Well, this is one of the craziest stories I've ever read.
The woman in that clip is Rachel Dolezal. She is the leader of her local chapter of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington, an adjunct professor of Africana studies at Eastern Washington University and sits as the chair of the city's police oversight commission. She is also white.
Of course, a white woman could do and be any of the things listed above. There have been white chapter leaders of the NAACP, white African professors and white civil rights activists. But Rachel Dolezal has been doing them as a black woman.
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So natural it's fake.(via BuzzFeed News)
What in the ever-loving-hell. Whatever her faults, she's certainly an amazing hairstylist, at least according to her Facebook profile:
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She sure can "make it happen."(via Jezebel)
Dolezal parents decided to tell their story to The Spokane-Review this week, though they claim to have known she was masquerading as an African American for years:
"Dolezal's mother, Ruthanne Dolezal, said Thursday.... she has had no contact with her daughter in years. She said her daughter began to “disguise herself" in 2006 or 2007, after the family had adopted four African-American children... 'It's very sad that Rachel has not just been herself,' Ruthanne Dolezal said. 'Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable, and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.'"
Indeed. Considering how deeply Rachel Dolezal has woven herself into the community of Spokane, she must be a magnetic, hard-working person. Now, all her good work is undermined by the revelation that her persona as a member of the marginalized race she supports is complete and utter horseshit.
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Imagine how folks would react if that was Iggy Azalea.(via BuzzFeed News)
As you can see in the Vine above, when asked directly if she's African American, Rachel Dolezal is unable to straight up say, "Hell, yes, I'm African American, GTFO." However, she did identify herself as white, black and American Indian on an application to the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission. Her mother says the family's ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German, with some “faint traces" of Native American heritage.
The obvious question to all of this is, "Why?" Not just, why would she do it, but why are her parents coming forward with this now. Dolezal says that there are numerous lawsuits circulating within her family, over money and allegations that her parents abused her and her adopted brothers. Two of her brothers have been living with her as her sons for a number of years as well, making the situation even more confusing. Muddying the waters further, Dolezal recently invited a man she claimed was her father to a NAACP ribbon cutting ceremony. Maybe she meant, her spiritual father?
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What. Is. Happening?(via Spokane NAACP)
Identifying strongly with a culture you were not raised in isn't that unusual, but Dolezal has taken cultural appropriation to a level that suggests some kind of personality disorder. Even before this exposé, rumors had circulated that Dolezal was not who she claimed. James Wilburn, the president of the Spokane NAACP who preceded her, said Thursday that members of the group had privately discussed it and let the matter go: “It was discussed among close members to me, and we kept it like that."
WHY? WHY? Presumably, it was because Dolezal had already infiltrated so deeply into the activist community of Spokane that they realized the level of embarrassment and attention that would be directed towards them if Rachel Dolezal's deception were revealed.
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Helpful hints.(via BuzzFeed News)
Her commitment to her lie is so extreme, that it only began to unravel as Dolezal reported more and more suspicious hate crimes, directed towards her and her family. Suspicious because investigators were beginning to think that Dolezal was perpetrating them. They included things like a swastika being carved into a door when security cameras were mysteriously turned off, hate mail that had no postage mark arriving in her locked mailbox and a noose being found on her porch.
Looking at Dolezal's blog, which is still up (her Facebook account appears to be deleted), it's clear she's a pretty talented artist. It seems impossible for someone to live so completely as another person, with a fabricated past, without also believing their own lies on some level.
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So true.(via @HarlmRenaissanc)
Unfortunately, her lived lie drew in many people who looked to her as a leader and an inspiration. If the hate crimes she reported were also her own fabrication, she makes a mockery of the very real struggle minorities face everyday.
It's unclear what, if any, charges Dolezal will face. The situation is currently being investigated by the various organizations Rachel Dolezal has aligned herself with in Spokane.
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