Dolezal: All Lives Matter

Just ten days ago, Rachel Dolezal, the former Spokane Washington NAACP head who pretended to be black finally admitted that she’s white. Her admittance comes months after the news tore up her career and living for lying in an interview, where she not only asserted she was black, but she also falsely claimed a black man was her father and completely denied having white parents. Even when her white parents exposed her, Dolezal in vain continued to deny them, stating they lacked a DNA test to prove their claims. And it’s only now, a third of a year later, that she publically owned up to her lie.

Rachel Dolezal’s rise to infamy concurred with the media’s obsession over Caitlyn Jenner and her role as the head of the transgender community. So it was only natural that the media conglomerated the two stories and boldly claimed Dolezal to be a transracial. The term transracial received and still receives immense criticism from many who hear it. I believe, however, that while claiming to be transracial is problematic, the implications of the word never received the thought it deserved. The desire to be transracial is legitimate, but racism in America makes the fulfillment of such a desire inappropriate and a display of white privilege.

First things first, Dolezal greatly wronged her followers this summer. No matter how effective a leader she may be, lying is one of the worst grievances a leader can make. The act completely shatters all authority, legitimacy and respect once held and as a result renders the leader unqualified to lead. In fact, lying itself is equatable or even greater than the wrongdoing the leader denies. We have seen this numerous times in presidents such as Nixon and Clinton, who performed great wrongs but are remembered just as well for their one-line denials of them. All of those who once supported such a leader now not only have to defend their leaders wrongdoing, but also have to deal with their leader’s lie. All of the substantive, progressive matters the leader and followers fought for are side-lined, and unprogressive disputes over the leader’s reputation take the forefront. And so, the moment media Dolezal persisted she was white, she placed her reputation over the issues she dedicated her life to. Likewise, she put all of her former fans and supporters into an uncomfortable situation—they gained unprecedented media attention, but were forced to discuss Dolezal instead of black lives. Dolezal herself must have noticed the opportunity she had to speak on the issues of her ‘race’ before millions of Americans, but she allowed media to contort her into a laughingstock. Dolezal clearly possesses a vivid zeal for black lives and the issues we all face, and her choice to identify as transracial shows this immense dedication, but her choice to keep her facade last summer and lie to the media selfishly placed her over the lives of the blacks both around her and around the world.

Once Dolezal is removed from the equation, the claim of being transracial still remains problematic. Since Dolezal’s rise synchronized with Caitlyn Jenner’s, the issues of transracial and transgender were undeservingly equated. Although Dolezal expressed that she found similar motifs of isolation public disapproval between her and Jenner’s story, a line must be made between what’s social and what’s biological. Findings in the field of evolutionary biology have suggested that members of the LGBTQ community have genetic dispositions that validate their identities. Race, on the other hand, is mostly a social construct, and so the claim of being transracial must also be entirely social. Identifying as one race has little to nothing to do with one’s own character, but more on how society will view such a person. Dolezal’s choice to identify as black is not at all the same as being born with certain sexual preferences and the two should not be equated.

I must concede, however, that social dynamics tend to impact humans on a level very close to biological dynamics. Moreover, Dolezal’s claim of being transracial can be seen as a refined form of cultural appropriation. Unlike many whites who ignorantly take cultural aspects from minorities and then go on to disrespect such aspects, Dolezal clearly cared a lot for black lives, as seen in the fact that she has dedicated her life to advocate for their rights. In fact, I’d agree that Dolezal’s feelings that she belonged with the black race are fair given just how much social constructs dictate our lives. Yet, if Dolezal cared enough for black lives, she should have noticed the magnormos white privilege she flaunted to have actually carried out her intentions. All throughout history we have seen time and time again whites forcing minority cultures to change on their behalf, and no matter much of their culture minorities abandon or even grow to disdain, they are still minorities and are treated as such. Whites still forced Native Americans from their land despite great assimilation, and blacks and all other races today can never escape the confines of their race. Even half-black, half-asian or half-anything people can never deny their minority roots. Dolezal’s decision to identify herself as transracial ignored the struggles her ‘race’ deals with. Truly, it should have pained Dolezal that social climates forced her to remain white and not go on as the race she identified as.

Perhaps, instead of mindlessly bashing Dolezal, we can look at her desire to be black and recognize that the fulfillment can only be justified once America realizes all lives matter. When whites no longer have disproportionate power in America, and blacks and Latinos and all minorities can openly call themselves white, only then will the term transracial be justifiable. Until then, the act of changing one’s race will only continue to display the unequal privilege whites have in the United States. ♥