In The Case of Rachel Dolezal in The Age of Meism

By

Bobbie L. Washington

So, where do we go from here? It's a legitimate question in this age of it's all about me. Surely you are a party to this aren't you? How many selfies have you taken? How much of your social media accounts is filled with images of you in various poses, goofy faces, nude shots, duck lips, etc. And if that is who you are, then why the supposed outrage over Rachel Dolezal?

Rachel Dolezal is the 37 year old woman who runs the Spokane, Washington branch of the NAACP. She also happens to be white but for ten years she has to the position of being black. This revelation has led to a debate, mostly about race and also what constitute free expression in the face of the Bruce Jenner morphing into “woman”. There are those who are outraged at Rachel Dolezal because they feel that she a appropriated this notion of the black culture. The appropriation of the black culture came about when some blacks felt that whites were stealing the culture as when Bo Derek wore cornrows in her hair in the movie, 10, or when Macklemore won the Grammy over Kendrick Lamar for best rap album. Rachel Dolezal held herself out as a black woman and all that came with it. In that ten years, I do not know if she has faced any discrimination but as the person who is in charge of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, she probably had her challenges in light of the multiple shootings of young black men by white police officers. She currently chairs the Spokane Police oversight commission.

Rachel Dolezal claims that she is black, white and Native American. She did this on an application with the City of Spokane and if you're familiar with government documents, they frown on inaccurate information. So here comes the matter of perspectives. Rachel Dolezal claims that she is part black but in truth, her DNA would say otherwise as her parents can attest to her being of German, Czech and Swedish ancestry. Bruce Jenner has claimed that he is know a woman but DNA says that he still has a Y-chromosome and because he has declared himself as a woman then everybody must adhere to that edict and go along with the change. So, what is the difference?

Well, in the case of Rachel Dolezal, one can claim that she lied about being black, that she took advantage of certain positions in life based on a lie which is irony in itself when being black has certain advantages in this society. She wore makeup to conceal her identity, what some are calling “black face”. She married a black man and has a child by him. Did she take advantage of him? And how much did he know about this? Bruce Jenner on the other hand has been married twice and apparently had hid his feelings about being a woman for years. Is that deceitful? His marriage with Kris Jenner being the most recent must have been a house of lies if one is to take that position of being truthful. If the urges were so strong with being a woman, why wasn't the decision to do this come much earlier? Is it just more fame whoring and money because there are claims that he is about to cash in with lucrative contracts.

What we look for today is something that is intangible and that particular substance is called recognition. We want to be recognized for everything in this me society. It's not just that there are thousands of people who take selfies, it's the myriad of tweets and Facebook post about absolutely nothing. Being it food that you've eaten, clothes that you wear or not wear, baby's first step, smile, burp, laugh, your ass in tight workout pants, in lingerie, hotdog legs, we get to experience it all. Bruce wants to be recognized as a woman, Rachel Dolezal wants to be recognized as being black. DNA says otherwise but in once case, there is recognition for one of the party.

So how far can we keep moving the bar with things? What if I want to be be recognized as being Chinese. On the surface you see brown skin and recognize me as being black. But my DNA says otherwise. I had my DNA tested through the Sorenson Genealogy Group and with Ancestry.com and what I got back says that I'm a mutt. My DNA is literally all over the world. On my paternal side of my genetic in one area of the globe I have elements of DNA derived from Asia. Does that make me Chinese, no, but I could argue that I have a link to being Asian. But I do have DNA from Ireland and I've always felt a connection with Ireland for quite sometime. So, does that make me Irish?

Does anybody has the right to make claims about their race if DNA testing says it's diverse as mine? Since the founding of this country we have had a constant issue with race and that's what this is all about. There are the old soldiers who have shed blood over this issue and there are the new soldiers who have lost their lives in this new struggle. But no blood has been shed over this issue, just inkjet fluids.

Rachel Dolezal, as far as I know, hasn't garnered a windfall of cash with this revelation. She is not seeking any fortune and apparently no fame, unlike Jenner. Why did she chose to resign herself from her own racial makeup is for more qualified people to ascertain her mental health, if it is in question. So let me ask this one final question, are we judging her by the content of her skin or by the content of her character?