NAACP leader has been lying about her race

[Madmarcus]

You are born with a natural heritage. You are not born with a culture. You cannot change your natural heritage. You can change your culture.

She (to me) seems to be claiming that her natural heritage is black. Which is delusional.

She certainly does seem to be delusional.

[hepcat]

Rachel Dolezal boycotted Exodus: Gods and Kings because it cast white actors as Africans. Hehe.

What makes this all the more difficult is that the steady stream of incidents like this that we're seeing the last few days are legitimate complaints/issues. The trouble for me is that she's now trivialized them with her attempt to appropriate them through lies. Simply saying "I feel closer to the black community than I do the white community" would have been the more appropriate route to take. To me, she exploited the black community to further her own career and/or sense of self worth.

I almost want to compare her to James Frey.

edit: However, if it turns out that she has some sort of psychological issue stemming from past trauma or something, I reserve the right to change my opinion to "that poor woman".

[Rip]

Rachel Dolezal boycotted Exodus: Gods and Kings because it cast white actors as Africans. Hehe.

What makes this all the more difficult is that the steady stream of incidents like this that we're seeing the last few days are legitimate complaints/issues. The trouble for me is that she's now trivialized them with her attempt to appropriate them through lies. Simply saying "I feel closer to the black community than I do the white community" would have been the more appropriate route to take. To me, she exploited the black community to further her own career and/or sense of self worth.

I almost want to compare her to James Frey.

edit: However, if it turns out that she has some sort of psychological issue stemming from past trauma or something, I reserve the right to change my opinion to "that poor woman".

If it was to further her own career you have to hand it to her for going all out. She married a black man, had some black children, and even made a sex tape. Now that is the kind of dedication any company could use....

[Madmarcus]

I’m not intentionally changing anything. On the other hand I have been attempting to pick out why people are being so dismissive that I’ve put out a couple of slightly different things hoping to figure out the distinctions you (collective) are making.

I’m not trying to win an argument but I am perplexed as to why the focus is on GID and transgendered instead of on the much more interesting, to me at least, issue of someone who seems to want to identify as a race (not just a culture but a race) that she was not born into. Yes, I know race is a cultural and created thing but in broad terms it is identifiable so I think it can be talked about separately from culture. I have started to mention phenotype more because of the emphasis on being born with something.

The back and forth nature of a forum and the responses to different people probably destroyed the chance of this really working. Sorry about that.

[quote=”LawBeefaroni”]As someone who is half Japanese and half North African (Moroccan, Libyan, Tunisian, no one knows) and was adopted at 2 weeks by a Pole and a Swede into an Irish Catholic church, I can say it's very different than GID. It's sometimes difficult but I never feel betrayed by my body or my physical features. I often stick out but I don't see it as any different than a really tall person in a short crowd or vice versa or whatever. I'm culturally white middle class American but I don't self identify that way.[/quote]

Thank you for a good example of part of what I was getting at. You’re phenotype and self identification don’t match your culture. You say there are some difficulties but it’s no big deal. I suspect that is the most common outcome but, from what I’ve read (some recently , much in the late nineties when I was getting a MSE and thus was reading some of dealing with culture, race, class and how they affect students) that isn’t always the case. Most of the other outcomes are, perhaps naturally enough, ones in which the adopted person rejected the culture they were raised in.

Now along comes Rachael. If we ignore her delusions and deceit it still brings out the idea of what if someone instead strongly self identified with one culture and rejected their phenotype (with or without a rejection of the culture they were raised in). The extreme version of passing but done out of desire not out of a need to hide. The old idea of a “wigger” makes some sense but, like the Vanilla Ice example, doesn’t really get it because the idea isn’t to take only some portions of the other culture while keeping your own but to live in the other culture as part of it.

Now throw in the idea of plastic surgery. Should we consider it delusional or pathological if someone self identifies with a culture that is also identified with a particular appearance and acts to change their appearance? Then, if they can pass, should we be bothered if they live as such? Should we go along in a sense and allow them to choose how the world consciously reacts to them? Should there be a distinction depending on whether it’s done by a person who, on first impressions, is a member of the dominant culture?

So, I ask again. What is a good, short, non-discriminatory name for people who want to present an appearance that matches their self identified culture?

[hepcat]

Thresholds change constantly. The answer you get now may very well be completely different than the answer you'd get even 5 years from now.

My personal belief is that if someone is in emotional and/or psychological turmoil because of their current outward appearance, go ahead and change it. It's your life, do what you want with it. As long as you're not hurting anyone, what's the harm? However, Rachel did hurt others by exploiting her assumed racial identity. That's where I think most of the outrage is coming from.

Also, The Jerk has made it hard to take her situation seriously. Damn Steve Martin.

[GreenGoo]

I’m not intentionally changing anything. On the other hand I have been attempting to pick out why people are being so dismissive that I’ve put out a couple of slightly different things hoping to figure out the distinctions you (collective) are making.

I’m not trying to win an argument but I am perplexed as to why the focus is on GID and transgendered instead of on the much more interesting, to me at least, issue of someone who seems to want to identify as a race (not just a culture but a race) that she was not born into.

This should have been clear in the original context of the posts that initially compared this woman's situation to GID, but if it wasn't, Rmn9 clarified it for you again later when he apologized if you were being mistakenly grouped with the original GID posters. I'm not doing it a 3rd time. The problem here is that you are attempting to categorize the question as a philosophical one, but philosophy only applies to one side of the equation. Sometimes, despite appearances, things that seem similar aren't except perhaps superficially, and no amount of believing they are is going to change it. Not liking the answer (I assume, since it hasn't deterred you from your hypothesis) when you ask "why not" also doesn't change it.

I'm all for conversation returning to this woman, as she seems to have led an interesting life through her tangle of deceptions. I watched about 15 seconds of an interview with her, prior to this story breaking (I assume) where the interviewer asked her point blank if she was African-American. She was like a deer in headlights. It also seemed incredibly rude (but I was missing the context of the interview, which appeared to be an ad hoc on the street sort of thing).

[Madmarcus]

I'm all for conversation returning to this woman, as she seems to have led an interesting life through her tangle of deceptions.

I have little interest in her. As an idea she is interesting but as a person she seems to be a deceptive mess.

[GreenGoo]

Commenting on other peoples' messes is something we enjoy around here, it seems. I definitely partake on occasion.

[Madmarcus]

I’m not trying to win an argument but I am perplexed as to why the focus is on GID and transgendered instead of on the much more interesting, to me at least, issue of someone who seems to want to identify as a race (not just a culture but a race) that she was not born into.

The problem here is that you are attempting to categorize the question as a philosophical one, but philosophy only applies to one side of the equation. Sometimes, despite appearances, things that seem similar aren't except perhaps superficially, and no amount of believing they are is going to change it. Not liking the answer (I assume, since it hasn't deterred you from your hypothesis) when you ask "why not" also doesn't change it.

You lost me. I wrote up my question without reference to GID other than the one line you quoted above. I get the distinction that you and RunningMan9 are making and am perfectly willing to acknowledge it.

I'm just not sure what hypothesis you are talking about because the only question I am now asking has no connection to GID except perhaps linguistically. Are you saying that there is no chance that anyone ever has wanted to change their appearance to more closely match the culture that they identify with? That it is inconceivable to acknowledge that some people feel a conflict between their self identity and what everyone assumes their identity is?

[Zarathud]

A set of interesting perspectives from Larry Wilmore on the Nightly Show

[Moliere]

Rachel Dolezal goes birther on…herself: “There’s no biological proof Larry and Ruthanne are my parents”
She's a birther!

“There’s no biological proof that Larry and Ruthanne are my biological parents,” she added. A shocked Guthrie replied, “there’s a birth certificate with your name on it and their names on it.”

“I’m not necessarily saying that I can prove they’re not,” Dolezal said. “But I don’t know that I can actually prove they are. I mean, the birth certificate is issued a month and a half after I’m born — and certainly there were no medical witnesses to my birth.”

[Isgrimnur]

If only there were some sort of test that could prove it.

[PLW]

If only there were some sort of test that could prove it.

Sure... if you trust those testing companies.

[McNutt]

I watched her interview on Today and Matt Lauer was a little easy on her. He said she was intentionally trying to deceive people and asked her why she would tell people that this black man [shows picture of an older black man] is her father. She replied that he was very close to her and she though of him as a father. "You only have one dad, but you can have multiple fathers." Lauer didn't press her on that, but it was obvious BS. She wanted people to believe that was her biological father and I would have given her credit for just admitting that.

[hepcat]

I'm guessing Lauer was easy on her because the jury is still out on whether or not she suffers from some form of mental illness or trauma.

[LawBeefaroni]

I'm guessing Lauer was easy on her because the jury is still out on whether or not she suffers from some form of mental illness or trauma.

But he was still willing to trot her out on his show.

[pr0ner]

I'm guessing Lauer was easy on her because the jury is still out on whether or not she suffers from some form of mental illness or trauma.

Considering she sued Howard for discriminating against her for being white, one wonders what's going on upstairs.

[hepcat]

I'm guessing Lauer was easy on her because the jury is still out on whether or not she suffers from some form of mental illness or trauma.

But he was still willing to trot her out on his show.

We're talking TV. He's a step above Dr. Phil, that's all.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I'm guessing Lauer was easy on her because the jury is still out on whether or not she suffers from some form of mental illness or trauma.

I don't think this woman is necessarily mentally ill and, in all likelihood, she's probably shrewder than she appears. I suspect the best explanation for her continued denial of reality is that it's simply the best play she has in terms of securing an income going forward. Think about it: her previous means of earning a living are history, and realistically, she's highly unlikely to secure similar employment anytime soon. Given the 'exclusive' nature of her NBC interviews, that likely implies some form of compensation on their part, and prior agreement on just how incisive her interviewers could be.

I suspect she's been advised professionally that the only chip she has left to play is to continue to deny her ethnicity, and leverage that into a new career. If she ever acknowledges that she's Caucasian, then she becomes just like countless other white people that style themselves after black culture. Which is boring and passé. The sole reason she continues to generate media buzz, and is in the process of becoming the next reality TV star, hinges upon her continued denial of reality. That's what sets her apart, and if that shit sells, then she's going to pimp it like a pro.

[McNutt]

I don't think she's ill. She's just trying to save blackface.

[cheeba]

If you watch this interview she did with local news (the "are you African American?" interview), then I don't think you can say this is a shrewd woman. This is a woman whose whole world is a lie and she just got caught. I think anything she has said since that point has been in desperation to save that false world she created.

[Zarathud]

It's not economic. Her background suggests multiple reasons she would want to put as much distance between herself and her parents/childhood as possible.

[Anonymous Bosch]

It's not economic.

To quote Radar online

Dolezal, currently in New York City after appearing on TODAY Tuesday morning, has been “offered two reality shows from different production companies,” an insider told Radar. “The offers were made last week along with several others that were just outrageous. Rachel recognizes that she is going to need an agent and a publicist, and is going to be hiring a professional team in the next few days.”

Regardless of her bizarre fundamentalist upbringing, that would certainly appear to connote at least a wee bit of economic motivation (all the moreso, given her current employment status).

[Moliere]

It's not economic.

To quote Radar online

Dolezal, currently in New York City after appearing on TODAY Tuesday morning, has been “offered two reality shows from different production companies,” an insider told Radar. “The offers were made last week along with several others that were just outrageous. Rachel recognizes that she is going to need an agent and a publicist, and is going to be hiring a professional team in the next few days.”

Regardless of her bizarre fundamentalist upbringing, that would certainly appear to connote at least a wee bit of economic motivation (all the moreso, given her current employment status).

This can start a whole new genre of reality TV: people pretending to be something they're not. Oh way, that's daytime talk shows. Never mind.

[Zarathud]

When a reality TV show lands in your lap, you hire experts to assist in your exploitation. That's just Hollywood. Her reality TV show only survives if she's actually crazy. I think she is based on her background.

[em2nought]

I think the Duggars should adopt her, or maybe she could date the son?

[Anonymous Bosch]

When a reality TV show lands in your lap, you hire experts to assist in your exploitation. That's just Hollywood.

And basic economics.

Her reality TV show only survives if she's actually crazy. I think she is based on her background.

Right, because reality TV is always real. And it's not as if the woman in question has a history of duplicity or anything.

[Moliere]

Rachel Dolezal’s True Lies

After her estranged parents set her downfall into motion by telling a local newspaper, in no uncertain terms, that their 37-year-old daughter had been born Caucasian, Dolezal was relieved of her paid and unpaid positions in Spokane. She resigned from her position with the N.A.A.C.P. (though odds are she would have been ousted if she hadn’t), and was asked to step down from a police oversight commission. Eastern Washington University, where she had a beloved part-time teaching job in the school’s Africana-studies program, did not renew her contract. Her life bears little resemblance to the one she and her 13-year-old son, Franklin, were living just six weeks ago.

“I’ve got to figure it out before August 1, because my last paycheck was like $1,800 in June,” she says. “ friends and the jobs and the work and—oh, my God—so much at the same time.”
...
As she figures out where she’ll land next, Dolezal says she is surviving on one of the skills she perfected as she attempted to build a black identity. At Eastern Washington University, she lectured on the politics and history of black hair, and she says she developed a passion for taking care of and styling black hair while in college in Mississippi. That passion is now what brings in income in the home she shares with Franklin. She says she has appointments for braids and weaves about three times a week. She says that a previous custody agreement with her ex-husband mandates she stays in the Spokane area, but that now her ex may approve a move given recent circumstances.

“I would like to write a book just so that I can send [it to] everybody there as opposed to having to continue explaining,” she says. “After that comes out, then I’ll feel a little bit more free to reveal my life in the racial social-justice movement. I’m looking for the quickest way back to that, but I don’t feel like I am probably going to be able to re-enter that work with the type of leadership required to make change if I don’t have something like a published explanation.”

And so, nearly 40 days after that local news interview, Dolezal is still unapologetically identifying as a black woman, still sure that any confusion about her singular story can be explained, still sure she’ll be back in the movement as soon as people stop misunderstanding her.

[YellowKing]

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy for someone who built her career based on lies and deception.

[LawBeefaroni]

Sorry, but I have zero sympathy for someone who built her career based on lies and deception.

She's Sacha Baron Cohen. With fewer jokes.

[Moliere]

Rachel Dolezal admits she's white

[pr0ner]

Dolezal says she doesn't identify as African American, she identifies as black, and she's part of the 'Pan-African Diaspora'. As mentioned in another thread, she also changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo, but still goes by Rachel Dolezal in public appearances for the time being.

Oy.

[Moliere]

Rachel Dolezal facing felony theft charges for welfare fraud

Former Spokane Chapter NAACP President Rachel Dolezal is now facing legal trouble that could land her behind bars. KHQ has confirmed that Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, is accused of 1st Degree Theft by Welfare Fraud, Perjury in the 2nd Degree, and False Verification for Public Assistance. Her potential punishment under RCW 74.08.331 could include up to 15 years in prison.

Because Dolezal changed her name, we'll be referring to her as Nkechi Diallo. According to court documents, Diallo illegally received $8,747 in food assistance, and illegally received $100 in childcare assistance. Total restitution, according to the documents, is $8,847, allegedly stolen from August 2015 through November 2017.

[Pyperkub]

Rachel Dolezal facing felony theft charges for welfare fraud

Former Spokane Chapter NAACP President Rachel Dolezal is now facing legal trouble that could land her behind bars. KHQ has confirmed that Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, is accused of 1st Degree Theft by Welfare Fraud, Perjury in the 2nd Degree, and False Verification for Public Assistance. Her potential punishment under RCW 74.08.331 could include up to 15 years in prison.

Because Dolezal changed her name, we'll be referring to her as Nkechi Diallo. According to court documents, Diallo illegally received $8,747 in food assistance, and illegally received $100 in childcare assistance. Total restitution, according to the documents, is $8,847, allegedly stolen from August 2015 through November 2017.

Well boy howdy!

Edit: had to go back and see if I'd posted in this thread before and if so, what the heck I said. Looks like I was wise enough to stay out

[pr0ner]

She was booked yesterday on those welfare fraud charges.

Former Spokane NAACP President Nkechi Diallo -- who became infamous as Rachel Dolezal, a white woman identifying as black -- was booked and fingerprinted at a Washington state jail Monday as she awaits trial on multiple charges, including welfare fraud.

Diallo pleaded not guilty to state charges of first-degree theft by welfare fraud, making false verification and second-degree perjury last month. A judge ordered her freed on her own recognizance and gave her a deadline of Monday evening to report to the Spokane County jail for booking and fingerprinting.

[McNutt]

This story just keeps getting sadder. Rachel Dolezal was working as a teacher, but was recently fired for having an Onlyfans account.

Apparently the district had a problem with an instructor showing her butthole online. And I'm not linking to that.

[Freyland]

I read that the investigation was started after complaints from members of the scientific community who joined after wrongly thinking they were going to actually witness a true black hole.

[Skinypupy]

I’m so going to hell for laughing at that.

[Pyperkub]

I’m so going to hell for laughing at that.

Ditto!

[Jaymann]

Sometimes a joke is so perfect there is no point in trying to top it or pile on.