Rachel Dolezal tells Today that she "identifies as black."

photo credit: masetv

This morning, Dolezal spoke with Matt Lauer on the Today Show and addressed the controversy surrounding her ethnicity. She told Lauer that she identifies as black, which is something she had been doing since age 5. She told Lauer that she used to draw self-portraits with brown crayon instead of the peach crayon. The self-portraits would also have curly hair.

She insists that she never deceived anyone, despite what critics have been saying since the world erupted from the news.

She also had this to say about the controversy:

"I do take exception to that because it's a little more complex than me identifying as black or answering a question of, are you black or white?
As much as this discussion has somewhat been at my expense recently, and in a very sort of viciously inhumane way come out of the woodwork, the discussion is really about what it is to be human, I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment."

A lot of words have been thrown around to describe Rachel Dolezal, most of them not being family-friendly words. One word that has been trending on Twitter is "Transracial." Transracial is defined as being "born into the wrong skin; identifying as two or more races." This word has made many media outlets compare her to Caitlyn Jenner (formally Bruce Jenner). Others have said that the term Transracial (in terms of Rachel Dolezal) is another facet of White Privilege.

So, the big question on everyone's minds is: Is it possible for an individual's physical race to be mismatched with how one feels on the inside?

My Two Cents:

The issue that I have with Dolezal, which I have brought up numerous times is, she is still denying her birth race, which is caucasian. If transracial is an actual 'thing,' I have no problem with it. A person's soul identity holds much more truth than a person's physical body.

Unfortunately, since Dolezal still denies her true racial origin, I cannot sympathize with what she is going through. I am seeing the whole thing as her using her white privilege to move her ahead in life.
Those who are history buffs, such as myself, know some of the history of black culture. African-Americans endured hell for thousands of years. Here in the United States, the community was enslaved, beaten, and even killed. African-American women were constantly raped. The KKK would burn down houses where African-Americans lived. They would do unimaginable things to the African-American community. The community was ostracised from the country, and had to sit in other areas of restaurants, buses, etc. It wasn't until Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., stepped up and made incredible changes.

Unfortunately, even though it is 2015, racism is still running rampant. When a white woman comes along and makes claims that she is indeed black, it isn't exactly helping the African-American community. In a way, it is mocking the entire community.
I'm sure if she came out and had been honest about who she really is, things would be different.

Rosa Clemente, a civil rights activist and journalist went on Facebook and reiterated pretty much everything that I believe in:

"As people of color, no matter how hard we try, we cannot achieve whiteness, but the fact that a White woman can achieve Blackness and lie and take space and take resources and on top of it be belligerent when confronted is the epitome of White privilege." 

Zeby Blay, a columnist at The Huffington Post stated the following:

"[Transracial] plays into racial stereotypes, and perpetuates the false idea that it is possible to "feel" a race. As a white woman, Dolezal retains her privilege; she can take out the box braids and strip off the self-tanner and navigate the world without the stigma tied to actually being black. Her connection to racial oppression is something she has complete control over, a costume she can put on—and take off—as she pleases."  

Until Rachel Dolezal is honest with herself, and with everyone else, her credibility is pretty much in the sh*tter. I understand that she has done a lot of good work in the black community, but none of that work means anything when she did it in the name of deception. While she can always go back and live as a white woman, the black community cannot. As Clemente said, she is the epitome of white privilege.

Click here to read "Rachel Dolezal steps down from President position at Spokane NAACP"

Click here to read "Why I find Rachel Dolezal to be a terrible person."

Here is the interview Matt Lauer did with Rachel Dolezal on The Today Show: