Who remembers Rachel Dolezal?

*ProphetofGanja* · 12-03-2023, 11:40 AM

Who else remembers Rachel Dolezal? She entered the public eye on the national level in the mid-2010's, when it was revealed that while she had claimed to be Black in several different capacities (job applications, her work in academia, volunteer work, etc.). Eventually she was outed as having white parents and no Black ancestry at all, and she was ultimately asked to step down from her position as an NAACP chapter president, chair of the Office of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane, Washington, and from her position as an adjunct instructor of several different Africana studies classes.

Now to me at least there are some obvious parallels with the transgender movement, and I have been thinking a lot about the general public's response to Dolezal's statement that she is "transracial" or "trans-black" (she has used both terms at different times but I think she settled on "trans-black" since transracial is a term used to describe when a family of one race adopts a child of another race or whatever). I ended up going down a whole rabbit hole, like reading about Sacheen Littlefeather, the woman who spoke for Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, who apparently was of white and Hispanic descent, no Native American ancestry whatsoever. Apparently there is a term for people like this, "pretendian", and all of can be considered examples of racial misrepresentation.

In my mind there is definitely a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, but sometimes where exactly that line lies isn't clear. Someone of one race can obviously recognize the plight of another and take up their cause, but I don't think that claiming their identity or struggles as your own is of any benefit.

What do y'all think?

12-03-2023, 11:40 AM	#1
ProphetofGanja Dub Professor Join Date: May 2013 Location: Dub Side of the Moon Posts: 3,497	Who remembers Rachel Dolezal? Who else remembers Rachel Dolezal? She entered the public eye on the national level in the mid-2010's, when it was revealed that while she had claimed to be Black in several different capacities (job applications, her work in academia, volunteer work, etc.). Eventually she was outed as having white parents and no Black ancestry at all, and she was ultimately asked to step down from her position as an NAACP chapter president, chair of the Office of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane, Washington, and from her position as an adjunct instructor of several different Africana studies classes. Now to me at least there are some obvious parallels with the transgender movement, and I have been thinking a lot about the general public's response to Dolezal's statement that she is "transracial" or "trans-black" (she has used both terms at different times but I think she settled on "trans-black" since transracial is a term used to describe when a family of one race adopts a child of another race or whatever). I ended up going down a whole rabbit hole, like reading about Sacheen Littlefeather, the woman who spoke for Marlon Brando at the 1973 Oscars, who apparently was of white and Hispanic descent, no Native American ancestry whatsoever. Apparently there is a term for people like this, "pretendian", and all of can be considered examples of racial misrepresentation. In my mind there is definitely a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, but sometimes where exactly that line lies isn't clear. Someone of one race can obviously recognize the plight of another and take up their cause, but I don't think that claiming their identity or struggles as your own is of any benefit. What do y'all think? __________________ "We've been frantically trying to reach you, Dude."