she is either an opportunist or a very confused person, or both.
2
Both!
If nothing else she's help coin the word "Transracial"
2
You might want to read the article in its entirety before commenting.
1
I'm just wondering how this all of this transwhatever is going to play out in court. If I can change my sex and race by simply claiming to identify as another sex and/or race, what is to prevent someone for claiming to be a specific gender or race in order to get into a college, be considered for Women and Minority Owned business status, or apply for other programs designed to encourage diversity. At what point did 2 + 2 stop being 4? Is truth whatever we say it is? By this logic, what's to stop me from being transpecies? I could say that I identify as a white male tomcat and demand that my veterinarian groom me. The SNAP program would have to include pet food or be sued for discrimination. This is really beginning to have a 1984 quality to it.
6
I'm hoping that at some point, after all this sound and fury, we might discuss whether or not Ms. Dolezal has/had been good at her job. I know that's not the concern now, and that's a shame.
3
She was probably great at her job. That's not the point. Just be honest and say "I'm white but empathize with these important causes."
You know, instead of lying.
You know, instead of lying.
The right to choose is not the right to lie. Plenty of individuals identify with cultures that do not represent their ethnicity. It appears this woman misrepresented herself for secondary gain. Identity diffusion is associated with personality disorder, so most likely this represents a level of dysfunction and confusion she suffers. Some people also do not back down because they are incapable of admitting wrongdoing... unable to say they are sorry as a sign of compromised ego strength. This reminds me of a recent NYT story about a guy in Europe who became a leader within an Nazi Prison Camp Survivor Organization through claims of being one of the victims only to have been proven never to have been a prisoner himself.
3
If Bruce Jenner is given a pass for being a woman, why can't Rachel be given a pass to be black?
I'm not saying either one is correct, but we are on a journey down the slippery slope.
I'm not saying either one is correct, but we are on a journey down the slippery slope.
3
How Ms Dolezal identifies herself is only one half of the equation; how the Black community identifies her is the other half. I doubt Ms Dolezal will pass.
3
Yes, that's a huge part of this whole issue. But also, I hope she has actually helped others in her line of work, to compensate a little for this bewildering change of identity. If I've marked even one thing inaccurately, by accident, on any kind of application or etc, I've been called out on it, and oftentimes immediately. How did this woman get away with all this for so long?
Ms Dolezal appears clueless that her attempts at manipulating/controlling meaningless dialogue make her look like a complete fool.
She is not black, either ethnically or racially.
She is a flat-out liar and fraud.
The proper answer to posed questions should have been:
'Yes, I am white, but I've learned that I feel more comfortable with black culture, and I found a poor way to express that. I apologize to the people whom I've hurt or who feel in some way deceived, but I feel comfortable with who I am and where I am at. I feel I am doing something positive with my life, and hope people understand.'
Stated as such she would find a sympathetic audience.
Running away from her deceptions makes her look cynical and sociopathic.
She is not black, either ethnically or racially.
She is a flat-out liar and fraud.
The proper answer to posed questions should have been:
'Yes, I am white, but I've learned that I feel more comfortable with black culture, and I found a poor way to express that. I apologize to the people whom I've hurt or who feel in some way deceived, but I feel comfortable with who I am and where I am at. I feel I am doing something positive with my life, and hope people understand.'
Stated as such she would find a sympathetic audience.
Running away from her deceptions makes her look cynical and sociopathic.
27
This has really gone way too far in this country. If I say I "identify" with being 6' 4" tall when I am in fact 5' 6", or if I say I "identify" as the present King of France and want to be treated as such, my grasp on reality, and my mental health, will (and should) be questioned.
So how is this different? Just because racial politics is such an explosive area of discourse in this country, we are willing to just let go of our footing in reality whenever race is involved? Next thing you know, we'll be left with "truthiness" instead of truth - and truthiness cuts both ways, it is NOT a victory for liberal causes. Anyone's truthiness is as good as any other - e.g., creationism is as scientific as evolution, or climate change is not happening if you don't choose to believe in it.... This is the slippery slope the likes of Ms. Dolezal are tumbling down.
So how is this different? Just because racial politics is such an explosive area of discourse in this country, we are willing to just let go of our footing in reality whenever race is involved? Next thing you know, we'll be left with "truthiness" instead of truth - and truthiness cuts both ways, it is NOT a victory for liberal causes. Anyone's truthiness is as good as any other - e.g., creationism is as scientific as evolution, or climate change is not happening if you don't choose to believe in it.... This is the slippery slope the likes of Ms. Dolezal are tumbling down.
12
One thing I can't get out of my head. Gender identity is seen as something independent of genes and upbringing. Yet somehow racial identity, which has *no* basis in genetics at all is somehow exempt? Please.
9
I'm wondering what this has to do with anyone's life? What does this matter to anyone? You know what should matter to people? The fact that corporate Democrats and corporate Republicans are trying to pass the TPP, without anyone knowing anything about it. That's far more important than the Spokane, WA chapter of the NAACP. This girl's story probably won't even affect most black people. Know what could? The U.S. instigating another cold war by putting military arms and vehicles in Eastern Europe. Or maybe the U.S. helping Shell Oil drill in the arctic? This Rachel Dolezal is a story nobody should care about in the face the actual stories that will affect the people in this country and around the world. Its unreal how much people are letting themselves be distracted by non-stories like this...I mean, EVERYONE is talking about it, every news station, radio station, EVERYONE. Its weird. You're weird, America.
5
The U.S. is not instigating a new cold war by sending small defensive forces to Eastern Europe. They are providing defense to nations threatened by a newly belligerent Russia that has already annexed the Crimea and sent combat troops to Eastern Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor in Europe, not the U.S.
This case raises an entirely different issue: the failure to do an adequate background check on a prospective employes. All too often the employer/organization's investigation consists of a criminal background check on a national database and possibly communicating with a few references provided by the applicant. As we have repeatedly seen, much more is needed, especially when hiring for a leadership position.
For decades, I represented victims of sex abuse in civil cases
against the employers of sexual predators. It was a standard practice of mine to access an inexpensive database that revealed all litigation in which a person had been involved . Once I had this information, I could determine what further inquiries needed to be made.
If only the NAACP of Spokane had done this rudimentary research. Ms. Dolezal's lawsuit based on her being discriminated against for being white would have been discovered and the executive search would have looked elsewhere.
For decades, I represented victims of sex abuse in civil cases
against the employers of sexual predators. It was a standard practice of mine to access an inexpensive database that revealed all litigation in which a person had been involved . Once I had this information, I could determine what further inquiries needed to be made.
If only the NAACP of Spokane had done this rudimentary research. Ms. Dolezal's lawsuit based on her being discriminated against for being white would have been discovered and the executive search would have looked elsewhere.
8
Yes, but that would have been too simple though. Or perhaps people would have been afraid to approach her about the issue, for fear of a lawsuit brought upon themselves too. Because fro. What we've seen, I wouldn't doubt that she would have come up with some complaint about racism or reverse racism, or something along those lines; so they may have been too afraid to tread down that path
This is where bullies get power sometimes....by threatening people/companies/organizations with very public (but often very false and/or frivolous) lawsuits.
This is where bullies get power sometimes....by threatening people/companies/organizations with very public (but often very false and/or frivolous) lawsuits.
The NAACP position she resigned from was an unpaid volunteer position and was not dependent on race. The NAACP is not a black-only organization. Organozations usually don"t do background checks on volunteers.
This is nothing new....years ago before civil rights many light skined or mixed race Blacks could 'pass' as White. The benefits were maybe having a job that a Black person could not ordinarily have or being able to go places that Blacks were forbidden. I think this is an interesting phenomenon that is has been reversed, not sure anyone ever expected that.
2
I identify with rich but it ain't happened yet.
25
Captivating. I can't wrap my head around how long this went on but you don't have to be friends with her.... She's a human; perhaps really intelligent and missing a compass most of us carry. The discussion on race has just been expanded. It often happens in much worse ways. Not that criticism is unfair; it's more than fair. In our celebrity culture we make things too personal which limits outcomes. It's easy to wag a collective finger at Rachel. Sheesh, I don't get it. Race is a construct, but who's deciding? Well, Rachel did and bobody likes that. A bunch of racists did. Nobody likes that but that's the way it is.
2
She is just kind of unusual but interesting. No need to judge her.
6
Why couldn't Rachel Dolezal have given her energy to the black community as the white woman she was born as? Instead of lies and deceit maybe if she had given all that she has as a white woman, it would have strengthened race relations rather than create further divide. It would've shown that there are white people who want to be heavily involved positively in the black community. Just saying.
Why can't we all just work together?
Why can't we all just work together?
5
Yes, I agree!
What's the likelihood that the NAACP would have hired her if she had been honest?
1
This is truly bizarre. I don't think you can "identify" as a different race because race isn't a state of mind the way gender, as opposed to sex, can be.
1
Of course when it was time to sue Howard University she identified as being white. It seems she is what will benefit herself most at any given time.
9
I understand. I identify as one of the Obamas and would like to move into the White House, but I've met too much opposition.
This is the perfect time for a re-release of "Soul Man," a 1986 movie whose description on Wikipedia reads (in part): a comedy about "a man who wears blackface to qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School."
Dolezal says she identifies as black, but she would be smarter to self-identify as a liar. She says she lives the life of a black person, but that's not true. She was the head of the local NAACP chapter and enjoyed a certain level of respect from NAACP members as a result. A black woman bagging items at Walmart can't hold press conferences.
This is the perfect time for a re-release of "Soul Man," a 1986 movie whose description on Wikipedia reads (in part): a comedy about "a man who wears blackface to qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School."
Dolezal says she identifies as black, but she would be smarter to self-identify as a liar. She says she lives the life of a black person, but that's not true. She was the head of the local NAACP chapter and enjoyed a certain level of respect from NAACP members as a result. A black woman bagging items at Walmart can't hold press conferences.
9
Whatever race Ms. Dolezal identifies with isn't as important as the work she has done to further the cause of human rights. As far as I can tell, Ms. Dolezal hasn't taken money or any favors based on her new race so I could care less. What I do find disturbing are the actions of her mother. I always find it extremely sad when a parent tires to cut down or trivialize the achievements of their children; her mother should be ashamed of herself.
14
I think there is more the family story here. You don't know what the mother is dealing with or what her motivations might be. There is a sexual abuse case (apparently in some way supported by Ms. Dolezal) pending against her brother. If that is a fabrication, as it sounds like the hate crimes Ms. Dolezal has reported might be, the mother could be trying to support an innocent man accused of child molestation. Ms. Dolezal can identify as any race she she chooses, but the dishonesty and possibly bogus hate crime reports are a big problem. I don't think we can criticize her mother until the rest of the story comes out.
She was making 6 figures as a Black and couldn't get arrested as a white...
She is a pitch perfect evolution and adaptation to the culture at large. She’s not sick at all, the culture that she has adapted to is.
She is a pitch perfect evolution and adaptation to the culture at large. She’s not sick at all, the culture that she has adapted to is.
4
Some of the posts here are almost as unbelievable as this woman. Race should be a 'preference"? Her only fault is 'appreciation for another culture"?? Have people gone insane? They sound almost as mad as this woman, who clearly--clearly--has a personality and/or character disorder. Repeatedly filing false police complaints, crank lawsuits, fake-coloring your skin, and, of course, lying over and over and over again--these are the actions of a very disturbed person. And what's even more disturbing is how some NYT posters can't see the lunacy that is as obvious as the white skin in her childhood photos.
33
This whole thing is a form of stupidity.
If she wants to be black, let her be black.
She has had her 15 minutes in the spotlight. Now she
should just go away. Quietly, hopefully.
If she wants to be black, let her be black.
She has had her 15 minutes in the spotlight. Now she
should just go away. Quietly, hopefully.
5
Can someone who hasn't been battered "identify" as a victim of domestic violence? Can someone "identify" as a rape victim, and claim they themselves have been raped, when in fact it's not the case? Would it be alright for a non-Jew to claim to be a holocaust survivor because they "identify" as Jewish? Most people would say no to these questions. And they would have to say no to Dolezal as well.
25
It appears in her mind any white person who identifies themselves as black should be considered black. Think of the consequences if this ludicrous thinking was actually allowed and not called lying. Poor blacks may lose out on opportunities to affluent whites who identify as black and take advantage of programs meant to help those who society most discriminates against.
10
"Think"? There's no thought process here. Just reactive mind at work in a media inspired and failing society
Regarding this woman, who cares. Surely there are more important stories. Let her call herself a turtle if she chooses and stop wasting print and broadcast time on this nonsense.
3
If this woman was blonde and pale in 2004, how was she able to pass herself off as a black person without some deception.
5
1. It would be interesting for Rachel to have DNA testing done. Perhaps there is an African ancestor in her past and she and her parents do not know about them.
2. I hope that Rachel gets therapy as she appears to be acting out unresolved family issues - feeling the adopted children, who were black, were loved by her parents more than she was and then, in an attempt to punish her parents, becoming "black" while cutting her parents off at the same time. She made a telling statement when she said her black "father" was more of a dad to her than her biological father was.
2. I hope that Rachel gets therapy as she appears to be acting out unresolved family issues - feeling the adopted children, who were black, were loved by her parents more than she was and then, in an attempt to punish her parents, becoming "black" while cutting her parents off at the same time. She made a telling statement when she said her black "father" was more of a dad to her than her biological father was.
8
Re: 1: Is DNA testing on humans any more accurate than it is when it's done on dogs? I'm serious about that: DNA testing done on a mutt will evoke several improbable breeds; it's anyone's guess whether they're actually breeds that make up the mutt's DNA mix.
Of course there is an African ancestor in her past, there are African ancestors in all our pasts.
1
This is not about someone's choice. It is about FRAUD. By assuming a false identity, Ms. Dolezal reaped certain benefits. THAT IS KNOWN AS FRAUD. She lied on documents. She lied to publicly supported organizations. It is irrelevant how she FELT.
The one thing that is obvious is how stupid affirmative action is. Its moment has come and gone.
The one thing that is obvious is how stupid affirmative action is. Its moment has come and gone.
16
Ok, why is this even a story? Are white people not suppose to advocate against social injustice for blacks and brown? The NAACP was founded by blacks and whites? Is the story because she identifies as black? Heaven forbid a white person identifies as black. Because wanting to be black is such a social no no. Lighter skin blacks and Hispanics have been "passing" as white for years to gain a social advantage in a predominantly white society. I have read some of these news articles calling it fraud. Fraud would constitute she benefited from "being black". I am a black male and i am waiting for these so called "benefits". There are no black only benefits in this country. There are benefits for minorities. By definition a minority is any non white make. So even as a white woman she was eligible for these same minority benefits. If this person was slang talking, hip hop loving, big earring wearing white woman, she would not even be on the news. However since she is an articulate, educated white woman that identifies as black this is "big news".
16
Capitalism is colorblind. Agent. Book deal for seven-figure advance. Film rights. Her pie is baked.
8
Ms. Dolezal's case bears resemblance to that of Jackie, the UVA student who made up allegations of gang rape. It also resembles the case of Jason Blair, the Times reporter who fabricated and plagiarized news stories. In fact, people like Dolezal aren't all that unusual, that is, people believing they are just, who lie, fabricate, and rationalize in order to reach a more powerful position.
One can debate the meaning of race, or the meaning of sexual orientation, but this isn't the case upon which to do so. Ms. Dolezal is simply self-serving person who uses race politics as convenient cover. She actually has the nerve now to preach to us about what race means.
Society should not try to find moral, social, or political insight from people who are merely obsessed. The only thing to be understood from this situation is the importance of the truth, and the destructiveness of lies.
One can debate the meaning of race, or the meaning of sexual orientation, but this isn't the case upon which to do so. Ms. Dolezal is simply self-serving person who uses race politics as convenient cover. She actually has the nerve now to preach to us about what race means.
Society should not try to find moral, social, or political insight from people who are merely obsessed. The only thing to be understood from this situation is the importance of the truth, and the destructiveness of lies.
26
I’m still shocked that someone who describes themselves as being this close to black culture would think this masquerade was anything short of incendiary.
But she got off pretty easy.
No slight to Matt Lauer of NBC, but he has no idea of the nooks and cranies of the black experience or existence - let alone black WOMANHOOD. I actually believe that Rachel Dolezal would not set foot in a room to be interviewed by a black journalist like say, Gwen Ifill of PBS. The questioning would be so intense, Rachel’s frizzy hair would be hot-combed right back to it’s naturally flat state.
Much remains unclear, but at least the main act of the farcical tragedy is over.
But she got off pretty easy.
No slight to Matt Lauer of NBC, but he has no idea of the nooks and cranies of the black experience or existence - let alone black WOMANHOOD. I actually believe that Rachel Dolezal would not set foot in a room to be interviewed by a black journalist like say, Gwen Ifill of PBS. The questioning would be so intense, Rachel’s frizzy hair would be hot-combed right back to it’s naturally flat state.
Much remains unclear, but at least the main act of the farcical tragedy is over.
13
Are we to gather from all this that "White" is not actually a color?
2
Rachel Dolezal is an example of how some people exploit the Black community for their own agendas. Dolezal identifies as “White” w
hen suing Howard University for reverse discrimination, and then deceives African Americans by professing to be Black when it fits her fancy. The foremost danger to the integrity of Black culture is not its enemies, but corrupt “friends.”
hen suing Howard University for reverse discrimination, and then deceives African Americans by professing to be Black when it fits her fancy. The foremost danger to the integrity of Black culture is not its enemies, but corrupt “friends.”
17
Geez seriously. Explain to me how one works devotedly and tirelessly to promote justice and racial tolerance by fomenting fear and suspicion in every community she lived in "while black" with phony complaints of harassment and death threats.
Explain to me how she's a wonderful mother by subjecting her adopted brother and her son to this sort of fear and stress.
Part of her success in "living black" was by moving to communities with very few or relatively very few black and multi-ethnic people, so she had a chance to move into leadership positions and as a spokesperson for "her people." Do you think she'd have pulled that off in, say, New York or LA? But those environments would have been so much better for her brother and her son.
She wasn't identifying with a culture and an ethnicity. She was co-opting it.
Explain to me how she's a wonderful mother by subjecting her adopted brother and her son to this sort of fear and stress.
Part of her success in "living black" was by moving to communities with very few or relatively very few black and multi-ethnic people, so she had a chance to move into leadership positions and as a spokesperson for "her people." Do you think she'd have pulled that off in, say, New York or LA? But those environments would have been so much better for her brother and her son.
She wasn't identifying with a culture and an ethnicity. She was co-opting it.
34
There is something very, very wrong with committing fraud and denying a legitimate person the advantage of programs developed to help them rise above adversity.
There is black person out there that these programs were designed for that was denied the opportunity that this lady stole by way of fraud, plain and simple.
I am all about forgiveness, if the person feels bad. This woman still clings to her delusions and refuses to understand the concept of gaming the system.
I bet she'll wish with every bone in her body that she'd made a different choice, should she be thrown in prison for fraud.
There is black person out there that these programs were designed for that was denied the opportunity that this lady stole by way of fraud, plain and simple.
I am all about forgiveness, if the person feels bad. This woman still clings to her delusions and refuses to understand the concept of gaming the system.
I bet she'll wish with every bone in her body that she'd made a different choice, should she be thrown in prison for fraud.
6
If we had more sophisticated and honest dialog about race in this country I don't think that we would be so fascinated by this woman who clearly exploited this country's inability to deal with race issues in a complex or sophisticated manner. This is certainly a reflection on her character and integrity, but also a reflection on our own dearth of education and the outdated systems, mindsets, and language, that we still use to talk about such subjects. Though it has been an interesting and fascinating story, if we want anything to change, we should stop being so myopic by continuing to worry about the nuances of her personal life. Instead, let's seize the opportunity to discuss why we are so fascinated by her and what this story reveals about our current ability to talk about race in America.
3
My opinion is that it was wrong what you did, Rachel, I hate that you lied about your race, and you even went through the trouble of getting a black man to pretend to be your father. I don't believe it's right to be transgender, just as much as I feel it's right to be transracial. Either way you're changing yourself as somebody you're not. To some degree I understand the body image problems with both, transgender, and transracial people. I too have body image problems, like most, but unlike most I don't physically hide myself as somebody I wasn't born as. My body problem is me not having curves, but instead of waist training, I take the curve less body I have and I dress to the best of my ability and in my head I'm thinking I hate my body, but on the outside I see myself and I come to terms with my image and say 'dang girl' and nobody can tell that I hate my body because I show confidence. Rachel hold your pretty tan face up and say I'm white and I love myself, identify as Rachel and love yourself as white Rachel and 'black' Rachel, because in the end you're Rachel. I just wished you didn't lie that's what really made everybody get upset with you.
2
No. Just, no.
1
The idea that this is a story of somebody just "giving up her privileges" and aligning herself with a group that has historically been thought to be inferior is just not true - this is a story of somebody afflicted with munchausen syndrome.
Munchausen Syndrome:
Munchausen syndrome is a factitious disorder, a mental disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Munchausen syndrome is considered a mental illness because it is associated with severe emotional difficulties.
Ethnicity is not a sickness, but it can be a disadvantage - Rachel Dolezal's "choice" is not a legitimate conversation about the nuances of mixed-identity. How dare she pick and choose and appropriate. This burden is not hers to bear or to pretend to bear.
Munchausen Syndrome:
Munchausen syndrome is a factitious disorder, a mental disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Munchausen syndrome is considered a mental illness because it is associated with severe emotional difficulties.
Ethnicity is not a sickness, but it can be a disadvantage - Rachel Dolezal's "choice" is not a legitimate conversation about the nuances of mixed-identity. How dare she pick and choose and appropriate. This burden is not hers to bear or to pretend to bear.
8
All this preoccupation with the genetics of a person is wrong!! PERIOD!! You know, she may have said it so she wouldn't lose her job because of our Affirmative Apartheid (Affirmative Action) policies. Now I say “may” because the real reason why she said she was black is because she is nuts. I despise racism and the ignorant people who look at this world through black and white lenses. What we all should do is start saying that we are “black”. That will destroy people’s desire to classify and group different people into different groups
ALL LIVES MATTER!!
ALL LIVES MATTER!!
3
Maybe all of the critics should remember the title of the play, Much Ado About Nothing."
As a Black person, I say, who cares? If she is going to be crucified for passing in reverse, what about all the Blacks who passed and probably still passing for White?
Did she leave the NAACP chapter a better place?
It's sad that she felt she had to pass in order to be accepted by the Black community.
As a Black person, I say, who cares? If she is going to be crucified for passing in reverse, what about all the Blacks who passed and probably still passing for White?
Did she leave the NAACP chapter a better place?
It's sad that she felt she had to pass in order to be accepted by the Black community.
5
i just read that last paragraph and see she is a clever person.
"Now, her skin is several shades darker, and her hair is a mass of tight brown curls. When asked on “Today” about the changes in her appearance, she said, “I certainly don’t stay out of the sun, you know, and I also don’t — as some of the critics have said — put on blackface as a performance.”
you will notice how she didn't actually deny doing anything to darken her skin...she merely commented on blackface accusations? she did not say she did nothing to darken her skin though..did she?
in fact...didn't she actually put on blackface every day/ she pretended to be black and represented herself as black....didn't she put on blackface"...cause she certainly wasn't black.
..unless her mom had an affair with a black person, but she doesn't believe that and doesn't believe she was born of a black heritage...or she would be happy to have a dna test...which she is not going to do. she was being deceptive and knew it.
listening to her justifying interview on msnbc is a sorrowful thing.
"Now, her skin is several shades darker, and her hair is a mass of tight brown curls. When asked on “Today” about the changes in her appearance, she said, “I certainly don’t stay out of the sun, you know, and I also don’t — as some of the critics have said — put on blackface as a performance.”
you will notice how she didn't actually deny doing anything to darken her skin...she merely commented on blackface accusations? she did not say she did nothing to darken her skin though..did she?
in fact...didn't she actually put on blackface every day/ she pretended to be black and represented herself as black....didn't she put on blackface"...cause she certainly wasn't black.
..unless her mom had an affair with a black person, but she doesn't believe that and doesn't believe she was born of a black heritage...or she would be happy to have a dna test...which she is not going to do. she was being deceptive and knew it.
listening to her justifying interview on msnbc is a sorrowful thing.
9
The issues with the NAACP and the colleges are private matters but filing false police reports is not. It's a shameful waste of scant police resources and taxpayers' monies. The latest one was thoroughly investigated by the local police and US postal officials and found to be not credible. If so she should be prosecuted and if found guilty required to pay back the costs. Nothing's free.
11
She may identify as black, but what Dolezal didn't identify with was truth - and if I were her, I'd be looking for a competent attorney.
I'm no lawyer, but I believe that if you makes false statements to the police (as she's apparently done with her bogus reports of hate crimes), you've broken the law.
I have a feeling she doesn't realize the predicament she's in.
I'm no lawyer, but I believe that if you makes false statements to the police (as she's apparently done with her bogus reports of hate crimes), you've broken the law.
I have a feeling she doesn't realize the predicament she's in.
9
This is not the first instance of a "race change" from white to black. Fans of the old "Kudzu" comic strip may remember that Nasal T. Lardbottom, the Cartman like character of that strip had a "race change operation," so that he could dunk basketballs effortlessly and "high-five" without injuring himself.
One of the funniest "Kudzu" strips showed Lardbottom in his High School language lab, where other students were practicing their French and Spanish, repeating "Ebonics" idioms: "What it is!," "What it be!" and "Yo Momma!" Maybe Rachel Dolezal, like Nasal T. Lardbottom, could star in her own comic strip on the "race changing" experience!
One of the funniest "Kudzu" strips showed Lardbottom in his High School language lab, where other students were practicing their French and Spanish, repeating "Ebonics" idioms: "What it is!," "What it be!" and "Yo Momma!" Maybe Rachel Dolezal, like Nasal T. Lardbottom, could star in her own comic strip on the "race changing" experience!
Hello Miss Rachel you are welcome into the black family.
6
Speak for yourself. You can welcome her by yourself.
This is not about race -- it's about deceit and lying. She claimed to be white at Howard to gain advantage, then claimed to be black to gain advantage with the NAACP. Some very deep issues here, and they have nothing to do with the color of her skin.
15
Ms. Rachel Dolezal deserves respect and to be applauded.
Her sociological background actually indicate that she is very 'Black'; although the surface of her anatomical skin is more lightly colored. She has invested much of her inner emotions and outward life of service to further the cause of 'Blacks'/African-Americans.
Rachel is also quite an innovative woman: adapting her outer features so as to help her function more effectively in her chosen place of work. She is a hard-working lady who has deserved her promotion to the top post of her local NAACP. What more could any good employer ask for?
She is indeed far more 'Black' than many African-Americans who choose to dissociate from other 'Blacks'; and live their lives as though they are whiter than most 'Whites'.
Ms. Dolezal should seek legal advise for this blatant racial discrimination against her in her work place.
It seems quite unlawful that she has been bullied and hounded out of her cherished job (especially by her estranged parents, many writers in the press; and some in the public) only because she chose to work and earn her living within an environment with mainly dark-skinned people.
Her sociological background actually indicate that she is very 'Black'; although the surface of her anatomical skin is more lightly colored. She has invested much of her inner emotions and outward life of service to further the cause of 'Blacks'/African-Americans.
Rachel is also quite an innovative woman: adapting her outer features so as to help her function more effectively in her chosen place of work. She is a hard-working lady who has deserved her promotion to the top post of her local NAACP. What more could any good employer ask for?
She is indeed far more 'Black' than many African-Americans who choose to dissociate from other 'Blacks'; and live their lives as though they are whiter than most 'Whites'.
Ms. Dolezal should seek legal advise for this blatant racial discrimination against her in her work place.
It seems quite unlawful that she has been bullied and hounded out of her cherished job (especially by her estranged parents, many writers in the press; and some in the public) only because she chose to work and earn her living within an environment with mainly dark-skinned people.
3
She resigned, no on forced her out. How can she do her job with all the distractions? Who would trust her? Rachel did the right thing. There was no need to lie, the NAACP was founded by 4 white men and 1 black woman and man. She is crazy and need some help.
It's about good works, no need to lie about your identity.
It's about good works, no need to lie about your identity.
3
As society now trends towards accepting an individual's perceived sexuality and with that(for example) the right to use a certain bathroom, regardless of the individuals chromosomal makeup. Why should we deny an individual's right to racially identify as they please and to be be treated as a member of that group? Considering the X-Y chromosomal makeup of Caucasian, Asian or African American males or females have more in common genetically than say two individuals of the same race but if different sexes. I'm not being critical of anything beyond our profound ability for compartmentalization and inconsistency. By today's standard this should be a non-issue.
5
There is no such thing as transracial or transgender. They are made up terms to cover for mental illness. It is tragic that people loath themselves so much that they will endure painful surgeries and therapies to try and escape the persons that nature has made them. But they cannot become what they are not. This woman can no more become a black woman by tinting her skin that she can become a dog by putting on a costume. Bruce Jenner cannot become a woman by mutilating his body any more than having two humps added to his back would make him a camel. It is a disservice to people who clearly have deep emotional trouble to reinforce both their hatred of themselves and their delusion that they can become something that they are not. I hope for Ms. Dolezal's sake she is scamming because the alternative is that she is so self-loathing that she seeks to be something she can never be...that is very sad and will require years of therapy.
12
Why is this even a story??
5
I know what Dr. King has to say about this:
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
And Dr. Seuss:
"I’m quite happy to say
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches."
Well we're not there yet. Though Ms. Dolezal dedicates herself to serving her community, it appears she was right in fearing she would not be accepted in that place without a black "star upon thars." Not by whites or blacks or any of the other colors. Unlike many commenters, I don't think wanting to be included with the people you love is "sick" at all.
And I don't believe the commenters who say they're offended by her alleged dishonesty. I think their offense is a proxy for some sort of race-based anger, or a rationalization for the nasty pleasure many seem to take in viewing the social destruction of another life. I think the first is legitimate, an issue that needs a good airing-out. The second is a character flaw.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
And Dr. Seuss:
"I’m quite happy to say
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches."
Well we're not there yet. Though Ms. Dolezal dedicates herself to serving her community, it appears she was right in fearing she would not be accepted in that place without a black "star upon thars." Not by whites or blacks or any of the other colors. Unlike many commenters, I don't think wanting to be included with the people you love is "sick" at all.
And I don't believe the commenters who say they're offended by her alleged dishonesty. I think their offense is a proxy for some sort of race-based anger, or a rationalization for the nasty pleasure many seem to take in viewing the social destruction of another life. I think the first is legitimate, an issue that needs a good airing-out. The second is a character flaw.
4
Most government entities at the federal, state and local levels mandate a certain percentage of contracts go to minority owned businesses. The cynic in me feels that if race is simply a personal choice, it leaves this system open to abuse. If I decide to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of my life and 'experience and live disability', do I have the right to call myself disabled? I think the whole story is fascinating, would love to see the Supreme Court argue what race is............
2
Disability is an objective physical fact. Race is not.
this a terrible.
when i heard what she said and identifying as black and remembered a religious tract which dealt with something similar. it was called FROGS
in the tract was a person who loved frogs. he wanted to be a frog, so he lived where the frogs lived, dressed like a frog and even ate the same things that frogs ate, but could they become a frog by it?
No....they could NEVER BE A FROG!
what i saw was a person pretending to be black. identifying herself as black does not make her black and never can. she is not a frog any more than that person from that tract was a frog or even could be a frog.
she can NEVER be a frog?
if the person's family and friends in that religious tract's friends accepted them as a frog and went along with it? would they be right?.
is she a frog?
when i heard what she said and identifying as black and remembered a religious tract which dealt with something similar. it was called FROGS
in the tract was a person who loved frogs. he wanted to be a frog, so he lived where the frogs lived, dressed like a frog and even ate the same things that frogs ate, but could they become a frog by it?
No....they could NEVER BE A FROG!
what i saw was a person pretending to be black. identifying herself as black does not make her black and never can. she is not a frog any more than that person from that tract was a frog or even could be a frog.
she can NEVER be a frog?
if the person's family and friends in that religious tract's friends accepted them as a frog and went along with it? would they be right?.
is she a frog?
2
I understand. I'm Jewish. And I don't identify as "white." Of course, I don't identify as black either. I'm not black. But I understand where she is coming from. On those forms where they ask you to pick an ethnicity, I usually check "Other" simply because Jewish is seldom listed as an option.
My grandparents all emigrated from Russia in the early years of the twentieth century. So you could certainly say that my background is European. But, as I said, I'm Jewish.
To put this in perspective, ask any white-supremacist neo-Nazi swastika-tattooed skinhead if Jews are white. The answer will be "No!"
So there you have it. Don't call me "white." I'm Jewish.
My grandparents all emigrated from Russia in the early years of the twentieth century. So you could certainly say that my background is European. But, as I said, I'm Jewish.
To put this in perspective, ask any white-supremacist neo-Nazi swastika-tattooed skinhead if Jews are white. The answer will be "No!"
So there you have it. Don't call me "white." I'm Jewish.
7
And you're probably not a liar and someone who fabricates events.
2
But Judaism is a religion though, not a race. Some war-monherinh, mentally disturbed tyrant called Hitler identified Jews as race, as do the neo-natzi punks. But one can be Jewish and white, or black, or brown too. But I understand your point, at the same time.
Barack Obama has a white Mother and was raised by white Grsndparents, but claims he is Black. Could he have done this and gotten away with it if his Mother and Grandparents were alive? He is biracial. One wonders if he had claimed that status, would all Americans see him differently.
2
Barak Obama looks black and would be perceived as black in any case. He doesn't claim anything.
not to mention there are only like 8 genes out of 100,000 specifying race....there are more genes specifying height....people make the mistake of assuming the stark contrast of the physical manifestations denotes depth....it doesn't...not to mention over 99% of our genes are the exact same in chimpanzees.....the world is too invested in race as a social construct to let biology and anthropology get in the way. On top of all that, dna analysis has shown that on average, black people that are descendants of slaves in the new world, (north America, south America, Caribbean), are 22% white genetically....if we applied the one drop rule in reverse like white people....there would be almost no black people in America....racial purity doesn't exist in the western hemisphere no matter how dark or how nappy...we lost that battle a long time ago
1
She seems like a good mother and a pleasant, intelligent, feeling, compassionate human being. What else do you need to know. She's hurt no one and is trying in her own way to make a difference for good. Everything else is a don't care.
3
If Caitlin Jenner’s gender is fluid "I identify as female", may I respectfully submit race can fluid. And that race is not, & should not, be important
Gender is genetic, inherent at birth. Gender is obvious, not just by genitalia, or facial features, but yes, at times, behavior. Men & women can be as different as night & day. If you doubt genders are different, despite what is taught in colleges, just marry someone of the opposite gender Or have two children of opposite genders, or one child who is different than your gender.
Male & female are very different, & yes, very important. If you doubt this, ask a child missing a mother or father (usually the father) if the two are important.
RACE IS NOT IMPORTANT. Race, unfortunately, has been made important by past injustices by not just American society, but all societies. Those injustices still exist, but to a large degree, they are least prevelant here in the US, despite the attention it gets. The US is the least racist nation on this earth. We are a beacon to the rest of the world for freedom & justice.
Until everyone realizes race is not important, we will continue to have racial problems. We will continue to have people exploit race as Ms. Dolezal has. We will continue to have people excuse behaviors based on race. Blackness, whiteness or whatever label is not important.
Values & behavior--the content of your character--are all that is important.
I call into question this woman's character, not her race.
Gender is genetic, inherent at birth. Gender is obvious, not just by genitalia, or facial features, but yes, at times, behavior. Men & women can be as different as night & day. If you doubt genders are different, despite what is taught in colleges, just marry someone of the opposite gender Or have two children of opposite genders, or one child who is different than your gender.
Male & female are very different, & yes, very important. If you doubt this, ask a child missing a mother or father (usually the father) if the two are important.
RACE IS NOT IMPORTANT. Race, unfortunately, has been made important by past injustices by not just American society, but all societies. Those injustices still exist, but to a large degree, they are least prevelant here in the US, despite the attention it gets. The US is the least racist nation on this earth. We are a beacon to the rest of the world for freedom & justice.
Until everyone realizes race is not important, we will continue to have racial problems. We will continue to have people exploit race as Ms. Dolezal has. We will continue to have people excuse behaviors based on race. Blackness, whiteness or whatever label is not important.
Values & behavior--the content of your character--are all that is important.
I call into question this woman's character, not her race.
4
I really can't see the problem here. If she wants to be black, let her be black. God bless her.
6
I appreciate that Rachel Dolezal has been a fierce advocate for civil rights and equality throughout her career, and I understand that she has an affinity for black culture, but the point of the civil rights struggle that she has been a part of is to get society as a whole to understand that race is not a real thing. By claiming that she feels black just further indoctrinates the idea that black people are somehow different then "regular" people, and it justifies all those caricatures that racists and ignorant people believe. Black people don't all feel a certain way. They also don't act, think, or speak the same way either, and they certainly don't believe the same things.
How does she know she feels black? Does she listen to a lot of Hip-Hop? Is she a good dancer? Does she shuck or jive? Does she like fried chicken and watermelon? Can anyone really think of a way she can answer that question without saying something deeply offensive and ignorant?
She may like and appreciate black culture (a real thing that resulted from a group of people being isolated and marginalized for generations due to false beliefs of some fundamental difference between that minority and broader society), and that's fine. I have a great admiration for Japanese culture, but given that there is no fundamental difference between me and a Japanese person other than place of birth and culture of our parents, me closing my eyes and saying I feel Japanese on the inside is deeply problematic.
How does she know she feels black? Does she listen to a lot of Hip-Hop? Is she a good dancer? Does she shuck or jive? Does she like fried chicken and watermelon? Can anyone really think of a way she can answer that question without saying something deeply offensive and ignorant?
She may like and appreciate black culture (a real thing that resulted from a group of people being isolated and marginalized for generations due to false beliefs of some fundamental difference between that minority and broader society), and that's fine. I have a great admiration for Japanese culture, but given that there is no fundamental difference between me and a Japanese person other than place of birth and culture of our parents, me closing my eyes and saying I feel Japanese on the inside is deeply problematic.
4
If Ms Dolezal can claim to be Black, then being black or white has no real meaning. This could be a good thing, since we assign way too much meaning to "blackness" or "whiteness".
Racial identity has 2 components, one is simple biological origins. To be black biologically, you must be from a family who came from Africa within the last few hundred years, not counting white South Africans. (We all came from Africa around 40,000 years ago). The other component is cultural, and in America there is a distinct set of cultures that are referred to as "African American" and as "European American".
I heard an African American marketing executive state the other day on NPR that "Black people are not just White people with dark skin". This seems to imply the belief that there are fundamental differences between people due to their race. I am not aware of any significant differences between people of different races that are not simply the result of different cultural backgrounds. Language, values, body language, attitudes, are all learned while growing up, and they vary from culture to culture. Biological differences exist between individuals, but these are equally portioned between different races. Things like reasoning ability, personality, etc are not associated with race, but with culture and individual traits. If a culture produces more people good at math, it is because doing math is strongly supported by that culture. Culture determins who you are much more than your genes.
Racial identity has 2 components, one is simple biological origins. To be black biologically, you must be from a family who came from Africa within the last few hundred years, not counting white South Africans. (We all came from Africa around 40,000 years ago). The other component is cultural, and in America there is a distinct set of cultures that are referred to as "African American" and as "European American".
I heard an African American marketing executive state the other day on NPR that "Black people are not just White people with dark skin". This seems to imply the belief that there are fundamental differences between people due to their race. I am not aware of any significant differences between people of different races that are not simply the result of different cultural backgrounds. Language, values, body language, attitudes, are all learned while growing up, and they vary from culture to culture. Biological differences exist between individuals, but these are equally portioned between different races. Things like reasoning ability, personality, etc are not associated with race, but with culture and individual traits. If a culture produces more people good at math, it is because doing math is strongly supported by that culture. Culture determins who you are much more than your genes.
3
So you are then against affirmative action or should it be changes to be only those born black and not those who identify as black? See the slippery slope that opens?
Would a light-skinned woman with actual black lineage be grilled on the Today show for misrepresenting herself as white? Would we shame a 'real' black woman for pretending to be white?
8
At every turn-- being accepted by the black community as a sincere advocate because she is a black mother of non-white children, the daughter of a black man, an official "minority" according to govt forms, and now with her claims of "identity by choice" on national TV-- she is nothing but an opportunist with no integrity. Anyone who supports her has a questionable agenda: how can one support a liar?
4
I have two problems with Ms. Dolezal. One is that she appears to be manipulative and deceitful (the suit against Howard U., an artwork she created that apparently is a dead rip-off of a respected black artist, and generally misrepresenting herself as black when it worked in her favor). I do detect some underlying mental health issues from this.
The second is the difference between identifying "with" and identifying "as," which I think is an important distinction. Had she been raised from a younger age (not a teen) with four adopted black siblings--and had she not been manipulative and deceitful recently--I could see easily how she might identify with her siblings, their history, their needs, their experiences, etc. It makes total sense that such a person might continue to study black history and culture, and to become involved with black civil rights groups, etc.; I would not accuse such a person of co-opting someone else's struggle. That's identifying "with."
But identifying "as" means that she considers herself to be black. That's harder for me to get to with her history. What do I know, as a white chick, but the black community doesn't seem to be getting there, either. She seems very opportunistic, at best.
The second is the difference between identifying "with" and identifying "as," which I think is an important distinction. Had she been raised from a younger age (not a teen) with four adopted black siblings--and had she not been manipulative and deceitful recently--I could see easily how she might identify with her siblings, their history, their needs, their experiences, etc. It makes total sense that such a person might continue to study black history and culture, and to become involved with black civil rights groups, etc.; I would not accuse such a person of co-opting someone else's struggle. That's identifying "with."
But identifying "as" means that she considers herself to be black. That's harder for me to get to with her history. What do I know, as a white chick, but the black community doesn't seem to be getting there, either. She seems very opportunistic, at best.
9
The artist of the artwork she is accused of copying, J.M.W. Turner, is a respected white artist - not black.
1
The most interesting thing about this article is the number of comments(1500 and counting) in this race-obscessed country.
9
While a recent well written Times article on rising homelessness in Los Angeles, disproportionately affecting the African American community, generated less than 200 replies.
This reminds me of "Grey Owl", the British-born man who lived as a North American Indian in northern Canada in the early 20th century. Ironically, he was accepted by the Indians who taught him their customs and local knowledge.
2
Well he said he was accepted but he was a liar so who is to know whether he was accepted or not.
At first I merely thought this woman was lying, but actually it's up to Rachel Dolezal as to how she defines herself.
4
Missing from much of the discussion is this point. Here is a woman who has lived the past 10 or so years immersed in the black identity. Yet she appears to have experienced little to none of the discrimination, second class treatment, or harassment that we hear her brothers and sisters speak of everyday. How can this be? Her life was so ordinary that she had to 'invent' situations of racism. This sure doesn't fit the with the narrative that is being shoved at us by the news media and black political leadership. Oh, dear.
4
If you are suggesting that real black people don't live with discrimination, micro aggressions, MACROaggressions, harassment, endangerment, oppression then you are mistaken. It's doubtful just how much Dolezal's acquaintances really viewed her as black, versus a white ethnic trying to appear more ethnic.
I dont understand why people compare this to the Jenner situation. There is a scientific/ physiological component to the sexuality, as there is to race. "Identifying" implies a choice that can be withdrawn at will. It seems RD is in the later camp. That said, she has apparently done good work. So
give her some slack.
give her some slack.
1
I lived through riots in Asbury Park and Newark growing up. My high school on the New Jersey shore was mixed race white, black and a bit of latin Puerto Rico.
I was a "mick" due to the Irishness and the others, well, out of political correctness I'm not going to write the various words in use in those days. My family got along well with the black families who lived near us and whose kids went to school with us.
One day, the mother of one of those guys told me - "Johnny, you don't know how lucky you are to be white."
She was, sadly, right. Her son Don, my friend, was always being targeted by the local cops for no reason at all. That was how it went for all those black guys and was a major reason several of them went radical during the time of the Black Panthers. Some made it through all of it and are doing okay. Many did not, going to jail or, in some cases, dying young in Vietnam or on the streets in the U.S.
So, I never thought I'd see the day when someone like this woman would pose as being a black person, given what Don's mom said to me those many years ago about being "lucky" to be white, meaning I didn't have to deal with the racist torment her family endured all the time.
Hey, Rachel Dolezal, you never went through what my black friends did as they grew up. You can identify as anything you want, I suppose - but, you're a phony, disrespectful loon. Black you ain't.
I was a "mick" due to the Irishness and the others, well, out of political correctness I'm not going to write the various words in use in those days. My family got along well with the black families who lived near us and whose kids went to school with us.
One day, the mother of one of those guys told me - "Johnny, you don't know how lucky you are to be white."
She was, sadly, right. Her son Don, my friend, was always being targeted by the local cops for no reason at all. That was how it went for all those black guys and was a major reason several of them went radical during the time of the Black Panthers. Some made it through all of it and are doing okay. Many did not, going to jail or, in some cases, dying young in Vietnam or on the streets in the U.S.
So, I never thought I'd see the day when someone like this woman would pose as being a black person, given what Don's mom said to me those many years ago about being "lucky" to be white, meaning I didn't have to deal with the racist torment her family endured all the time.
Hey, Rachel Dolezal, you never went through what my black friends did as they grew up. You can identify as anything you want, I suppose - but, you're a phony, disrespectful loon. Black you ain't.
5
I look at it this way. There is only one race - the white race. Everyone else are simply people. There is not genetic basis to the category of race, but there is a very real social basis. The "white" race has set itself apart from humanity by attempting to construct a category of humans who are superior and thus privileged before others. Am I talking about people with white skin tones who are descended from European so-called "Caucasian" stock? Of course not. You only gain access to the white race by subscribing to, and more importantly acting out the aforementioned beliefs - as in controlling who gets what interest rates for, mortgages, colleges, cars, loans, etc. Who gets hired and who gets fired, who gets which sentence for the same infraction, who gets shot and who doesn't, and so on and on. And those of course who are just so tired of hearing about all this and and think things are just fine ("we have a black president don't we").
2
I once asked a Native American Elder and friend of mine if his people were offended by Whites studying and using NA culture, rituals, prayers, songs, etc. His reply? "We don't mind if they study our culture, we are only offended when they think they can become us."
5
Maybe it's time to start erasing ALL barriers of race, stop identifying ourselves as one race or another: Change the NAACP to the NAAP - The National Association for the Advancement of People.
6
That would interfere with profitable identity politics.
2
By lying about her father (posing with a black man she said was her father) and declaring that since the sibling she adopted is black and thinks of her as his "real" mom, what message is she sending to people who knowingly, lovingly choose to adopt those of another race? What message did her adopted son receive? That a white woman could not have adopted him? They grew up together as siblings. He knew she was white back then, right? It feels like there's much more to this story but what has come out is so full of lies and deception and it's all just sad.
7
Rachel Dolezal is A VERY BRAVE Woman, with Nerves of Steel. . She SHOULD Be CONGRATULATED For Standing Up for What She Truly Believe. . . Let's Give to Ceasar, what is Ceasar. . .
Rachel is A Trail Blazer. . . This is America. . . We Should STOP THE BASHING..
There is ONLY ONE RACE. . THE HUMAN RACE. . . Rachel Ia Truly Amazing. . ! !
GREAT JOB RACHEL ! America Should Give Rachel More Respect !
Many Americans Glorify Bruce ! Oh my goodness ! More people Should Stand By Rachel. . She is very BRAVE. . Thanks Rachel. . You Are Truly A Great Woman !
I Admire your COURAGE. . Stand Tall. . Stand Firm.. STAND YOUR GROUND !
THERE IS ONLY ONE RACE; THE HUMAN RACE ! Let's STOP Hating !
ALL I AM SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE ! ! THANK YOU.
Rachel is A Trail Blazer. . . This is America. . . We Should STOP THE BASHING..
There is ONLY ONE RACE. . THE HUMAN RACE. . . Rachel Ia Truly Amazing. . ! !
GREAT JOB RACHEL ! America Should Give Rachel More Respect !
Many Americans Glorify Bruce ! Oh my goodness ! More people Should Stand By Rachel. . She is very BRAVE. . Thanks Rachel. . You Are Truly A Great Woman !
I Admire your COURAGE. . Stand Tall. . Stand Firm.. STAND YOUR GROUND !
THERE IS ONLY ONE RACE; THE HUMAN RACE ! Let's STOP Hating !
ALL I AM SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE ! ! THANK YOU.
RACHEL IS A LIAR BUT BRUCE JANNER IS TRUTHFUL ? ? OMG. . .
MANY AMERICANS ARE WEARING ROSE COLORED GLASSES ! !
RACHEL IS VERY BRAVE ! ! LET'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE !
THANKS RACHEL ! YOU ARE AMAZING ! WE LOVE YOU !
STAY STRONG ! WE GOT YOUR BACK ! OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU !
THERE IS JUST ONE RACE ! THE HUMAN RACE ! END THE RACE WAR; NOW !
MANY AMERICANS ARE WEARING ROSE COLORED GLASSES ! !
RACHEL IS VERY BRAVE ! ! LET'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE !
THANKS RACHEL ! YOU ARE AMAZING ! WE LOVE YOU !
STAY STRONG ! WE GOT YOUR BACK ! OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU !
THERE IS JUST ONE RACE ! THE HUMAN RACE ! END THE RACE WAR; NOW !
I would bet that if she was a conservative or even worse a card carrying Republican you'd be right there with the rest of the villagers carrying torches and pitch forks. For all the accolades you gave her you forgot that she lied to get where she is. I don't hate her, I actually feel pity for her, that her delusional problems put her in the spot light.
Two words for Ms. Dolezal: Seek help.
I'm not black and I'm not a woman, but here's two black women that know of what they speak.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/opinion/rachel-dolezals-harmful-masque...®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/12/what-rachel-d...
I'm not black and I'm not a woman, but here's two black women that know of what they speak.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/opinion/rachel-dolezals-harmful-masque...®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/12/what-rachel-d...
2
What happened to embracing the identity culture? I guess some identities are more embraceable than others.
3
Anyone checked in with James O'Keefe lately? This whole thing smells like a setup.
Suing Howard University for discrimination against whites, then suddenly changing her appearance? Claiming to know and represent black culture but refusing to acknowledge her privilege as a white person?
I vote for narcissist or simple con artist. Either way she's offensive and I hope she goes away quickly.
Suing Howard University for discrimination against whites, then suddenly changing her appearance? Claiming to know and represent black culture but refusing to acknowledge her privilege as a white person?
I vote for narcissist or simple con artist. Either way she's offensive and I hope she goes away quickly.
11
This is not about her "right to choose" her identity... I don't think many, if any, have a problem with her desire to identify with any culture she wishes. In this country we have a lot of diverse cultures that we can enjoy sharing. This is about her deliberate deceit, her deliberate anti-white rhetoric, her filing a race discrimination law suit against the university as she actually pretended to be someone that she wasn't. It's also about the staged hate mail that she claimed was sent to her via her postal mail box, WHICH the USPS investigated and found to have HAD TO BE placed inside her mailbox by someone who HAD A KEY, and also about the rope noose that mysteriously showed up (she claimed), that the police investigated and found ZERO leads and were currently perplexed about.... These were ALL done by RACHEL HERSELF for the attention... Rachel Dolezal has some issues that she needs to address. The FIRST being INTEGRITY... A person with INTEGRITY does NOT go to the extent that she did to outright lie and cause drama to bring "hero" attention to herself. THAT is the behavior of a Narcissist and Psychopath, NOT a leader... The NAACP and everyone else would have had no problem accepting her with honesty, but she has disgraced not only herself but everyone at large, INCLUDING her siblings, WHOM she owes an apology too... Her example to her younger siblings leaves EVERYTHING to be desired...
5
This is SO not a story. She's imbalanced, and not so smart, and people like that create absurd lives for themselves. Its delirious to refer to being black as a "feeling". Being black refers to someone of at least partial African decent. She wants to muddle the term to fit her whacky predicament. She is a woman who is part of an interracial marriage. She has two kids who are half black and white, and she is much more engulfed in the black experience than many whites, but she is the wife of a black man only, and that is all she can claim as far as her race is concerned. Duh!
4
So what's the big deal. A white woman identifies with black culture. She's certainly not the first and won't be the last. It seems to me that religion, ethnicity and (maybe) gender are choices. She apparently has done performed well in her job. What's the problem?
9
Although there are obvious affinities between Rachel Dalzel and Caitlyn Jenner, why is it that I have not seen any columnists discussing them?
2
Because it's too confusing for them. For some reason, they can see it being okay to identify as a different gender, but wrong to identify as a different race. Sounds inconsistent to me.
Because Bruce didn't falsely claim to be a woman prior to his gender reassignment.
Bruce can be Caitlyn but Rachel can't be black? Oh... ok..
8
It full time to ERASE Racism. There is Just ONE RACE; HUMANS !
Bob Marley sang AGAINST the philosophy that Make One Human Superior and Another HUMAN Inferior. .
Martin Luther King was KILLED For HIS Stand On RACIAL EQUALITY !
If America CAN Accept and Embrace Homosexuality and Transgenders, Why Can't America ACCEPT that it is OK For Rachel To Be ALL That She Wants To Be.
Great job Rachel; Many, Many Americans Love YOU.
Bob Marley sang AGAINST the philosophy that Make One Human Superior and Another HUMAN Inferior. .
Martin Luther King was KILLED For HIS Stand On RACIAL EQUALITY !
If America CAN Accept and Embrace Homosexuality and Transgenders, Why Can't America ACCEPT that it is OK For Rachel To Be ALL That She Wants To Be.
Great job Rachel; Many, Many Americans Love YOU.
I struggled my whole life as someone who has a Black father, White mother, is very light skinned and was once 300 pounds. On top of that, I am Jewish. And lesbian. I am questioned often because of my light skin because to the world, I am white.
And for all of this, Rachel Dolezal gets to prance around on the Today show.
You know a book deal is coming.
The thing is, I am happily married and enjoy my life.
And in fact, my interest in race spurred me on to obtain a Bachelor's and a Master's degree.
Hopefully, once this Dolezal thing goes through the news cycle and becomes just another craze like the "Octomom," perhaps we can talk about more important race matters.
And for all of this, Rachel Dolezal gets to prance around on the Today show.
You know a book deal is coming.
The thing is, I am happily married and enjoy my life.
And in fact, my interest in race spurred me on to obtain a Bachelor's and a Master's degree.
Hopefully, once this Dolezal thing goes through the news cycle and becomes just another craze like the "Octomom," perhaps we can talk about more important race matters.
5
Back in the day, my students (mostly black...or so I thought...?) would have called this "perpetrating a fraud". And they would have nailed, as their social commentary often did. This woman can identity with whatever she wants, but to take a leadership role at the NAACP, funny as that might seem a few years from now, that was fraudulent and disrespectful. Dolezal, if need be, could have "passed" as white any old day, which makes her black experience pretty much tourism. I wonder, did she experience what Africans Americans have long said was/is inherent preferential treatment to light-skinned blacks? Was that part of the deal, gaining an unusual social status that might have evaded one otherwise? In the end I don't care what her preferences are, but I do care that yet another official/leader isn't what they say they are. I imagine the Spokane offices are stunned, and hope that parents are helping their kids figure this one out, after they do.
16
I think what she means to say is she relates to being black. To say she identifies would be to change her who she is. Seems like we're back to the definition of 'is'.
Beside the clear stupidity of this woman, this situation shows the mix up of race and ethnicity that we have in the US. Let's say that she does have some black ancestor... how far in the past would that ancestry would have to be for someone to stop claiming that race? This happens constantly for people that clain to be white - many have black, native american, or ther backgrounds, but you cannot tell just by the looks. And nobody seems to be alarmed by the person claiming to be white. How about we get rid of all race/ethnicity questions in any application form?
3
I don't think the black ancestry bit would fly, especially according to her parents who say she is of German and Czech descent.
Why are Ms. Dolezal's parents continually being accused of "outing" her? According to their own account, they were contacted last week regarding a criminal investigation into hate crimes reported by their daughter. They were not in communication with Ms. Dolezal for some years--at her request--and did not come forward on their own to make unsolicited statements about her family background. They simply responded to questions by a reporter.
16
Then they went on the Today show.
1
Dolezal's behavior goes beyond misidentifying her race and past and borders on some pretty serious charges of criminal mischief given her past and current claims of chronic and ongoing criminal harassment from anonymous white people in her community who she says were targeting her because she was black, because she was a "strong woman," and for her activism as a prominent NAACP official. She apparently out of her way to pretend she was in physical danger from the white community who, she claimed, were responsible for nooses hanging in trees, threatening phone calls and letters, and for what purpose?.... It appears her intent was to fabricate the specter of a tangible threat from a dangerous and violent white element in her community targeting blacks, especially "strong" black women. That borders on inciting violence. It does nothing to foster peaceful relations between races, and in fact does just the opposite. Her job with the NAACP was to advocate for human rights, not to inspire fear and create threatening scenes and graphic tableaus suggesting lynching and the like, all of which was deliberately designed to create a sense of persecution, imminent threats and danger and outrage. If nothing else, she likely would have been fired or asked to resign just on those grounds. And rightly so.
10
Rachel is A Wonderful HUMAN BEING ! Give the Lady A Break !
I hope she and her parents get the help they need. This is really sad on so many levels.
3
what if she were a 40 year old woman who chose to identify with teenagers? Toting a skateboard, wearing bagging pants down to her knees, and becoming a Justin Bieber groupie? No difference, for she would be diagnosed has having severe mental problems and possibly institutionalized. In her case however, she lied from the get go, tried to sue her Alma Mater saying she was white... As for comparing her to Jenner , no way- no even comparable.
3
Bruce Janner is the liar and deceptive one. Yet America praise 'him/her' . Let's be more reasonable America ! Rachel is very Strong and Brave woman ! Congrats Rachel Dolezal !
The behaviors you describe would not cause anyone to be considered mentally ill and institutionalized.
So, now that Dolezal is making the rounds of TV shows for chats, it's only a matter of time before she's offered a reality TV show "Black Like Me?", gets a book deal, and becomes a consultant on a made-for-TV documentary about her life.
You see, Rachel, it's a much better outcome than you thought it would be. Imposters and liars get ahead in this country.
You see, Rachel, it's a much better outcome than you thought it would be. Imposters and liars get ahead in this country.
7
This woman is a pathological liar and fraud. I am tolerant of most things but, not when someone can't tell the truth.
In one article I read, Rachel claims she was born in a teepee in Montana. Uummm nope, she wasn't. In another she says she lived in Cape Town for 5 years and again her parents said never happened. Plus she sued Howard University and said she was white then!
This woman can't get her story straight and so she keeps making it up as she goes along. I don't care what race she thinks she is..... She has zero credibility and integrity. She needs help.
In one article I read, Rachel claims she was born in a teepee in Montana. Uummm nope, she wasn't. In another she says she lived in Cape Town for 5 years and again her parents said never happened. Plus she sued Howard University and said she was white then!
This woman can't get her story straight and so she keeps making it up as she goes along. I don't care what race she thinks she is..... She has zero credibility and integrity. She needs help.
25
Honesty is the best policy.
She failed that. Attempts to portray her situation as something more complex only compound her dishonest behavior. Set the best example for your sons by being truthful.
She failed that. Attempts to portray her situation as something more complex only compound her dishonest behavior. Set the best example for your sons by being truthful.
23
When people catch someone in a situation that they perceive as dishonest, a lie, whatever you want to call it, those people just cannot help piling on top of the alleged liar. "Pile on! Kick her while she's down! Get her! Yeah!" Sooo unnecessary.
Please everyone, just calm down, relax, go hug your children. Go tell your wife you love her. Call your parents and say hello. Check on an elderly neighbor to see if she's okay. Do something nice for someone. You'll feel so much better than voicing your opinion on Rachel Dolezal's situation.
If you're really feeling angry over her, please know the only judge is God. Now go sit somewhere quiet and think about that.
Please everyone, just calm down, relax, go hug your children. Go tell your wife you love her. Call your parents and say hello. Check on an elderly neighbor to see if she's okay. Do something nice for someone. You'll feel so much better than voicing your opinion on Rachel Dolezal's situation.
If you're really feeling angry over her, please know the only judge is God. Now go sit somewhere quiet and think about that.
3
Actually the "piling on" as to lying is commonly done by the perpetrator. The one who lies or somehow does abuse to others always has to follow up, or "pile on" to justify the first mistake, and on and on... If you catch someone in a lie, you can expect a whole bag of lies lying around somewhere.
And I identify as rich. But saying it doesn't make it so.
18
I had been hoping she'd say she'd had a DNA history done so she could be correct in her claim that we all came from Africa.
Weird to play this out while your white background is easily checked. If this was 1970 maybe, but w/ internet it's strange she thought no one would find out, and that her parents--as well as childhood friends, classmates from Howard, would ignore it. She had to know this day would come.
Weird to play this out while your white background is easily checked. If this was 1970 maybe, but w/ internet it's strange she thought no one would find out, and that her parents--as well as childhood friends, classmates from Howard, would ignore it. She had to know this day would come.
7
lol
not at you. the part about a dna test? she expressed no desire for a dna test. shattering a delusion is painful.
not at you. the part about a dna test? she expressed no desire for a dna test. shattering a delusion is painful.
2
Nous sommes Rachel Dolezal!
2
Ms. Dolezal I personally have nothing against you, but you have created controversy in so unstable society. I believe that in the current world situation, this is unacceptable. The American people must unite as one, and any dispute will cause even more resonance in an unstable society. Think about it, Ms. Dolezal.
First, As a biologist I can assure you that the concept of "race" is artificial and outdated. second, it's absurd that one can be championed for identifying as another sex (which is a biological trait) and vilified for identifying as belonging to another race, which is not a biological trait. Both should be treated with understanding and respect. I'm an old dude...is someone gonna get on my case for acting and feeling young at heart!?
5
While I am disturbed about Dolezal's deception, she has a right to choose whatever affinity she prefers, and live with whatever consequences result. I expect it will be a unique mix of notoriety and isolation. The more difficult matter is that this is not engendering honest talk about race. There is no hope for a post-racial America when to people of color "whiteness" is implicitly bad and blackness is explicitly defended as special, as if it were more special than any other condition. The current racial accord in America is one in which blacks act like whites did in the past: needing to clearly be identified as "white" and know exactly who else was "white" - it is just reversed now. I long for a day when the "next Dolezal" faces only one issue: her truthfulness, not her chosen identity.
2
what if her affinity were with young teenagers? That would pass muster with you? afraid not in my book...
4
Seriously?
You're arguing that black people are acting like white people did as classifying themselves as special? Maybe you should write your ip-ed because I cannot fathom his in the world you can present evidence supporting your assertion.
1
I have every right to shave my head, but I don't have a right to misrepresent my baldness as a result of cancer and expect all of the community support that is rightfully given to cancer victims. This woman misrepresented her background and repeatedly lied about basic facts of her life, she is a fraud.
26
How does anyone know that Ms Moore doesn't feel very similar to Bruce Jenner. As far as I know Mr. Jenner has not been identified as having different chromosomes or other physical characteristics than most males. He just feels different. I fail to see the difference between Rachel Moore and Mr. Jenner.
8
big difference , not even comparable. People with feelings for the opposite sex usually have severe hormonal problems.
1
Others have probably pointed this out, but if Ms. Dolezal felt strongly about supporting Black Americans, who let's face it have gotten a raw deal since their forced introduction to The Americas, she could have done it as a blue-eyed Nordic blonde. Certainly she could have joined the NAACP; my understanding is that organization is not limited to African-Americans.
7
Sadly, the only time an African American can be identified as white is when other blacks accuse he/she of being white due to striving in school. What a shame. If it weren't for the obvious deception and double-talking Ms Dolezal has engaged in, I'd say let her be.
4
Only in a deeply racist culture such a thing - the "fake" of race - can be consider an issue at all. the irony is that Ms Dolezal happen to be not lest racist than her detractors, believeng that skin color matters at all. shame shame shame
2
It does matter because universities select students using race quotas, and companies hire with that in mind as well.
Just shows how superficial society can be. Why is it absolutely in vogue to agree that individual expression of gender identity (of any iteration) is currently encouraged and applauded, but individual expression of transracial identity is causing such an uproar?
3
The Police Ombudsman position for the city of Spokane, WA states that their best candidates will have impeccable integrity and sound judgment. Rachel Dolezal has demonstrated neither. Hopefully she is removed from that position.
11
Compare Ms. Dolezal's situation to that of Anatole Broyard, who passed as white throughout his entire very visible and illustrious writing career. He was actually a light-skinned mixed-race creole. Is his "deception" anything like Ms. Dolezal's? What she has wanted in life exists in the world populated by "people of color," her siblings from a young age inhabited that world. She identified with that world.
What most disturbs me is her parents: why do this? How does it serve them to destroy their daughter's life?
Rachel Dolezal has not hurt anyone.
What most disturbs me is her parents: why do this? How does it serve them to destroy their daughter's life?
Rachel Dolezal has not hurt anyone.
3
If you take the position that racial identity is a matter of personal preference and nothing more, then you necessarily deny that race has any legal relevance. In such a case, a white man accused of committing a hate crime against a black person could legitimately attempt to get the hate crime charge dropped on the basis of saying that he has identified as black since he was a child. To those who believe that racial identity is a matter of preference, the only issue here would be if our hypothetical defendant did in fact identify as black since childhood, or came up with that story in a cynical attempt to get the hate crime charge dropped.
If racial identity is not a matter of preference, then a white person who identifies as black and checks off African American on applications is either telling a noble lie or is attempting to deceive others for personal gain in a way that could harm non-white African American applicants.
If racial identity is not a matter of preference, then a white person who identifies as black and checks off African American on applications is either telling a noble lie or is attempting to deceive others for personal gain in a way that could harm non-white African American applicants.
3
“I was socially conditioned to not own that, and to be limited to whatever biological identity was thrust upon me and narrated to me.” This is such a bizarre statement. Since when are biological identities a matter of choice? It shows how morally depraved the liberal movement has become in america that one of their prominent leaders thinks she can invent her own reality and then force everyone else to accept it.
7
Um, since when did she become a prominent liberal leader? I never heard of her until last week. I think she's a fraud and a narcissist.
4
Humans lead complicated lives and have complicated ways of constructing their identities. Nearly all people make changes to their appearance as they grow older or in some cases, richer: plastic surgery, orthodontia work, hair color, hair curling or straightening and so on. Sometimes they even become estranged from their families and chose to call others "Mom or Dad".
Recent high profile cases like Caitlyn Jenner's bring into question which superficial characteristics mean one looks like a "woman" or looks like a "man." The casual stranger is rarely allowed to evaluate the internal emotional activities that tell someone who has been born with male "equipment" or male and female "equipment" that "he" should be "her" so appearance is important. And who would be arrogant enough to say, "No, Jenner, you have not "lived" the female experience so you cannot identify as a female."
And yet, this is what is being said of Ms. Dolezal. She is may not look "black" or identify on forms tracking racial identity as "black" because she was not born black (and her estranged parents have the picture to prove it). Worse yet, there are those who say she has not lived "the black experience" as though all African-Americans have one experience. This is a reminder of those who claimed President Obama was not "black" because his "white" family raised him in Hawaii.
Complicated, but the losers here are a community that lost the talent and skill of a person because of prejudice. So sad
Recent high profile cases like Caitlyn Jenner's bring into question which superficial characteristics mean one looks like a "woman" or looks like a "man." The casual stranger is rarely allowed to evaluate the internal emotional activities that tell someone who has been born with male "equipment" or male and female "equipment" that "he" should be "her" so appearance is important. And who would be arrogant enough to say, "No, Jenner, you have not "lived" the female experience so you cannot identify as a female."
And yet, this is what is being said of Ms. Dolezal. She is may not look "black" or identify on forms tracking racial identity as "black" because she was not born black (and her estranged parents have the picture to prove it). Worse yet, there are those who say she has not lived "the black experience" as though all African-Americans have one experience. This is a reminder of those who claimed President Obama was not "black" because his "white" family raised him in Hawaii.
Complicated, but the losers here are a community that lost the talent and skill of a person because of prejudice. So sad
4
This photo makes me think of Angelina Jolie portraying Mariane Pearl in a film. That, like this, was a bad idea. But it was only a movie. This woman has a big problem. You can appreciate another culture. You can even live in another culture. But you can't lie forever about who you really are. I find Black Americans to be much more accepting of other races and cultures than whites generally are. Ms. Dolezal would certainly have been embraced and appreciated as a white woman who loves African-American culture. She will not be embrace so readily as a liar, as someone who pretended to be something she wasn't, for reasons still not entirely clear.
3
Listen, being Black or African-American is nothing to be deliberately deceptive about. There are many including myself, that has had many questionable experiences based on my background, numerous amounts stereotypical remarks and negative assumptions about solely based on how I look. This is the behavior of a person with some serious personal issues. And given her past legal issues with Howard, it further demonstrates some in authenticity. She should own up to what she has done honestly, perpetrated a fraud!
7
There is also some issue with whether or not she was making up the racial hate crimes she had reported to the police that was in the local news here some time back, which I think kind of started this whole thing. I think because of that her parents came out with her true ethnic legacy. I think it is ok for a person to embrace another racial culture, but to try to pass one-self off as a different race from what you are is not OK. To look like someone of a different racial make-up is one thing but to LIE about your true heritage seems devious to me.
6
I am mystified at Rob's comment, from Bellevue, Wa: " This has nothing to do about race. Its about 1 person being dishonest." Did I miss something? What makes him think she is "1%"? And even is she is, how are they related? High income does not equal dishonesty, nor does low income equal dishonesty.
Also, the now-infamous "1%" is commonly listed as household income of $250K a year. The NAACP in Spokane must be doing well if she is making that kind of money.
Also, the now-infamous "1%" is commonly listed as household income of $250K a year. The NAACP in Spokane must be doing well if she is making that kind of money.
1 person, not 1 percent.
1
Science quite clearly tells us that "race" is a social construct and has no scientific basis. (See Stephen Jay Gould's book, "The Mismeasure of Man.") A person's "racial identity" has no physical meaning or scientific validity; it is a choice made by an individual based on social and cultural factors.
4
I am a middle aged white man who now sees himself as japanese even though I have never been there and have no plans of doing so in the future.
Sayonara
Sayonara
3
Indeed, the truth would have set this woman free. Lying is her main problem, at least in this case. And it is the chief issue here.
To “identify as black,” as “to pass,” is not [always] the same as wearing black face. One may mock and one may honor. To “pass” is a difficult decision born of hardship, for the opportunity for a better life. Throughout history, people who identify as a different race have had myriad different reasons for doing so. Even costuming as a different race does not always mock, but can honor.
To “identify as black,” as “to pass,” is not [always] the same as wearing black face. One may mock and one may honor. To “pass” is a difficult decision born of hardship, for the opportunity for a better life. Throughout history, people who identify as a different race have had myriad different reasons for doing so. Even costuming as a different race does not always mock, but can honor.
5
After decades in NYC I identify as being street-smart enough to know a con when I hear/see one.
18
YES! This lady is playing us.
1
This country, and most others, sure waste a lot of time worrying about identity! All kinds of identity! Gender, race, religious, nationality.... While traveling in Italy this past month I was most often asked by strangers about my nationality. ...."You don't look like an American..." Huh? I started looking at other people with that observation in mind. I did "see" people who looked French, Italian, German, ... What does an American look like?
Why is our president referred to as an African American? Because he resembles his father? I claim him as an American. I really don't care that a group has "adopted" him as African American. It is a statement of pride, I am sure. He is just as much a White American if his lineage is the reason. I am proud of him, too.
Don't tell anyone but I am a Red Sox fan with a little Native American blood. I was most often guessed to be Russian. Gender never came up!
Why is our president referred to as an African American? Because he resembles his father? I claim him as an American. I really don't care that a group has "adopted" him as African American. It is a statement of pride, I am sure. He is just as much a White American if his lineage is the reason. I am proud of him, too.
Don't tell anyone but I am a Red Sox fan with a little Native American blood. I was most often guessed to be Russian. Gender never came up!
4
He is African American because black people can be proud of their race. White people can't be proud of their race, so people only identify as white if they are fully white (but they can never do it proudly).
Although, I wish she had always been clear about her distinctions in regards to her personal identity, I appreciate her candor and this issue's obvious complexity. Identity is not as, pardon the pun, as "black and white" as we'd like it to be. To be clear, this country was built on an non-biological construct of race which had and has served to give privilege to some and not to others. There is simply no other purpose to race. If one speaks to a multitude of brown people that are and can be so different, whether from India, Cameroon,Cuba, or Alabama and yet in our land of America, we say that black= black and white=white. Yet this is a simple, imbecilic and racist argument based on a slave based economic history. What we need to ask is who is this person in front of me, where are they from, what are they about and accept them as our brother or sister no matter how much natural SPF or melanin their skin decides to shed on a given day.
3
The back-and-forth on this issue highlights a complex question that no one is qualified to answer: what is it to be "black" or "white.
3
I'll take a crack at it. If both of your biological parents are white then you're white.
6
I've read many good points but several stand out:
1. Did she deceive? IMO - NO. Does a man in transition to womanhood deceive when they are still technically a man and claim female on forms or requests? Society in general is now saying no.
2. Is she genuine? IMO - YES. She not only identified as African American but lived a life in service to that community at a local level directly benefiting people in a real way.
3. Does her behavior demean other African Americans? IMO - NO. Science has demonstrated there is no such thing as race. Regardless of that fact African Americans have endured institutional racism, she chose to fight for racial equality and justice, that does not demean.
4. Finally - What's the big take away here? Just like our antiquated ideas about gender and sexual preference are evolving and impacting our institutions (such as marriage), so should race (such as hiring and selection preferences).
1. Did she deceive? IMO - NO. Does a man in transition to womanhood deceive when they are still technically a man and claim female on forms or requests? Society in general is now saying no.
2. Is she genuine? IMO - YES. She not only identified as African American but lived a life in service to that community at a local level directly benefiting people in a real way.
3. Does her behavior demean other African Americans? IMO - NO. Science has demonstrated there is no such thing as race. Regardless of that fact African Americans have endured institutional racism, she chose to fight for racial equality and justice, that does not demean.
4. Finally - What's the big take away here? Just like our antiquated ideas about gender and sexual preference are evolving and impacting our institutions (such as marriage), so should race (such as hiring and selection preferences).
8
I hate the timing of this for the exact reason you mentioned: people are associating transgender with this some made up concept of transracial. Brain evidence and psychologists have denoted transgender as a real, science based reality. No such legitimacy has been granted to someone who identifies as another race. In a way that makes sense: stripped of cultural context and legal and societal norms, race is strictly nominal. It is possible someone identifies culturally in the African American community, but not to literally say that they felt they should have been born a different skin color. Caitlin Jenner and Rachel Dolezal are not similar circumstances. It is documented that black Americans are an oppressed demographic; it is documented that they experience a brand of racial injustice from childhood to adulthood that cannot be absorbed in a tanning salon. Ms. Delozal admits that she did not identify as black when she was younger, so she tacitly adits that she did not experience America in the way that black person would from birth; it's thus unacceptable for her to have begun claiming to be black.
1
My mother was European. My surname is Italian on my father side, but his mother was born and raised in Argentina. What am I? European-Italian or Hispanic-Argentinian.
2
I'd go with Italian American. But what do you feel you are? All this labeling helps to keep us divided.
1
I'm an African-American male over 60 with some Native-American in my ancestry. I've have no problem with what Ms. Dolezal did. I grew up in southeast Washington, DC in a mixed neighborhood. Some of the white kids that I played with were not black in color on the outside, but were black on the inside and some were my friends. If she wants to call herself black and she identifies herself on the inside as being black then more power to her. A lot of people out there whether black, white, brown or yellow have done a lot of negative and harmful things. It seems her life has been about trying to do good for others. I don't care about the color of her skin as she tries lead a positive life. I do take exception to the black commentators who use such descriptions as "black face" to describe or interpret her actions. One might be annoyed at what she did, but "black face" is going way overboard. They should chill out. As a black Georgetown University professor recently said in support of her, "Blacks would support her sooner than they would Justice Clarence Thomas". I hope Ms. Dolezal gets through this storm and continues to be black in whatever terms she sees fit.
17
Very astute! Why does Clarence Thomas get to "be Black" when his actions and beliefs seem to fly in the face of everything that means politically and socially?
Rachel Dolezal has hurt no one. She has spent her life working for justice and equality; she has grown up feeling as though she exists most comfortably with black culture (her adopted siblings were black--that's an enormous influence!).
The furor over her is overwrought and borders on the hysterical. Yes--chill out, everyone.
Rachel Dolezal has hurt no one. She has spent her life working for justice and equality; she has grown up feeling as though she exists most comfortably with black culture (her adopted siblings were black--that's an enormous influence!).
The furor over her is overwrought and borders on the hysterical. Yes--chill out, everyone.
1
Her elderly parents had to declare that she's their daughter and that they love her, even though she has rejected them and has claimed someone else is her father. What about the guidance to "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother." She is dishonoring her mother and her father by denying that they are her parents and giving that reverential stature to someone else. She has caused much sadness. pain and bewilderment for her elderly parents. This is the worst of her actions in this entire charade of claiming to be black. And there is nothing "complex" about this, no matter how many times she uses that word to obfuscate this matter.
6
While most of us feel that we were born into our gender, our race, and our class--both burdened and privileged by unchosen identities--there have always been people who were born ambiguous or mixed, people who found ways to cross boundaries, people who were torn from or fled from their birth-lives and remade themselves--remember the story of Joseph living as an Egyptian? The kindness showered on Caitlyn Jenner should be offered to all those who try to "pass": the blacks who passed as white, the Jews who passed as Christians, the poor child who becomes rich, the rich child who "slums", the immigrant or expat who speaks in local slang, the old man with the fake hair, the woman with the pumped-up lips. Whatever historical, sociological, or psychological explanations we might have for their behavior should be kept tactfully to ourselves.
3
Let her be whoever she wants to be. She has not committed any crime. If Black is who she feels she is, let her be. She may have been assigned as white at birth but she has developed a totally different personality as a woman. Why her parents are doing this to her beats me. It is strange this story has come out now when the transgender issues are coming to the fore. Same song, different words. Go Dolezal! Don't back down.
5
Many are quick to make comparisons between the Dolezal situation and Ms. Jenner's. That is to say Ms. Dolezal is black in the same way that Ms. Jenner is a woman. Many others are quick to deny such comparisons. I agree that there are some relevant dissimilarities between the two cases.
As I think about this situation, another comparison springs immediately to mind: supposed 9.11 survivor Tania Head. Tania, falsely claimed to be the fiancée of a man who lost his life in the world trade center. She used this story to perpetuate an "identity." She identified as a 9.11 victim/survivor and spent considerable time working for the good of other 9.11 survivors. Unfortunately, once it was determined that she was not "really" a victim herself, her good works were not enough to save her from a severe public backlash. People don't like frauds.
My intuition is that Ms. Dolezal is more like Ms. Head and less like Ms. Jenner. Although, each case is unique in its own way.
As I think about this situation, another comparison springs immediately to mind: supposed 9.11 survivor Tania Head. Tania, falsely claimed to be the fiancée of a man who lost his life in the world trade center. She used this story to perpetuate an "identity." She identified as a 9.11 victim/survivor and spent considerable time working for the good of other 9.11 survivors. Unfortunately, once it was determined that she was not "really" a victim herself, her good works were not enough to save her from a severe public backlash. People don't like frauds.
My intuition is that Ms. Dolezal is more like Ms. Head and less like Ms. Jenner. Although, each case is unique in its own way.
6
Oh you silly people. Race is a social construct only. Really. All of us have genetic heritage from ancestors who were almost certainly the color we would typically call "black".
Some people will identify with a group because of appearance, some because of other affinities. Apparently Rachel Dolezal has chosen a definition of race which doesn't match the prevailing orthodoxy.
Being an American is something legally definable, being black simply isn't. So if someone wants to say they are Catholic, Democratic, or Black, then they are.
Some people will identify with a group because of appearance, some because of other affinities. Apparently Rachel Dolezal has chosen a definition of race which doesn't match the prevailing orthodoxy.
Being an American is something legally definable, being black simply isn't. So if someone wants to say they are Catholic, Democratic, or Black, then they are.
7
This is a complex situation involving values. Does this woman identify herself as "black?" If so, she should have the right to do so. After all, this is America.
If, on the other hand, she identifies herself as black to gain certain jobs or privileges, then her actions are dishonest and wrong. Only Ms. Dolezal knows the truth. The rest of us should not be concerned.
If, on the other hand, she identifies herself as black to gain certain jobs or privileges, then her actions are dishonest and wrong. Only Ms. Dolezal knows the truth. The rest of us should not be concerned.
3
A lot more to this story. Parents who out her and wreck her career. Why? The only white kid in a family where the parents adopted four black kids. Did she feel like an outcast in her own family and began to ID with being black because she thought that's what her parents desired? Then a few years ago, she became the guardian of one of her black adopted siblings who is now 21. Why was she awarded guardianship over the adoptive parents? She was formerly married to a black man and has a bi-racial child of her own.
I don't see a bad person. I see a woman with issues who at some point decided she ID'd as a black person and obviously made a huge effort to "be" the image of a successful, educated black woman -- clothing, hair, makeup, jewelry, culturally etc. She's educated, she obviously did a good job as part of the NAACP and was elected president of the chapter. On her application it says she checked off white, black, and American Indian -- she is absolutely two of those and in regard to being black -- obviously that is in her heart. I don't see why she is being trashed. She harmed no one and she did a lot of good along the way. I really want to know why her parents felt the need to out her. What's their problem?
I don't see a bad person. I see a woman with issues who at some point decided she ID'd as a black person and obviously made a huge effort to "be" the image of a successful, educated black woman -- clothing, hair, makeup, jewelry, culturally etc. She's educated, she obviously did a good job as part of the NAACP and was elected president of the chapter. On her application it says she checked off white, black, and American Indian -- she is absolutely two of those and in regard to being black -- obviously that is in her heart. I don't see why she is being trashed. She harmed no one and she did a lot of good along the way. I really want to know why her parents felt the need to out her. What's their problem?
9
Pathetic and sad. You are what you are, be proud of it and don't fake it. More proof that there's nothing authentic about the left in the country, all frauds.
4
Her presentation leaves something to be desired but there's nothing wrong with her substance.
2
The biologic and genetic fact is that this woman is of European ancestry. It strikes me as inauthentic for this woman to deny that reality and deceptively masquerade as something that she is not.
5
its a shame instead of wanting to claim a false geneology, she didn't set an example of a white woman being fully immersed in helping the cause of a minority. That would have had a stronger impact on a society that is struggling, still, with constant conflict due to racial issues.
5
I hope media types interview the woman's parents as well.
They are definitely part of this story in that they were so offended by their daughter's lie that they needed to out her very publicly for maximum humiliation. What was their reasoning? Seems like a kind of revenge mentality rather than caring- why was this the deal breaker if they never talked anyway? Their actions are also part of this odd story.
They are definitely part of this story in that they were so offended by their daughter's lie that they needed to out her very publicly for maximum humiliation. What was their reasoning? Seems like a kind of revenge mentality rather than caring- why was this the deal breaker if they never talked anyway? Their actions are also part of this odd story.
5
Good for her!
She had black siblings growing up, being black is more than about the color of your skin, or the color of your parents skin. More than anything it is about having a shared cultural background.
I think the attacks on a person for the color of their skin belong in the days of Jim Crow. Saying someone isn't black enough, or white enough, or checking someone's family history like they used to do in Germany in the 30's to check for racial purity. That has no place in 21st Century America.
Let the woman be who she wants to be :)
She had black siblings growing up, being black is more than about the color of your skin, or the color of your parents skin. More than anything it is about having a shared cultural background.
I think the attacks on a person for the color of their skin belong in the days of Jim Crow. Saying someone isn't black enough, or white enough, or checking someone's family history like they used to do in Germany in the 30's to check for racial purity. That has no place in 21st Century America.
Let the woman be who she wants to be :)
10
MsPea, African Americans do not in any way think of themselves as inferior to anyone. My family is surprised that in today's age, anyone would even make such a suggestion. We are doctors, lawyers, teachers, artist, poets, inventors and some of our people have a great deal of wealth. Everything that any other race has, we have. We have a rich history that we are proud to call ours. For most whites, that privilege that you speak of does not really exist and is all but impossible to obtain. That privilege belongs mostly to the wealthy and that group includes many people who are African-American. I am glad that she wants to by one of us. She has made a great choice!
8
I find her to be a disgusting human being period. She wants to be black when it's convenient for her. She's a fraud like Bernie Madoff.
3
Her actions appear to be driven by a desire to belong. It is unfortunate for her and her family that these actions have now resulted in the loss of her position, her employment, and her public disgrace. She seems to have some deep-seated unresolved need or lack of self, and I hope she gets the counseling to have a happier and more honest life.
1
From the Today Show transcript: "...the discussion is really about what it is to be human," [Dolezal] said. "I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment."
So, after thinking that she might be mentally ill and in need of professional help, based on that comment, I have arrived at a new conclusion, namely:
Ms. Dolezal wants to be the pioneer of "transracialism." She wants to both create the category "transracial" and be its first advocate. She want to be the Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. of the "transracial community" that she hopes to establish as a viable new minority.
In other words, she's a race hustler (well, she was a college professor; it's really not that long a walk!). I guess being a deluded sociopath wasn't bad enough! I guess pretending to be a member of a traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed class wasn't enough! She had to cross the line and create a whole new class of victim and a new victimhood for which she would be the lone voice in the wilderness!
Can we ignore this crazy, dishonest, self-aggrandizing woman now and get on with more important things?
So, after thinking that she might be mentally ill and in need of professional help, based on that comment, I have arrived at a new conclusion, namely:
Ms. Dolezal wants to be the pioneer of "transracialism." She wants to both create the category "transracial" and be its first advocate. She want to be the Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. of the "transracial community" that she hopes to establish as a viable new minority.
In other words, she's a race hustler (well, she was a college professor; it's really not that long a walk!). I guess being a deluded sociopath wasn't bad enough! I guess pretending to be a member of a traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed class wasn't enough! She had to cross the line and create a whole new class of victim and a new victimhood for which she would be the lone voice in the wilderness!
Can we ignore this crazy, dishonest, self-aggrandizing woman now and get on with more important things?
7
Whatever her motivations, I don't see financial gain and benefits as a plausible explanation.
Her deception doesn't seem to have gained her very much. She was still "white" when she went to Howard University (where they once barred her artwork from a show because she was white).
So the big benefit seems to be that her self selected identity allowed her to become the head of the NAACP in a town in the Northwest with very few black people. Probably a $50K/yr job.
She might have gotten the job as a "white" since NAACP is pretty color -blind.
So, I am inclined to believe her that she genuinely "felt black".
I have a Welsh-American friend who moved to France, became a French Citizen, Married a French woman, made his career in French publishing and feels passionately "French".
How different is her case from his?
Her deception doesn't seem to have gained her very much. She was still "white" when she went to Howard University (where they once barred her artwork from a show because she was white).
So the big benefit seems to be that her self selected identity allowed her to become the head of the NAACP in a town in the Northwest with very few black people. Probably a $50K/yr job.
She might have gotten the job as a "white" since NAACP is pretty color -blind.
So, I am inclined to believe her that she genuinely "felt black".
I have a Welsh-American friend who moved to France, became a French Citizen, Married a French woman, made his career in French publishing and feels passionately "French".
How different is her case from his?
9
And PARTICULARLY the French know he's not. But he can say whatever he likes to his American friends.
1
Look, the issue is not whether or not one can choose ones racial identity apparently one can even though I think it's pretty weird. The issue is that this woman lied about her race in order to get an education and employment. If she want's to choose her race then fine do it but to chose to be white or black or native American because it presents an opportunity for advancement in your career or whatever else is wrong.
1
As a Canadian, very little of this could have occurred. She is being persecuted by the law and public because of answers she put on a job application and other forms. As best that I know, it is illegal to ask such questions in Canada. You can't ask about your religion, ethnicity, colour and that sort of thing that might cause prejudice. And the very organization that would want to ban such questionable activity is at the very heart of it. I am shocked to hear that in the land of the free, you are still prisoners to such questions. Grow up.
12
I have issues with some of Rachel Dolezal’s actions:
1. She lied on her job application in order to further her professional career. Maybe her intentions were good hearted, but professionally this type of deception gives her zero credibility.
2. She lied about the people she claimed were her father and her son in order to further her efforts to appear to be black. How sad for her real family.
3. While she can relate to black people, and has had adopted family and probably friends and associates that are black, she is in NOT a black woman and “no matter how much she identifies with them, she has not lived their experience, and should not claim it as her own.” She is and will always be white, no matter how much she perms her hair or spray tans her skin, no matter how strongly she relates to black people.
1. She lied on her job application in order to further her professional career. Maybe her intentions were good hearted, but professionally this type of deception gives her zero credibility.
2. She lied about the people she claimed were her father and her son in order to further her efforts to appear to be black. How sad for her real family.
3. While she can relate to black people, and has had adopted family and probably friends and associates that are black, she is in NOT a black woman and “no matter how much she identifies with them, she has not lived their experience, and should not claim it as her own.” She is and will always be white, no matter how much she perms her hair or spray tans her skin, no matter how strongly she relates to black people.
4
She was doing solid work. She identified with the people she wanted to identify with. What good comes from the media patrolling racial boundaries, and outing, and shaming, and hounding people who are racial non-conformists? None. None. None. The only thing shameful here was when the reporters smelled clickbait blood and went for it.
9
This is not a question of a person's right to choose. It's about a non- story that has lingered and has race written all over it as if someone who identifies with another race is deliberately hurting others.
6
I kept wondering who she reminded me of, and it finally came to me: Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons. And all of this ruckus reminds me of a sideshow. Enough has been said. Let it go, people!
5
I'm reminded of a fascinating episode of the radio show "State of the Re:Union" about a town in Appalachia where EVERYONE looks white but identifies as black, as they have for generations:
http://stateofthereunion.com/pike-county-oh-as-black-as-we-wish-to-be/
There really are gray areas.
http://stateofthereunion.com/pike-county-oh-as-black-as-we-wish-to-be/
There really are gray areas.
3
I see this as very similar to a man identifying as a woman and choosing to transform his outward appearance into a woman. Yes, African-Americans have suffered and Ms. Dolezal was not born into that disadvantage. But, HELLO, women, as a group, also have a history of disadvantage and still experience discrimination everywhere. Bruce Jenner wasn't born into that, either, yet he is being praised for making himself look like a woman. I don't see how you could support one but not the other.
8
Thinking about it... I have cousins where the father Jewish heritage and the mother Christian heritage although both were atheists. Both kids consider themselves Jewish. Lots of Jews would say they aren't because they say only the mother can transmit Jewish identity. But in reality, in patriarchal societies, the women adopt the husbands religion. So we have arguments about whether a group is Jewish that are resolved by looking at the percentage of Y chromosome with genetic information indicating a Jewish lineage.
1
There seems to be a big double standard here.
If a black or mixed-race person could pass as white, presented themselves as white, and was later discovered to have entirely black heritage, no one would be asking them to resign from a job. In fact, we would consider that to be racial discrimination.
Secondly, America is far from being "post-racial" but it is a goal. We believe all people are equal regardless of race. So if all races are equal, what difference does it make if someone identifies with one race or another?
I see no evidence of deceit as it relates to her professional positions. Race cannot be considered a qualification for a position. If she lied about her education, skills or professional experience, then yes, she should face consequences for misrepresenting herself. But what differences does race make?
If a biologically male transgender person applied for a job and introduced himself as "her" and possessed a feminine name, and later she was discovered to be transgender, it would be considered sexual discrimination to fire her based on their sex.
I think Ms. Dolezal should more strongly defend herself. I think she should better articulate her position. I think she could even find ways to use her position in this controversy to continue the mission she had for the NAACP.
If a black or mixed-race person could pass as white, presented themselves as white, and was later discovered to have entirely black heritage, no one would be asking them to resign from a job. In fact, we would consider that to be racial discrimination.
Secondly, America is far from being "post-racial" but it is a goal. We believe all people are equal regardless of race. So if all races are equal, what difference does it make if someone identifies with one race or another?
I see no evidence of deceit as it relates to her professional positions. Race cannot be considered a qualification for a position. If she lied about her education, skills or professional experience, then yes, she should face consequences for misrepresenting herself. But what differences does race make?
If a biologically male transgender person applied for a job and introduced himself as "her" and possessed a feminine name, and later she was discovered to be transgender, it would be considered sexual discrimination to fire her based on their sex.
I think Ms. Dolezal should more strongly defend herself. I think she should better articulate her position. I think she could even find ways to use her position in this controversy to continue the mission she had for the NAACP.
7
It is not only Ms. Dolezal's lying that is disturbing here. It is also the fact that she reported numerous incidents of harassment based on her supposed ethnicity, none of which could be proven, and many of them suspicious. She also claimed to be discriminated against by Howad University because of her race as a white person. It reminds me of Munchausen by Proxy, in which someone is trying to attract attention or sympathy to themselves by false means. Truly a pathology.
8
She can want to want who she wants to be and make up anything in reality she wants, which she just says once just now. So she fought legally, to mention one of the liars whatever she decided she thinks (or is mentality weird) she was black and demanded a scholarship at graduate school, she sued the school fighting this lost legally for some three years. Elizabeth Warrens got her Harvard problem bit at least maybe she had one-percent even, but it seems Dolezal had no relationship to any legal whatsoever is zero clear to get some minority right. Since this woman Dolezal has no doubt pushed that blacks demand government money all sorts of money more jobs, but what would she would she have to agree like herself if all whites all decide nee scholarships and money for minority?
Someone wrote that "gender, race and sexual preference should be a choice." Why stop there. I am a tall man at 6 feet 4 inches and nearly 300 pounds, yet I prefer to "identify" as short and thin. The problem, of course, is that by doing so I will never be able to fit into the driver seat of a really small car or cram my long legs into the space between the seats of most airline seats today. Neither would I be able to demand a college scholarship as a gymnast or file a discrimination lawsuit against thoroughbred owner for not hiring me to be their jockey.
What Ms. Dolezal did was to clandestinely appropriate the culture and ethnicity of a group she may admire not only to promote its equity in our society but to further her own position. It was manipulative and unnecessary, considering the many others in society of diverse ethnicity who have championed African-Americans and fought against racial discrimination.
What Ms. Dolezal did was to clandestinely appropriate the culture and ethnicity of a group she may admire not only to promote its equity in our society but to further her own position. It was manipulative and unnecessary, considering the many others in society of diverse ethnicity who have championed African-Americans and fought against racial discrimination.
3
I recently robbed a bank but if caught I will simple self-identify as not guilty. This is a America. You are anything you say you are. :)
2
This situation seems easy: she's a trans-black. No, she's not black, just as a trans-woman is not completely a woman, but as a society we're prepared to accept new gender declarations (trans-x), so why not accept new race declarations?
4
Rachel Dolezal is the poster child for media reform. Her every action screams that we need to revise the ways news is gathered and carried. The compromises she makes with truth serves to highlight our cultural love affair with lies and liars. Honest journalists are the only people who can set us free.
It's not that we cannot tell the difference between the truth and a lie. It is our permissiveness that is so dangerous to us all. Bill Clinton's issue with the word and Donald Rumsfeld's problem with unknown unknowables and the moral hazard of today's banking has lead us to believe that Ms. Dolezal's reasoning deserves a moment's thought. It's a bit like asking Bernie Madoff why did you steal?
It's not that we cannot tell the difference between the truth and a lie. It is our permissiveness that is so dangerous to us all. Bill Clinton's issue with the word and Donald Rumsfeld's problem with unknown unknowables and the moral hazard of today's banking has lead us to believe that Ms. Dolezal's reasoning deserves a moment's thought. It's a bit like asking Bernie Madoff why did you steal?
1
To those who are comparing her to Caitlyn Jenner, that's ridiculous. Caitlyn never lied about her struggle and has been honest and brave.
A Brian Williams comparison, on the other hand, seems more apt. People think that what he did is lame, they don't think that he's a bad person. I don't think that she's a bad person, but that what she has been doing is either (a) lame, if she has been proactive about all of it, or (b) worrisome, if she has lost her way due to a lack of confidence and self-worth.
She could have been [and still can be] an amazing role model as a white woman with a multicultural family and a passion for black culture. Deceitfulness is a blocker to that though, and it doesn't seem, based on these first interviews, that she's on her way to acknowledging the disparities and moving forward.
A Brian Williams comparison, on the other hand, seems more apt. People think that what he did is lame, they don't think that he's a bad person. I don't think that she's a bad person, but that what she has been doing is either (a) lame, if she has been proactive about all of it, or (b) worrisome, if she has lost her way due to a lack of confidence and self-worth.
She could have been [and still can be] an amazing role model as a white woman with a multicultural family and a passion for black culture. Deceitfulness is a blocker to that though, and it doesn't seem, based on these first interviews, that she's on her way to acknowledging the disparities and moving forward.
2
Once again, the internet plucks an individual from obscurity to single her out for condemnation over something that, be it good or bad, should have been addressed within her own community and circle of peers. Trial By Internet needs to stop.
This story has been one of the most bizarre media frenzies I have seen in a long time. You would almost think a white woman had disappeared.
The head of a local NAACP chapter misrepresenting her race has been front-page national news for the better part of a week. Sure, it’s plenty strange but it’s the kind of thing I expect to read about in the News of the Weird column in my local paper’s Saturday Variety section – not on the front page of the New York Times.
The head of a local NAACP chapter misrepresenting her race has been front-page national news for the better part of a week. Sure, it’s plenty strange but it’s the kind of thing I expect to read about in the News of the Weird column in my local paper’s Saturday Variety section – not on the front page of the New York Times.
"You would almost think a white woman had disappeared."
I think you put your finger on it. Whites seem to feel like the other side caught one of our women!
I think you put your finger on it. Whites seem to feel like the other side caught one of our women!
It's unfortunate when stories like this elevate the emotional plight of a troubled individual into the public sphere. But once that's taken place, it's open season for all of us to proffer our unsolicited reactions and opinions.
The Rachel Dolezal story brings to mind Steve Martin's first film role in "The Jerk"--a poor white boy raised by a family of black sharecroppers who never paused to realize that he himself was not actually black.
In the case of Rachel Dolezal, one doesn't need to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to understand that what Rachel Dolezal likely needs is a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I am guessing she has a host of reasons she wants to dissociate from her parents and their caucasian heritage or DNA and instead associate with the repressed plight of African Americans. It sounds like she resonates with their plight and it might be helpful for her to explore all the underlying reasons that is the case.
Sad story.
The Rachel Dolezal story brings to mind Steve Martin's first film role in "The Jerk"--a poor white boy raised by a family of black sharecroppers who never paused to realize that he himself was not actually black.
In the case of Rachel Dolezal, one doesn't need to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to understand that what Rachel Dolezal likely needs is a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I am guessing she has a host of reasons she wants to dissociate from her parents and their caucasian heritage or DNA and instead associate with the repressed plight of African Americans. It sounds like she resonates with their plight and it might be helpful for her to explore all the underlying reasons that is the case.
Sad story.
6
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was quoted on the Huffington Post as saying: "...the black community is better off because of Rachel Dolezal.." which I think is a sensible point of view. She has used her talents to help the civil rights cause, and her sincerity on the issue makes me skeptical that she is doing it only for personal gain. I am appalled that a person cannot identify with another race, religion, or gender without having to get some kind of approval, particularly if no harm is done.
This issue has become a media football. Too much of this 'hate' business is going on; what ever happened to 'live and let live'? In this age of 24/7 news cycle, nothing and no one is spared - but the news now turns on individuals with obsessive details which one can normally shrug off, except it dominates every form of news media and is impossible to escape. It seems anytime you tune in, someone is resigning from a position for a remark - even made in private conversations. The power of the Fourth Estate....but over the top.
This issue has become a media football. Too much of this 'hate' business is going on; what ever happened to 'live and let live'? In this age of 24/7 news cycle, nothing and no one is spared - but the news now turns on individuals with obsessive details which one can normally shrug off, except it dominates every form of news media and is impossible to escape. It seems anytime you tune in, someone is resigning from a position for a remark - even made in private conversations. The power of the Fourth Estate....but over the top.
8
"Identifying with" is fine, but she did more than that. She claimed African American martyrdom and I see her as a con artist
It's an odd story because white people don't like passing for black...but black people used to do it up until we got our freedom in 1968. Leave the lady alone, she looks cute as an AA. Maybe she can profit from this financially it's one of those stories that has a life of it's own.
6
She's an Anonymous Alcoholic?
1
Most people when talking about Rachel Doleful are discussing race. The experts should be talking about the DMS IV diagnosis Pathological liar. Sure she lied about her race.
She also said she was "cured" of cervical CA, which is a very aggressive cancer. Did she receive chemo? Are there pictures of her with no hair like the pics of her with "ethnic" hair as she describes it.
She also reported her ex husband threw her son across the room. Is there a police report. Was he charge with child endangerment?
And still, she has announced to man she has been a victim of hate crimes 8 times...most recently with an envelope sent to her po box- an envelope with no stamped/processed info from the USPS on it? If the investigative journalists would look into these so called "truths" and found lies and deceit , the conversation should be about pathological liars alive and well in our community work place and families.
She also said she was "cured" of cervical CA, which is a very aggressive cancer. Did she receive chemo? Are there pictures of her with no hair like the pics of her with "ethnic" hair as she describes it.
She also reported her ex husband threw her son across the room. Is there a police report. Was he charge with child endangerment?
And still, she has announced to man she has been a victim of hate crimes 8 times...most recently with an envelope sent to her po box- an envelope with no stamped/processed info from the USPS on it? If the investigative journalists would look into these so called "truths" and found lies and deceit , the conversation should be about pathological liars alive and well in our community work place and families.
3
Pathological lying is not included in the DSM IV as a specific diagnosis, but as a symptom. It is doubtful you are in a position to assign an accurate diagnosis to this women.
I don't know if this is fair, but there seems to be some sort of pack mentality against women who end up taking a public fall.
Our politicians, bankers, business men regularly do outrageously illegal things but the real righteousness seems to come out when someone like this lady gets caught. And her "crime" is pretty small compared to other things that have happened.
Our politicians, bankers, business men regularly do outrageously illegal things but the real righteousness seems to come out when someone like this lady gets caught. And her "crime" is pretty small compared to other things that have happened.
12
Part of America's problem is the same problem that plagued Germany throughout the 1940s: The insistence that (somehow) "race" exists when there is no scientific or biological basis to support it. The Third Reich came up with their own mythological race: The so-called "Germanic-race."
The mere mention of "race" in a discussion of scientists quickly elicits laughter from said scientists (race does not exist...never did).
Dolezal's claim that she is "black" is not correct in that she does not share the same ETHNIC background as African-Americans. However, her ability to pass as African-American for so long is emblematic of our shared African ancestry. In short, she was able to "pull this off" because we are all very African (in spite of our different skin pigmentations). Dolezal (like it or not) really does look like a black woman in many of her pictures because a black woman in Africa literally gave birth to her entire European family tree.
The fact that all she had to do was tan herself to look "black" (or look like a past descendant from her own family tree) should tell us something: We've been stupidly segregating ourselves for decades based on skin pigmentation despite the fact that we are all one single human family; a human family that has fewer biological differences than a single tiny family of chimps living a few feet from one another in Tanzania.
Thus, the joke is not only Dolezal. The much bigger, larger and uglier joke is on all of us!
The mere mention of "race" in a discussion of scientists quickly elicits laughter from said scientists (race does not exist...never did).
Dolezal's claim that she is "black" is not correct in that she does not share the same ETHNIC background as African-Americans. However, her ability to pass as African-American for so long is emblematic of our shared African ancestry. In short, she was able to "pull this off" because we are all very African (in spite of our different skin pigmentations). Dolezal (like it or not) really does look like a black woman in many of her pictures because a black woman in Africa literally gave birth to her entire European family tree.
The fact that all she had to do was tan herself to look "black" (or look like a past descendant from her own family tree) should tell us something: We've been stupidly segregating ourselves for decades based on skin pigmentation despite the fact that we are all one single human family; a human family that has fewer biological differences than a single tiny family of chimps living a few feet from one another in Tanzania.
Thus, the joke is not only Dolezal. The much bigger, larger and uglier joke is on all of us!
14
Race exists.
It is preposterous to claim otherwise.
Maybe if you graduate from Brown... but if you go to a real science institution, you will learn that different ethnicities, or 'races' in the same species suffer from differential rates of disease, alcoholism, cancer.
Is the lactose tolerance of Europeans culturally mediated?
It is preposterous to claim otherwise.
Maybe if you graduate from Brown... but if you go to a real science institution, you will learn that different ethnicities, or 'races' in the same species suffer from differential rates of disease, alcoholism, cancer.
Is the lactose tolerance of Europeans culturally mediated?
I identify as Keith Richards. I'm not Keith Richards, but often I kind of wish I was.
Please, this should be a one day News of the Weird story, not covered solemnly as something with any cultural significance. We already have enough media circuses about unimportant things.
Please, this should be a one day News of the Weird story, not covered solemnly as something with any cultural significance. We already have enough media circuses about unimportant things.
6
I believe this is an example of how easily we get sidetracked by inconsequential issues and lose sight of what is really important. This story has been dominating the news for several days when in fact it is a local issue that should be dealt with by the local NAACP folks, looked at by local authorities to see if laws have been broken, and Ms. Dolezal’s friends and colleagues.
There are truly consequential issues such as economic injustice, poverty, mistreatment of citizens and unequal opportunity that should be topics of major concern. Ms. Dolezal’s situation is a distraction not worthy of all the attention it is getting.
There are truly consequential issues such as economic injustice, poverty, mistreatment of citizens and unequal opportunity that should be topics of major concern. Ms. Dolezal’s situation is a distraction not worthy of all the attention it is getting.
4
Bruce Jenner is a woman.
People who own a dog are now parents.
Everything is sure gone crazy.
People who own a dog are now parents.
Everything is sure gone crazy.
8
Bruce Jenner is a trans-gender woman.
She stole her salary from the NAACP and diminished the credibility of a very worthy organization. She could have told the truth and allowed the organization to decide whether it mattered or not. Her race can be her choice.
1
As a multi-ethnic woman of 'colors' I can only feel Pity for Ms. Dolezal. She obviously is not comfortable in her own skin and needs professional help.
I'm incensed at the hypocracy of NBC though - how dare they rake this woman over the coals when they have a home-grown founding member of this "Liar's Club"? Their very next interview should be of Brian Williams - he did the very same thing - lied about his personal experience and background as a 'victim' of the horrors of war, hurricane Katrina, and God knows what else. I also pity him, but NBC should be taking him to task in the public forum in the same way they did Ms. Dolezal.
These people are to be pitied - after all they were SO uncomfortable with their own existence and realities that they felt they had to make up a new existence to compensate for their inadequacies. And the sacrifice - Ms. Dolezal's parents seem like nice people - she threw them to the winds to keep her made-up life from being challenged. How pathetic is that?
I'm incensed at the hypocracy of NBC though - how dare they rake this woman over the coals when they have a home-grown founding member of this "Liar's Club"? Their very next interview should be of Brian Williams - he did the very same thing - lied about his personal experience and background as a 'victim' of the horrors of war, hurricane Katrina, and God knows what else. I also pity him, but NBC should be taking him to task in the public forum in the same way they did Ms. Dolezal.
These people are to be pitied - after all they were SO uncomfortable with their own existence and realities that they felt they had to make up a new existence to compensate for their inadequacies. And the sacrifice - Ms. Dolezal's parents seem like nice people - she threw them to the winds to keep her made-up life from being challenged. How pathetic is that?
5
Ms. Dolezal has used the argument that her deception was acceptable because race is a soclal construct, which would render “race” an identity claimable by anyone. This is erroneous. Social constructs have at their foundation an objective, independent reality. This isn’t to say Ms. Dolezal can’t identify as black and devote herself to issues relevant to the black culture; it DOES mean that she can’t justify her deception on the grounds that wanting to be black, and identifying with black issues, makes you black.
4
When I worked for the 2010 Census, we were given very explicit instructions regarding race: record whatever the person said -- if he or she was black as coal, but said white record him or her as white; if he or she was pale with freckles and straight, blond hair and blue eyes, but said black, record him or her as black. No discretion was allowed on the part of the enumerator.
10
As many others have stated, the problem is the lie(s). This is one of the many things that differentiates it from, say, a person who was born biologically male identifying as female. Because when Caitlyn Jenner talks about her experience, she doesn't identify herself as part of the struggle for women's rights and suffrage—she talks about herself as part of the struggle for transgender people, and how she shares in their struggles. But Dolezal isn't talking about how she shares in some transracial struggle, she is outright identifying with a history of suffering that isn't hers, when she says things like, "it is a small price to pay to give appreciation for the opportunities we enjoy today, opportunities that were not always available to our ancestors." The people she is referencing aren't her ancestors, and their historic struggle has not been her experience. She may have helped the cause, but her dubious claims of racial threats and a black father are part of an effort to appropriate a history that isn't hers. Sure, race is a construct, but the shared suffering of people due to that construct is real. You can be a champion of a group's civil rights without trying to co-opt their history as your own. You can even strive to be a part of that group by changing your appearance—what you can't do is lie about where you're coming from and your place in that struggle.
11
What a conflicted, dishonorable and unethical person she is. Repeating a lie does not make it true. Adding to the lie - with changes in your appearance for example - does not make it true. Many African Americans now straighten and curl their hair, making it look straight. They also color their hair blonde, red, whatever..but they aren't claiming to be Caucasian. If she wants to look black, dye her fair skin, crimp her hair and dye it black, it's her choice. If she chooses to lie about her ethnicity, which is not only a choice but also a DNA-driven heritage, she is revealing a deeply damaged personality that has not yet figured out how to be honest - both to herself, and to the world.
13
Regarding your statement: "Many African Americans now straighten and curl their hair, making it look straight. They also color their hair blonde, red, whatever..but they aren't claiming to be Caucasian." How do you know that some of the "many" are not "claiming to be Caucasian"? You don't really know whether some of the people you regard as "Caucasian" (whatever that is in your view) are not, like me, pale African Americans with colored and straightened hair! And since you don't know me, you don't know whether I might be "claiming to be Caucasian," do you?
1
I feel like the important distinctions aren't being made. African American identity includes family history, American history, community, culture including food, music, storytelling, dialect, religion, etc. This is true of any ethnicity. Although I have made personal choices, my background is informed by the identities, Diasporas, etc. of my ancestors. This is the connection that Rachel Dolezal does not have with Black Culture.
That in no way denigrates her personal feelings. Certainly individuals can be adopted into a culture that is not their own or choose to be a part of a culture they weren't born into, but it is important to set personal boundaries and respect the culture and the people. Honesty and respect are keys to healthy interactions between any people.
I was disappointed that Ms. Dolezal stepped down as NAACP President without a community meeting, healthy discourse, honest question and answer sessions, heartfelt apologies and true forgiveness. I feel that she owes that to the people she's worked with, who placed their trust in her. She took a quick escape route, which must have left hard feelings.
That is not how a true community organizer behaves. That's not how a member of a community behaves. I also find it a bit self-serving when she describes everything she has done (I, I, I, I) as President of the NAACP chapter. That should be we, we, we, we. All of us who work for non-profits know that to be the case.
That in no way denigrates her personal feelings. Certainly individuals can be adopted into a culture that is not their own or choose to be a part of a culture they weren't born into, but it is important to set personal boundaries and respect the culture and the people. Honesty and respect are keys to healthy interactions between any people.
I was disappointed that Ms. Dolezal stepped down as NAACP President without a community meeting, healthy discourse, honest question and answer sessions, heartfelt apologies and true forgiveness. I feel that she owes that to the people she's worked with, who placed their trust in her. She took a quick escape route, which must have left hard feelings.
That is not how a true community organizer behaves. That's not how a member of a community behaves. I also find it a bit self-serving when she describes everything she has done (I, I, I, I) as President of the NAACP chapter. That should be we, we, we, we. All of us who work for non-profits know that to be the case.
6
Her deceit was in making up allegations of receiving hate mail and threats. To feign being aggrieved as if she truly knows of what she speaks shows her lack of sincerity and makes one question her motives.
5
President Obama is 50% white and 50% black but is identified as America's first black president. I would bet that if he called himself white there would be an uproar. If we ever get to the point where it doesn't make a difference, then maybe we can say we are beyond racism. The Rachel Dolezal case is proof that race matters.
16
It's true that Obama's calling himself "black" could be due to his general opportunism to secure the black vote and hence the presidency. There would not have been an uproar if he called himself "biracial" or "other category", or "half white" or "half black". He marketed himself as the first black president so that he could secure the black vote, although his attitudes and actions suggest that he does not hold the black American community in a very high regard as he does other communities.
Correction, President Obama is 50% white and 50% *African*. Normally I wouldn't care as much about this distinction, but as this overall conversation is about people's ethnicities and heritage, it should apply here.
Watch the film "Imitation of Life." Although the story is the reverse - a light skinned black girl pretending to be white, you witness the deep pain it caused her mother and in the end herself. This family appears to have a lot of issues. Synonyms of 'imitation' are Mock, Pretend, Artificial, Synthetic. Isn't that what Rachel comes across playing out?
4
Can only imagine the uproar if a black person looking for the inherent advantages of being white in our society, claiming to be white, was outed. All fair skinned folks are watered down blacks from Africa so says genetic studies. The old saying, "all cats are grey in the dark" seems to apply here for us all.
2
There are many black people who have never had the so-called black experience. If you were raised middle class or wealthy, you don't experience the same hardship becoming educated and landing decent jobs - although, you can occasionally be stereotyped by police, etc. I personally think that both Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson essentially got away with murder because of their economic status. If you are poor and white, you start with the same disadvantages many minorities do. The problem is that there are more poor minorities, and a cycle of poverty created by deliberate government policies. It's a red herring to say that Rachel could have stepped out of the life of a black person any time she wanted, because she had no intention of doing so. It was her parents who outed her, in my opinion, for vindictive reasons. And why wouldn't she lie about her father, etc.? How else could she live her life? I find it interesting that Howard University rejected her when she was white, then offered her a scholarship when she was appparently black. Is this an equality of opportunity issue?
1
The problem with gender and race being a choice is that it is NOT a choice for all--it is certainly not a choice for people of color when they are victims of racial discrimination. I have been black for my entire life, which entitles me to nuanced experiences that Rachel Dolezal will never have. She can stand in solidarity with causes that effect black people, but that is not at all the same as being black. She says that because she is the "mother" of a black child, she is entitled to being black. But that makes no sense. Ask countless adoptive parents if they take on the identity of the child they bring into their homes and families. I think she needs to take a moment, away from the cameras and reflect on her actions over the past few years. The fact is that she lied because her white skin did not get her the job she felt she deserved. She lied because it would have taken too long or been too difficult to become the leader of an organization she cared for deeply. Those at NAACP and organizations like it should perhaps re-consider their leadership standards. But the fact remains that she is not a black woman and has (I suspect) very little idea of what it means to be black in America. One cannot wish on or off black racial identity, no matter how frustrating their economic, social, or career status. And while we're at it, let's get into skin color. Light skin and curly--not kinky--hair was an interesting choice by Dolezal.
3
The fact that this non-story has become a story that upsets both blacks and whites can only mean one thing, racism is still a problem. People who are not racist see people for who they are not for the color their skin. However in America if a black person posed as a white, they would be called out for it, and now we see it the other way around and the white person is called out for it. Is this not still racism?
3
What about people who are mixed race, look white to most whites, and would identify as black?
2
I mean if Bruce Jenner can be a woman named Caitlyn, then I guess this woman can be black or triracial or white or whatever. And I'm a black man. Who cares,.. Right
3
Watching the media embarrass itself by browbeating this woman is disgusting. She has children who have a black father, she identifies totally with "the black culture" and she calls herself black. She is what she says she is. That's fine and good enough. Shame on the media.
9
When my son was very young, he often mispronounced words. When I appropriately corrected him, he declared that his version was the one that he preferred and would continue to use. He chose the word, he chose how to pronounce it and perhaps he chose what it meant too. That all said, it didn't mean he was right. If I decide I am (for example) a 22 yr old Native American woman, it doesn't mean I am. I hold no ill will, she brought this on herself so declarations that she's "had enough" are premature.
3
It seems to me that this has more to do with dysfunctional family dynamics than race politics. Ms. Dolezal was a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl whose parents adopted four black children. Imagine the confusion: what did that do to her self-image and her estimation of her worth to her parents. Perhaps she began to identify as black as a way of identifying with her new siblings and/or seeking what she saw as her parents' preference. Eventually, the deception becomes reality, or at least, confusion. The irony is that all these years later, her parents are the ones who outed her.
7
This poor woman. Due to social and interpersonal rejection, she became seriously uncomfortable in her born 'skin'. Yet, luckily, acceptance came via an adopted group--a non-native but quite comfortable skin.
Social, inter- & intra-personal rejection happens too often. Our post-1960s lesson is to accept and assist. We no longer judge and marginalize.
Either fully or partially, Jews & Christians cross convert, males & females trans-gender, white- & blue-collars cross qualify. Abusers wise-up, addicts clean-up, the fallen get-up. Whites & blacks cross cultures, renunciations and naturalizations cause emigrants to immigrate.
We do not harass a helpful trans-person with good intentions, kind, non-violent, empathic--who tries their trans-member best. Of course those trans-parameters don't fit on a standard form...and this is no reason for personal offense or derogatory comment. We do not condemn and attack. cry 'mental health' or 'ulterior motive' or 'capital gain'.
Dolezal has been victimized. It began with her racist parents. With Rachel entrenched, successful and happy living in black culture, they became more insulted, upset and desperate.
Although really none of their business, they leveraged America's borderline personality disorder. They had The Media exploit our weakness for 'all or nothing' thinking. They outed their trans-black daughter.
She white. She checked 'black' on a form. Let the Anti-Lie Fest begin--let the ostracism be truly puritanical.
Social, inter- & intra-personal rejection happens too often. Our post-1960s lesson is to accept and assist. We no longer judge and marginalize.
Either fully or partially, Jews & Christians cross convert, males & females trans-gender, white- & blue-collars cross qualify. Abusers wise-up, addicts clean-up, the fallen get-up. Whites & blacks cross cultures, renunciations and naturalizations cause emigrants to immigrate.
We do not harass a helpful trans-person with good intentions, kind, non-violent, empathic--who tries their trans-member best. Of course those trans-parameters don't fit on a standard form...and this is no reason for personal offense or derogatory comment. We do not condemn and attack. cry 'mental health' or 'ulterior motive' or 'capital gain'.
Dolezal has been victimized. It began with her racist parents. With Rachel entrenched, successful and happy living in black culture, they became more insulted, upset and desperate.
Although really none of their business, they leveraged America's borderline personality disorder. They had The Media exploit our weakness for 'all or nothing' thinking. They outed their trans-black daughter.
She white. She checked 'black' on a form. Let the Anti-Lie Fest begin--let the ostracism be truly puritanical.
5
How can you take someone that claims to identify as black seriously; when they say that in order to parent a child with dark skin you have to have dark skin yourself? That sounds pretty racist to me...
8
There are plenty of people from all races who have identified with and sympathised with the struggles of black Americans but this woman's behaviour is deceitful and self-interested even if she insists it is driven by the desire to do good. You don't have to identify yourself as black to be a credible campaigner for black rights. Ask Bishops Trevor Huddleston or Graham Chadwick, white men who worked tirelessly against apartheid in South Africa and were respected for it by black South Africans. Those men earned the respect and acceptance of the community they identified with, they didn't ever pass themselves off as members of it. "Owning the experience" (whatever that means) is simply not enough.
4
Rachel Dolezal should be lumped in with Bruce Jenner's of the world. Both want the appearance of something they are not without the real experience. Bruce and I will call him Bruce because he never has nor never will have menstrual cramps, breast tenderness or menopause. His breasts will never sag and evidently, thanks to his brilliant plastic surgeons, he will never wrinkle. Caitlin is a fiction that Bruce's privilege permits.
Rachel will never experience of not having a choice about how she's treated because of the color of her skin. No matter how much she has "struggled for the cause" (parenthetically, being black is not all about struggle), she will never fully understand the weight of a history and culture that is not hers, no matter how hard she tries to manufacture the experience. Her identity is only as real as her privilege permits.
People who are drawing parallels and are confused by the parallels between these two people are correct because the one thing that they do have in common is real narcissistic streak that's tragically rooted in a deep sense of self loathing. Neither of which are remotely related to the genders or ethnicities they purport to embrace.
Rachel will never experience of not having a choice about how she's treated because of the color of her skin. No matter how much she has "struggled for the cause" (parenthetically, being black is not all about struggle), she will never fully understand the weight of a history and culture that is not hers, no matter how hard she tries to manufacture the experience. Her identity is only as real as her privilege permits.
People who are drawing parallels and are confused by the parallels between these two people are correct because the one thing that they do have in common is real narcissistic streak that's tragically rooted in a deep sense of self loathing. Neither of which are remotely related to the genders or ethnicities they purport to embrace.
2
Race is often a choice. I am white but what is not a race it is a color. Sometimes a put Caucasian on survey forms and sometime, more accurately, in the other space I put Semite (Jewish or Arabic). What would you like a black Latino or Latina to select? Black which is often used as a synonym for African-American (which if you are a Latino/a you are from the Americas) or Latino/a?
Among other strange things, RD is now telling people that her black ex-husband "forced her" to live as white--no doubt because she WAS when they married. A video interview done by a student (at RD's college) perplexes in its rambling but is interesting in comments about wanting "to be free to not care about appearance." In her case, being black is indeed a performance (if deeply felt)--which she then BLAMES for feeling ill at ease in the world. That takes some serious mental gymnastics to process. Many factors must be involved in RD's need to not only support black causes but to be accepted AS BLACK. I suspect that RD has a personality disorder and this is not really about ideology or the construction of race. Having sued Howard U. for discrimination against whites and then claiming that as black she was constantly targeted says something. I recall the Jewish mother in James McBride's THE COLOR OF WATER: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. She married a black man and had 10 bi-racial children, but when James as a kid asked her "what she was," she just said "I'm light" and when he asked what color God was, said "God is the color of water"--then went about her business. A very different model of a white woman joining a black community. It can be done, but the difference has to be how you go about it--and I don't know anybody who likes deception.
4
She is #transracial. She is a black woman born in a white body. We need to embrace her for she really thinks she is, not for who she actually is. She has the right to decide what reality is.
Why is Jenner accepted and she's not ? Is it because he's white ? Then maybe America is more racist than it admits to.
Why is Jenner accepted and she's not ? Is it because he's white ? Then maybe America is more racist than it admits to.
1
Trans-gender people are NOT universally accepted at all.
Trans-gender comes in all races.
Trans-gender comes in all races.
1
Yet taking the role of white person being discriminated against, she sued Howard University. She's a trivial distraction.
2
Clearly it has been a slow news week if this is the hot topic of conversation. As the descendant of both slaves and white people (two of my great-grandmothers could have passed for white), I find this woman's actions and responses simply ridiculous. There is so much more out there worth focusing on and discussing.
2
While her unusual choices and her apparent deceitfulness will inspire lots of tut-tutting, I think she has, in an admittedly odd way, sparked a very useful conversation. I as a white person certainly find myself thinking about blackness more than I ever have--about what defines it, what it must be like to be (non-optionally) black, about whether there is a line between admiring black culture and stealing it, etc. If her actions increase awareness and empathy, if they make some of us less oblivious, lazy, or afraid to think about race, then she will deserve to be spared the reality-TV treatment.
1
Perhaps we may have arrived at a situation where one’s race or preferred identity ought not bear that much consequence, which is to say if we can have a white woman (granted in appropriated guise) being the leader of a black movement, why not then a lesbian being the leader of a men’s movement, or vice to versa and ought we limit our understanding of what is possible to set scriptures? Then again we first may have to get over our adulation of white privilege and resentment of it as well, which might deep down augment the real friction and resentment towards Rachel Dolezal .... ?
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2015/06/rachel-dolezal-to-matt-lauer-i-a...
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2015/06/rachel-dolezal-to-matt-lauer-i-a...
Do you know what I think is the most profound aspect of the Rachel Dolezal outing?
What we are seeing here is what I would imagine is how a morality is formed. We have a community, admittedly an incredibly large virtual community, where one member of that community has stepped outside of the societal norm. Now the community members are coming together to shame her, not simply to punish, but as a warning to other community members "Do not stray, look what will happen to you."
People who might sympathize with Rachel, are either vocally arguing their point, and maybe if they win their argument, the societal rules could be expanded to include another different set of rules about what is appropriate for society. i.e. that race is a social construct.
While people who are against Rachel have created a set of criteria about what defines a proper member of the group. i.e race is defined by genetics. And have started adding additional qualifying facts e.g. Rachel is a liar.
This is really interesting. I'd be curious after the 20 or so years for the end results of this to become part of our cultural makeup. At which point, Rachel will probably be forgotten and the entire blame for racial identity non-acceptance will be laid at the feet of "the patriarchy."
What we are seeing here is what I would imagine is how a morality is formed. We have a community, admittedly an incredibly large virtual community, where one member of that community has stepped outside of the societal norm. Now the community members are coming together to shame her, not simply to punish, but as a warning to other community members "Do not stray, look what will happen to you."
People who might sympathize with Rachel, are either vocally arguing their point, and maybe if they win their argument, the societal rules could be expanded to include another different set of rules about what is appropriate for society. i.e. that race is a social construct.
While people who are against Rachel have created a set of criteria about what defines a proper member of the group. i.e race is defined by genetics. And have started adding additional qualifying facts e.g. Rachel is a liar.
This is really interesting. I'd be curious after the 20 or so years for the end results of this to become part of our cultural makeup. At which point, Rachel will probably be forgotten and the entire blame for racial identity non-acceptance will be laid at the feet of "the patriarchy."
2
As if more proof were needed for white people to believe that we are not living in a post-racial era, the sheer volume of attention given to this story and the 1000+ comments on this article should put the issue to rest.
I wonder if this story would have gotten popular before the surge of police brutality stories? The hullabaloo also seems to be a kind of distorted echo of the Obama-as-Arab Kenyan fantasy.
I found myself skipping most of the article and going straight to the comments. I realize that the issues of race and self-definition are wide ranging, but to me Ms. Dolezal's story is utterly trivial; the intensity of the reaction to it is the real story here.
I wonder if this story would have gotten popular before the surge of police brutality stories? The hullabaloo also seems to be a kind of distorted echo of the Obama-as-Arab Kenyan fantasy.
I found myself skipping most of the article and going straight to the comments. I realize that the issues of race and self-definition are wide ranging, but to me Ms. Dolezal's story is utterly trivial; the intensity of the reaction to it is the real story here.
7
Lots of white people want "to be black"! Especially musicians. Call it appropriation or total admiration, she is really not unique.
3
Why can't an adoptive mother of a different race not be seen as a "real mom"? Ms. Dolezal seems to have a wide variety of prejudices herself.
12
How effective was she as the head of the NAACP in Washington? Shouldn't that be the story?
5
No, all the lies she has told for her own advancement should be the story.
I found myself humming, "Doin' the Chameleon," from Woody Allen's 1983 movie, "Zelig." The movie is about Leonard Zelig, an unremarkable man who, out of his desire to be liked and to fit in, takes on the appearance and characteristics of the people around him. In a group of Asians, Zelig turns Asian; in a groups of blacks, he turns black. An enigma. Although he captures public attention for a while, the world soon tires of him and his story.
3
I think it's sad that she thinks she "certainly can't be seen as white and be Izaiah's mom." Motherhood should not come with racial qualifications.
7
Mariah Carey had a song a few years ago--"Outside"--about being mixed race, and not fitting in anywhere. As a mixed race person myself, I clearly get it. But I understand how many others feel the same, and I wonder if, given her four African American siblings and her attendance at a traditionally black school, Ms. Dolezal might have had similar feelings.
I can't be too critical of someone for trying to fit in. It's a powerful human emotion.
I've been told I could pass for white--I have my doubts. But even if I could, I wouldn't. I can't see denying part of my heritage and turning my back on people I love is beyond comprehension. I suspect Ms. Dolezal had the same feelings for her siblings.
I can't be too critical of someone for trying to fit in. It's a powerful human emotion.
I've been told I could pass for white--I have my doubts. But even if I could, I wouldn't. I can't see denying part of my heritage and turning my back on people I love is beyond comprehension. I suspect Ms. Dolezal had the same feelings for her siblings.
3
Many of the reactions I have read to Ms. Dolezal's situation are too quick to cast aside the analogy between her transracialism and Caitlyn Jenner's transgenderism. While it is clear that transracial and transgender are not the same thing, I think they may be similar in at least as many ways as they are different. Ms. Dolezal could not have been biologically predisposed to identify as black in the same way that Ms. Jenner was likely biologically predisposed to being a woman. However, growing up with several adopted black siblings as Ms. Dolezal did would exert a very strong influence on her racial identity, an influence that, like Ms. Jenner's genetic predisposition, is outside of her control and choosing. The lack of choice involved in transgenderism is often cited as a reason to respect transgender people's desire to be seen and referred to in line with the identity to which they transition. It seems that Ms. Dolezal may be deserving of similar respect.
1
It is easy to vilify her. She has been dishonest and likely attention seeking. Those traits are signs of possible mental health issues.
The questions about race and identify which she has unwittingly unleashed are legit and important questions, but unlink them from this possibly unwell individual.
It is not good to have the wrath of media world fall on individuals who may be unable to cope with this sort of exposure circus. Too many delight in tearing people apart, and others watching the not harmless mayhem. She and her friends and family will have to cope with this and it could be classically tragic.
The questions about race and identify which she has unwittingly unleashed are legit and important questions, but unlink them from this possibly unwell individual.
It is not good to have the wrath of media world fall on individuals who may be unable to cope with this sort of exposure circus. Too many delight in tearing people apart, and others watching the not harmless mayhem. She and her friends and family will have to cope with this and it could be classically tragic.
3
Yay! I've always wanted to check " Solomon Islander" on those optional questions on race. Now I can!
10
Having to identify your race on any form is a form of racism. What difference does it make - really?
1
More than anything I get a sense of imbalance from Ms. Dolezal, like maybe she's bipolar. All this identifying herself as a victim, as with her lawsuit against Howard U, or in her attempting to ally herself with the narrative of racial oppression, or in her estrangement from her parents - what did they do to incur her wrath? She just reads nuts, frankly.
2
Bipolar is a completely different disorder than the type of behavior Ms. Dolezal is demonstrating. Only she knows what's really going on inside of herself. My older brother is bipolar and he is a lot of things, but he never claimed to be Black, Native American or "normal" by society's standards. He's the first to admit that as long as he continues to take his prescribed meds, he can functional pretty well on a daily basis.
I am not an american but remember back in the day of slavery those who were born with a very similar colour and hair like her (and there were plenty) ran away and cast themselves as white. Just remember that!
I honestly think this woman is being vilified because she succeeded as being a black woman! It is pure envy.
Yes she has some emotional issues who does not? Have you heard of her family story? and how does the granma lost custody of her children if she was so great?
Give Rachel a break. She is a human first and choose to live her life within a group that is vilified and still held her head high!
Com'n!
I honestly think this woman is being vilified because she succeeded as being a black woman! It is pure envy.
Yes she has some emotional issues who does not? Have you heard of her family story? and how does the granma lost custody of her children if she was so great?
Give Rachel a break. She is a human first and choose to live her life within a group that is vilified and still held her head high!
Com'n!
4
Rachel herself is talking in circles. Period.
People need to stop eating up more of her constant double-speak and evasive reasoning.
Wake up folks. She is a pathological liar.
That said, quite honestly, she also looks like she has been having a scream shake of a good time doing bi racial and by proxy black. lol.
People need to stop eating up more of her constant double-speak and evasive reasoning.
Wake up folks. She is a pathological liar.
That said, quite honestly, she also looks like she has been having a scream shake of a good time doing bi racial and by proxy black. lol.
5
Why can a presidential candidate pretend he is disassociated from his biological family to get a job (while using the same appointee talent list as his brother and father), and get off scot-free by comparison?
1
Are you referring to the current president? if so, your point is not grounded in fact. Obama has never disassociated himself from his biological family. I have known President Obama since 1993 and at no point did he disassociate himself from his mother's family.
She should've adopted the Native American gambit. She'd be the distaff tribal version of Steve Wynn in Palm Springs' Indian casinos by now. She's that good, and rides the horse she's selling.
I don't know how I feel about this. I'm a black male who wants racial identification to disappear. There's only one race to me and it's called "Human". When it comes time to check the identity box on an application, we should all be saying "None of your business".
Now snapping back to reality, I guess I just don't like that she's lied or deceived people on legal documents. I'm also wondering why her parents would out her...I mean, can she ever get a meaningful job again? Reminds me of white reaction to a racial purity law they passed in Louisiana back in the 80s, which defined "black" as being 1/16th African blood.
Now snapping back to reality, I guess I just don't like that she's lied or deceived people on legal documents. I'm also wondering why her parents would out her...I mean, can she ever get a meaningful job again? Reminds me of white reaction to a racial purity law they passed in Louisiana back in the 80s, which defined "black" as being 1/16th African blood.
7
So if one's racial identity is a "choice," or better yet, one can change one's racial presentation, like a chameleon, to fit their current mood, then the solution to the problem of young Black men being disproportionately targeted by the police has been found! They need only don a blond wig and wear a button that says "I am White" to avoid harassment, suspicion, and excessive use of force at the hands of law enforcement and the "justice" system.
6
Time for us all to move on.
3
True. Stories that linger like this one means that the public likes the obsession. We seem to be obsessed with race.
1
There's a very interesting issue here that isn't being addressed. Rachel carried a Black child in her body. Do we have a name for this? For being the white mother of a black child?
The connection we feel with the children we give birth to is very deep and very profound, perhaps one of the strongest identifications we ever experience. It's life changing. But what is the identity of a woman whose child is considered a different race from his mother, even though half his DNA comes from her.
I have seen more than one woman describe herself in the NYTimes as the "white mother of a black child."
The connection we feel with the children we give birth to is very deep and very profound, perhaps one of the strongest identifications we ever experience. It's life changing. But what is the identity of a woman whose child is considered a different race from his mother, even though half his DNA comes from her.
I have seen more than one woman describe herself in the NYTimes as the "white mother of a black child."
1