The other morning a local Radio Station, Orlando and the freak show, made some interesting comments about Rachel Dolezal that got me thinking more about her. My initial reaction upon first hearing about this white woman pretending to be black and seeing what she looked like was something like “Shut up, no she didn’t!”. When I saw her picture across the TV though, she did look Black or even Latino or mixed. I have Black friends who are lighter than she and I have Latino cousins who look a lot like her.
As the news coverage increased, there were stories about her youth and claims she was abused, grew up in a cult-like family, weird stuff like that. There’s supposedly even a book that her only biological brother wrote about their troubled childhood. Interesting to me was the news that her parents had adopted 3 African American children and one Haitian child when she was a teenager. Could there be some legitimacy to Dolezal’s connections to Black Culture and identifying as Black? Absolutely! But what she did wrong was lie about her Identity. She lied about being African American, lied about hate crimes against her, lied about who her father is and now there’s even a possibility the African American artwork that got her the full scholarship to Howard University could be full of plagiarism.
I’m not sure what the population of African Americans is in Montana but it’s hard to imagine there are many. So what made her identify as being “Black” at age 5? Only she could tell us. I understand the rage she’s brought up in people but I also see there is so much more to her life that we just don’t know.
I don’t doubt that Rachel feels Black, I can look back at a time in my life where I felt a similar way, but I could never get away with telling people that I was Black nor did I feel the need to. I’ve read articles that said Dolezal has the nose of a Black person, Reealllly??? So because she could “pass” for Black, it was easier for her to carry on this lie? She has a weave in her hair and claims she doesn’t stay out of the sun. She said she uses bronzer and wears her hair like she does because it makes her feel pretty. She seemed to be genuine when sharing this on TV. Her appearance would probably be accepted as ok, if she didn’t try to become a whole other person. Dolezal said while doing human rights work in North Idaho there were reports about her that identified her as being trans-racial, then a black woman, and then a biracial woman. She never corrected them, why would she? She could identify as such. So while she wasn’t the one that started going out there saying, “Hey guys, I’m Black”, she certainly didn’t feel the need to correct these alternative labels.
I grew up in a community where the majority of the population was African American. In preschool, I was the only Latina in my class. My mom tells me stories of how I would ask her why I didn’t have hair like my friends. I wanted so badly to have their hair. Soon other Latinos started moving into the area and I was no longer the only Latina. However all through Elementary and Middle school, I still identified strongly with what may be called “Black Culture”, but just because I loved Hip Hop and felt connections to African American History and had Black friends, didn’t mean I could flip a switch. But if I could have, would I have? I never felt I wanted to change my Latina identity. Perhaps it was because of my looks, because of my straight hair, my Asian eyes, my Latina round face and the fact that my home life was full of culture that was taught to me. Despite some rocky roads, I still had a decent childhood. When I read about Dolezals upbringing, it didn’t sound like it was very normal. Regardless, I could never pass for Black nor could I even pass for White. And even I experienced instances where I was the target of racism from Blacks and Whites alike. Heck I even struggled with my bicultural Latino identities, never truly feeling like I fit in with my Guatemalan side nor my Peruvian side. But am I mad that Dolezal was able to make this flip so easily? I don’t think I am. In this country, people in today’s culture have deemed her black – and is anyone mad at them? I can relate to Dolezals feelings of connection to another culture, but what I don’t understand and what has enraged so many is that her deceit appears to have been used to her benefit when needed.
Rachel Dolezal immersed herself in the “Black” culture. She attended University in Mississippi, then obtained her Masters from Howard university, Taught Africana Studies, became a “Black hair dresser”, married a Black man and she became the president of an NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington. Immersing yourself in a culture you love doesn’t mean you should deny who you are. But who are we to say that in her eyes, she is denying who she is? Maybe she was running from a dark past and found a better fit in this world for herself and for her children. Perhaps finding and feeling such a deep connection identifying as Black was normal to her because of her life experiences?
All of these lies began unravelling when she was asked by a TV reporter, on camera, if Albert Wilkinson, a Black man, was her father to which she replied yes. When the reporter pressed her to confirm her answer, she stormed off. Why? She’s since told Matt Lauer that Mr. Wilkinson is her dad but not her father and elaborated on how they met and established an intimate family type bond. Why not just say that the first time?
I understand that the term Transracial is a real thing. I’ve read an interesting article on adoptees, adopted into different races and how they feel transracial. For example, some African American Kids adopted by Caucasian families struggle to find their identity. When comparing this to the recent news about Caitlyn Jenner identifying as transsexual, not everyone agrees that Transsexual and Transgender are similar.
People are angry and there are many reasons why this may be justified. They feel deceived, and I can see how it looks like Rachel didn’t know when to stop with the lies that keep going and growing. People are angry that she once sued Howard University for discriminating against her for being a white woman and yet now identifies as Black. The flip flopping is unacceptable. I don’t think there is necessarily mental illness, and people are certainly upset about this too. Why would you have to be mentally ill to want to be Black? It seems to me from the interviews that she’s given, she is so deeply entrenched in her Black identity that the lie felt real to her. She truly believes she has had a Black experience that qualifies her to identify with Black Culture. But even to go as far as to say she can’t prove her parents are her parents, it’s as if she still has hope that she can prove somehow she is Black. And who knows? Maybe somewhere along her genealogy she could pinpoint this, but as one reporter pointed out, the heart of the issue, in her opinion, is that Rachel Dolezal was able to switch to another Race, whereas an African American person would not be able to do so. Is this truly the heart of the issue? It seems the issue that is burning people up most is the fact that this White woman acted like she shared the same struggles as a Black Woman, when she truly hasnt! She says that when stopped by police in the past, they have marked her as B for Black and WU for white unidentifiable, so in her mind society put her into a bucket and she was okay with it because she identifies with the culture.
The lies blowing up in Dolezal’s face lead to the bottom line here. The fact that she was able to pass off as Black is being considered a “White Privilege”. She was able to pass off this lie in a way that an African American person would not have been able to and that has hurt the Black community in ways other communities may not really be able to comprehend. Why did she need to lie about hate crimes? Those investigations have been suspended. By pretending to be someone she is not, her parents who outed her feel she’s being dishonest and deceptive. They acknowledge that they’ve known for years about her living her life as a Black woman and others in their hometown were puzzled by Dolezal’s claims but no one said anything until now. Why? Her parents even said that Howard University assumed she was Black because she was coming from Jackson, Mississippi and her art was all African American related. She applied to the University and received a scholarship. They said Howard University didn’t discover she was White until she came in to register and jaws dropped. Dolezal even went on to sue the University for Racial Discrimination. Lies will always blow up in your face, so given the way social media works in today’s age, how long did she think she could carry on with this facade?
Back to the conversation I heard on the radio station, they pointed out Charlie Sheen, who was born with the last name Estevez. His Father, actor Martin Sheen, is the one who changed his full name from Ramon Estevez to Martin Sheen. He says when he tried to get into acting, there was always an issue with his name. And so he opted to change it to Sheen. His son Charlie did the same, while other kids kept the last name of Estevez. People just assumed that Martin and Charlie are all white, but their descendants are actually Spaniards. Should we be mad at them? They also referred to Michael Jackson, whom some thought wanted to be white. Michael never said he wanted to be white; he was fighting a skin disorder and they say that was the reason he bleached his skin. Others are comparing Dolezal to Caitlyn and her transgender issues. Do you agree with these comparisons? Can you understand the racially blurred lines that I myself shared and experienced as a child? Perhaps not, but it is still a real part of who I am and my personal experience. I imagine this is the same for Dolezal. We can not know a person’s life experiences on a personal level and how those experiences mold them and change them because we did not live their life. We can speculate, we can share, we can try to comprehend, but each experience is unique to ourselves.
Just because Dolezal can identify in her mind as Black does not mean she gets a free pass to “pass”. As others have said, she could have still been a human rights activist and leader of the NAACP chapter in Spokane Washington as a Caucasian. Since her resignation from the NAACP Spokane chapter, Cornell Williams Brooks, president of NAACP said it best: it’s about integrity and authenticity…not the color of one’s skin.
The fact is we are the melting pot of the world. African Americans are mixed with Caucasians; Latinos are mixed with African American; Latinos are mixed with Caucasians; Asians are mixed with Latinos. We are a diaspora of people from different continents. Consider how Latino cultures have combined to make trans-Latinos, is that a thing yet? My kids are Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Guatemalan, with Cuban influence but they are United States Citizens. Does this all matter, how do we identify what the heck we are? We are human, right? It would be nice to be able to truly identify as such but we all know that’s not the case.
As this story continues to unravel, because you know people will continue to come out of the woodwork to offer their two cents, we will learn more and more about Rachel Dolezal and we may end up thinking differently of her. There’s a case going on about her brother being investigated for sexual abuse on a minor and Rachel helping the victim in this case. This is a real life novela and we’ll all be watching from the edge of our seats.
I’ll end with this: Rachel shared a quote from one of her sons: he said that racially she’s human and culturally she’s Black… they have each other’s backs. Now THAT I can roll with, I love that! Her other son commented that he was proud of his mom and that she should be known worldwide, just not like this. Despite all of the turmoil she’s started, she is still a mother and I hope that she and her children find peace after all this newfound media attention. Perhaps her story can help to move race discussions in a positive direction. There is true evil in this world, true hatred, like that shooter who killed 9 people in a prayer group at Emmanuel AME Church in South Carolina. What the hell is going on that people can be so cruel and heartless. I’m glad he’s been “captured” but i’m also confused as to why he was given a bullet proof vest to be escorted. Why is he being given special treatment, after what he’s done? Yes at times the Media focuses on news that shouldn’t be at the forefront and push back more noteworthy news but they also shine a light on the backwardness of our country, even if inadvertently. I hope that people in power, can help bring change to us, as we’re on the brink of chaos. The world is in need of some true change. That idiot that committed a real hate crime and has left a trail of terror is evil. I don’t believe Rachel Dolezal is evil, but her lies have stung, I hope that our Nation will soon find at least a little peace and understanding. We’ve got to start somewhere.
