Rachel Dolezal...Keep Your Head Up Sister!

I'm must admit, I'm a little confused about all the uproar concerning Rachel Dolezal, the disgraced former president of the NAACP's Spokane, Washington chapter.  Dolezal is the white woman who says she's a black woman.  I've watched a lot of reports on television and read numerous stories (including comments) on the internet concerning this minor incident. The reactions that I've seen to the revelation of Ms. Dolezal's true ethnicity have run the gamut from anger to ridicule.  My own personal feelings would require another category--fine by me.

Dolezal lied to her employer, the NAACP, about her racial background. That was wrong.  But is this story really worthy of the incredible amount of time and attention it's receiving in the media? Of course not. The media fixates on all things racial, because race-related stories are a big draw for viewers. Still, I wonder why people are surprised that a person from of one racial background has been surreptitiously living their lives as though they were of another race. Delezal was passing. There's nothing new here.  Blacks with more European-like features have passed for white (and still do), Jews have passed for non-Jews (and still do), even a few whites have made the choice to identify as black (and apparently they still do).  Obviously, American history answers the question as to why blacks have passed for white, but the answers are not so simple when whites pass for black.

In the book, Passing Strange, Martha A. Sandweiss details the story of  Clarence King, a white man who lived during the 19th-century.  He was a geologist, explorer and writer, and he passed for years as black Pullman porter.  There have been other, more notable whites that have passed as black such as jazz musician Mezz Mezzrow and big band leader Johnnie Otis (father of the incredible Shuggie Otis). In fact, Otis, much like Dolezal made the decision early in life to be black.  In the book Listen to the Lambs, Otis is quoted as saying, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black." I even saw an episode of TV One's Unsung that documented the career of the late R& B singer Teena Marie. At one point, a close friend from high school recounted how she had no idea that Teena was white until a couple of years later when her mother picked her up from school. "She walked like me, she talked like me, she sang like me," said her friend.

In perusing the comment section of several media websites, some are bothered by Dolezal lying about being black and leading a chapter of a historic "black" organization.  However, Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO of the NAACP said that the organization 'has had and continues to have white presidents.'  In fact, of the 60 people that founded the NAACP, only seven were black. But the main point that seems to be the source of this strange outrage is Dolezal's choice to identify herself as being black. Of the comments that I've read, I've noticed a recurring theme, which I'll sum up this way, Dolezal actions demonstrate white privilege because she can be black when she wants and become white when it benefits her.  

I'm starting to believe that for many, Dolezal's actions provides an easy opportunity for venting deeply held resentment of our nation's past inequalities. Unfortunately, their frustrations are misplaced. Ms. Dolezal is an individual that has made a personal choice about how she chooses to identfy herself and live her life.  Her actions are no different than those of Bruce Jenner's.  In fact, her choice is by far less extreme, yet, his decision was welcomed and celebrated. The irony is that blacks often express frustation that whites don't value us--our looks, our culture our experiences, and whites will often say they don't have any issues with race and wish that we could all just move beyond the race issue. And yet, here's a woman who clearly values black looks, culture and experiences and has taken steps in her own way to move beyond the racial divide. So why has Rachel Dolezal become the focal point of the public's scorn?  As for me, I'm not mad at you Rachel. Keep your head up sister!