Blog #5 - Rachel Dolezal Interview

This week, the media has been all over Rachel Dolezal, who has been accused of pretending to be black. Rachel Dolezal is the former chapter president of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.) Late last week it was discovered by the public that Rachel had been pretending to be an African American women for several years. She changed her physical appearance and even claimed to be African American on a government form. There has been massive uproar over her racial deception. On Tuesday morning Dolezal joined Matt Lauer of the Today Show to answer the difficult questions about her identity.

In the interview Rachel maintains that she identifies as black. Matt Lauer shows an image of her when she was younger and still appeared Caucasian, Rachel said that at the time of this picture she did not identify as African American. However, later in the interview, she says that she started identifying as African American when she was only five years old. The part of this interview that stood out to me was when Rachel claimed that she has gone through the experiences that African Americans have. I think that it is totally wrong for her to claim the struggles of another race when she grew up as a blonde haired Caucasian girl. I am not discrediting what Dolezal has accomplished in civil rights or for the NAACP; however, I believe that she changed her race to help her accomplish her goals. I think that she decided to go with what was convenient for her. Years ago, Dolezal sued the mainly black university she formerly attended for mistreating her because she was white. After she had already said that she has been identifying as black for so long, it is clear that she wanted to be white in that situation just to benefit her.  I think it is one thing if a person wants to look a certain race or style their hair like a certain race but when you claim the struggles of another race, that is where the line is crossed.