A very strange story has surfaced recently regarding Rachel Dolezal, the former president of the Washington NAACP chapter. Dolezal has been outed to the community for her false African-American heritage which has caused a stir in the NAACP community. If we are to look at her actions, we can easily critique them using Frued's defense mechanisms. Dolezal admitted in interviews that she has always felt attached to black culture and even drew self portraits in darker hues. This would be the identification defense because she longed to be something else besides her white heritage. Dolezal also projects her emotions by making false accusations of discrimination that had no leads. Dolezal is also in denial by disowning her family and lying about having a black father to support her new identity. The NAACP has released a statement regarding Dolezal's actions and enforce that their separation from Dolezal was not racially based. The reason for their anger is resulting from the lack of integrity and honesty from Dolezal.
What I am perplexed with is her desire to identify with an ethnicity that is not her own. In my sociology courses we have discussed the idea of 'optional ethnicities' used by people who are white during times when it is convenient. In the case of becoming a leader in the NAACP, Dolezal might have believed having an ethnic heritage would assist her. Regardless, her transformation is interesting in the current age of public shaming for deceit.
I was so interested by this news story all week. It's so weird to me that she lied about her identity for so long and just now is getting caught for it. I think its pretty wrong that she claimed struggles that were not her own.
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ReplyDeleteLive, learn and move past it. Lets hope she has a strong support system. Public humiliation in social media is harsh and unfortunately the only thing to move the media past it is another mistake that some poor soul will make. Who will attract the scent of the hounds next?
ReplyDeleteIt was very surprising (and somewhat amusing) to read about this earlier this week. I am impressed that she was able to pull this off for so long. It is also very concerning that someone would go to these lengths to be someone they're not, and then lie about it through an organization as big as the NAACP. I wonder how this will affect the future of the NAACP as an organization.
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