NAACP leader in Washington state just lets everyone think she's black...

Perks · Jun 12, 2015

Rachel Dolezal, for apparently complicated philosophical and personal reasons, has structured her life and vocation around the carefully constructed notion that she's black. But she's not. She's white.

A controversy is raging over whether a prominent Washington state civil rights activist and Howard University graduate who claimed she was African American is actually white.

Rachel Dolezal, 37, is the president of the Spokane NAACP, and has claimed to be the victim of a number of hate crimes. As questions were raised about the veracity of some of her reports this week, a white couple from Montana came forward to claim that Dolezal is their daughter.

Earlier this week, KXLY4 asked Dolezal about a photo posted to the NAACP chapter’s Facebook page of a black man identified as Dolezal’s father.

“I was wondering if your dad really is an African American man,” Jeff Humphrey of KXLY4 asked Dolezal.
“That’s a very … I mean, I don’t know what you’re implying,” Dolezal said.
“Are you African American?” Humphrey said.
“I don’t understand the question,” Dolezal said. She walked off-camera as Humphrey asked: “Are your parents, are they white?”
Dolezal did not return requests for comment.
In a telephone interview with The Washington Post and others, Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal of Troy, Mont., said Rachel Dolezal is their daughter, and that they are Caucasian.

I don't even know what I think about this. It's simply so bizarre that I can't figure out how to react. It seems she really cares to do good in the world, to make a positive difference, but is it okay to do it like this? (ETA: The more I read, the more I suspect this woman has a personality disorder - which is not to say that no good has come of things she's said or written or advocated for.)

It's a fascinating article at the very least.

Here's a little more from BuzzFeed with excerpts from her social media and information about her activist background.

Amadan · Jun 12, 2015

You know, there have been people who seriously advocated the idea of being "trans" with regard to species (e.g., otherkin) and/or race (e.g., white people who claim to genuinely believe they are "actually" black or Asian). They are generally mocked pretty thoroughly - with good reason, IMO.

I wonder if this will become a thing now.

Gilroy Cullen · Jun 12, 2015

DNA tests prove the facts.

Cyia · Jun 12, 2015

This was all over Twitter, and I have to say that I'm completely perplexed. I don't understand her motivation, or her goal. I mean we've all seen cases of appropriation, usually with celebrities, but this woman took things further than that.

Her mother said that she began the charade after the family adopted children who were African American, so did it have something to do with the kids? Was it something that just got out of control? She could have still been an advocate for the kids, and still worked for NAACP without the ruse.

Like Perks, I'm wondering if she doesn't have a personality disorder. She seems to have constructed a persona that she believed until it was challenged, at which point she shut down.

Very, very strange, and I feel sorry for her family now having to deal with this. That level of deception is hard to get around or over.

Perks · Jun 12, 2015

Gilroy Cullen said:
DNA tests prove the facts.

DNA would prove her biological ethnicity, but the photos and the birth certificate are pretty compelling. In light of it, her accumulated statements and machinations are suspicious to the point of being bizarre. An entire life as a performance art piece smacks of dedication and disturbance, but in what percentages for each?

veinglory · Jun 12, 2015

The element of questionable (staged?) hate crimes against her suggest a certain kind of self-serving motive.

Amadan · Jun 12, 2015

She took custody of her younger adopted brother, but claimed he is her son, and put up a photo of a black couple and claimed they were her parents.

There is something seriously wrong with her, but I think "mental disorder" is too easy.

Xelebes · Jun 12, 2015

Amadan said:
She took custody of her younger adopted brother, but claimed he is her son, and put up a photo of a black couple and claimed they were her parents.

There is something seriously wrong with her, but I think "mental disorder" is too easy.

Too eager with not enough self-reflection to check whether or not she is lying to herself, aware of others, or whether she is lying to others.

robeiae · Jun 12, 2015

Or, she's an ass.

Perks · Jun 12, 2015

veinglory said:
The element of questionable (staged?) hate crimes against her suggest a certain kind of self-serving motive.

Indeed. I know there are some nasty, hateful, and criminal people in the world who terrorize NAACP activists everywhere, but it does make you wonder at the volume, especially in friggin' Spokane. Of course, I'm speaking from ignorance, but do other activists in that area suffer the rain of surreptitious harassment and threats that she does?

Ambrosia · Jun 12, 2015

Or, she actually believes what she is saying.

I have an older sister who is convinced she is adopted. All the proof in the world will not convince her otherwise. Other than a bit of anxiety, the woman has had a good and successful life.

Pony. · Jun 12, 2015

robeiae said:
Or, she's an ass.

What some people wont do to get a job.

Williebee · Jun 12, 2015

It begs the question: If you can self-identify by gender, can you self-identify by race? I mean, why not? If who we are in our heads is not how we were biologically born, and skin is just another organ of the body?

I'm not up for defending this lady, though. Image and personality issues are complex things. However, making up fictitious parents is not an honest mistake.

Weird.

Xelebes · Jun 12, 2015

robeiae said:
Or, she's an ass.

Only if you want to reduce it to a three letter word.

Amadan · Jun 12, 2015

Williebee said:
It begs the question: If you can self-identify by gender, can you self-identify by race? I mean, why not? If who we are in our heads is not how we were biologically born, and skin is just another organ of the body?

It does indeed.

Alessandra Kelley · Jun 12, 2015

What I find fascinating is that this woman's pose only worked because of the artifice of racial definitions.

Historically the people of the US have made a big deal about black ancestry, the notorious old "one drop" of blood custom which said that any black ancestry made one black.

That acceptance, that racism, led to the US's very strange definition of black which includes people of all colors, so that this pale blonde woman could pass.

(Does anyone else find it almost a bit dizzying that this woman is "passing" for black?)

Haggis · Jun 12, 2015

Alessandra Kelley said:
What I find fascinating is that this woman's pose only worked because of the artifice of racial definitions.

Historically the people of the US have made a big deal about black ancestry, the notorious old "one drop" of blood custom which said that any black ancestry made one black.

That acceptance, that racism, led to the US's very strange definition of black which includes people of all colors, so that this pale blonde woman could pass.

(Does anyone else find it almost a bit dizzying that this woman is "passing" for black?)

Given the traditional use of that term, I did find it ironic. Maybe it's some bizarre kind of progress.

No. Probably not.

heza · Jun 12, 2015

Amadan said:
She took custody of her younger adopted brother, but claimed he is her son,...

If I was raising an adopted kid, I might (depending on his inclinations) refer to him as my son. *shrug* I don't know the particulars there, obviously.

....and put up a photo of a black couple and claimed they were her parents.

Tougher to explain. It's a stretch, I know, but could she have like, maybe formed a family? Like, I have non-bio "sisters" that I met in adulthood and a guy I feel is like the big brother I never had. Could that black man have been a father-figure and she just took it too far in her head?

Perks said:
Indeed. I know there are some nasty, hateful, and criminal people in the world who terrorize NAACP activists everywhere, but it does make you wonder at the volume, especially in friggin' Spokane. Of course, I'm speaking from ignorance, but do other activists in that area suffer the rain of surreptitious harassment and threats that she does?

*shrugs* I would assume that you'd only get vast amounts of hate mail and harassment if you've done something high profile or something (like this) went viral. But I'm in a privileged position to not receive hate mail, so I really have no idea.

The bit about the questionable mail gets me. The post office says they didn't process it, that it was put in her box by someone with a key... so either an employee or... I don't do this sort of thing, but even I know that you still mail the damn thing to yourself...

So in the link in the OP, they flash a picture of her white parents. It looks like a wedding photo. Is that from her wedding or a siblings? I can't really tell who the bride is, and I was wondering if she's married and whether the black man in the photo is her husband. ... and I guess, whether having a black husband and a black adopted son might have caused her to over-empathize and thus, identify with being black? I don't know. The whole thing is weird.

Don · Jun 12, 2015

robeiae said:
Or, she's an ass.

Pony. said:
What some people won't do to get a job.

I don't get the whole "since she seems to have good intentions, this must be some sort of mental illness" thing. Surprise, people regularly lie to advance their careers. OTOH, Elizabeth Warren has pretty much survived her claims to have Native American ancestry, so maybe Ms. Dolezal will get away with this too.

Amadan · Jun 12, 2015

Don said:
I don't get the whole "since she seems to have good intentions, this must be some sort of mental illness" thing. Surprise, people regularly lie to advance their careers. OTOH, Elizabeth Warren has pretty much survived her claims to have Native American ancestry, so maybe Ms. Dolezal will get away with this too.

This does appear to be about more than just advancing her career. Doesn't make it any better, but I don't think she said "Hey, maybe I can get a job with the NAACP if I pretend to black."

veinglory · Jun 12, 2015

I think that while it is controversial, claiming race is indeed a thing. The days where is was all fractions from pure heritage are gone.

But even in that context disowning your real parents and actively lying about your family crosses a line.

In terms of how it happens she probably just sort of backed into it after a spontaneous reinvention at college. It reminds me a bit of the Maupin character who became a "black" fashion model by taking melanin, and everyone was a bit shocked when her parents turned up.

nighttimer · Jun 12, 2015

I read this story elsewhere and when I finished I had one question and one question only.

Is Rachel Dolezal doing a good job? If she is, then what's the rumpus?

Oh sure, I can imagine there are many reasons why the head of a NAACP chapter should be Black instead of passing for Black, but in the final analysis, the only question worth asking and answering is "Is she doing her job?" Not whether she's really Black or should the NAACP have Whites in prominent leadership positions.

When Walter White became the organization's first Executive Secretary in 1916, some wondered why a dude with blonde hair and blue eyes was running a civil rights organization for colored people. Turns out White wasn't White, but Black. The NAACP has never been exclusively for Blacks only. The national office may have to address this matter in order to quell the controversy.

The troubling thing about Dolezal are the misrepresentations and lies she came up with to mask her passing for Black. This seems to me to be more of an ugly family matter than a willful attempt to deceive, but unless she has broken the law, I fail to see why Dolezal should be faulted for being a White woman concerned about fighting discrimination against People of Color.

Something Dr. King said about the content of our character mattering more than the color of our skin seems relevant right about now.

CrastersBabies · Jun 12, 2015

Yeah, some of the folks I've seen on websites and social media who are saying things like, "She's trying to use affirmative action for personal gain," I just don't even know how to respond to that.

cmhbob · Jun 12, 2015

Williebee said:
It begs the question: If you can self-identify by gender, can you self-identify by race? I mean, why not? If who we are in our heads is not how we were biologically born, and skin is just another organ of the body?

I'm not up for defending this lady, though. Image and personality issues are complex things. However, making up fictitious parents is not an honest mistake.

Weird.

Stop the presses. Williebee and I are in agreement about something.

This (poorly) raises exactly the question: can a person be "trans-racial?" Yes, she's a really bad example, and I wonder if she's got other underlying issues. But if one can be trans-gender, why can't one be trans-racial?

veinglory · Jun 12, 2015

The rumpus is that she misrepresented things about herself that people in her constituency consider important.

NAACP leader in Washington state just lets everyone think she's black...

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