Lots of people around me want to talk about this situation, but I don't think there is much to talk about. No matter how much we might like to pretend, we have no idea why Dolezal is claiming to identify as black. Only Dolezal themselves knows whether they honestly identify as black or not, or whether it's all a lie. I feel like people who believe it's all a lie are jumping the gun a bit - we have literally no evidence by which to make that claim. I also see a lot of arguments being made against race-transitioning being basically the same as arguments targeting transgender people ("race is biological!", "they will always be white really!", "pretending to be black is insulting to people who have really grown up with/still experience racism!"... etc.). These arguments only hold water if you assume Dolezal is lying or "pretending", for which I haven't seen any evidence.
I also feel like the cultural discussion around this situation is far too much about Rachel Dolezal. I think it's a bit of a waste of time. Before last week I had never heard of Rachel Dolezal. Practically no-one had ever heard of Rachel Dolezal. I do not care about Rachel Dolezal. A better discussion would be wider, and would focus less on the personal history of Rachel Dolezal and more on the idea that, no matter how important race and identity is in our society, it is a fragile social and linguistic construction.
None of this is to explicitly say that the anger anyone might feel (*especially* the anger of people of colour) is wrong or misplaced, because my reading of the Rachel Dolezal story is just one of many possible readings. I'm also not academically or experientially educated about race and racism.
Is it normal I see a clear parallel with transgenders?
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Lots of people around me want to talk about this situation, but I don't think there is much to talk about. No matter how much we might like to pretend, we have no idea why Dolezal is claiming to identify as black. Only Dolezal themselves knows whether they honestly identify as black or not, or whether it's all a lie. I feel like people who believe it's all a lie are jumping the gun a bit - we have literally no evidence by which to make that claim. I also see a lot of arguments being made against race-transitioning being basically the same as arguments targeting transgender people ("race is biological!", "they will always be white really!", "pretending to be black is insulting to people who have really grown up with/still experience racism!"... etc.). These arguments only hold water if you assume Dolezal is lying or "pretending", for which I haven't seen any evidence.
I also feel like the cultural discussion around this situation is far too much about Rachel Dolezal. I think it's a bit of a waste of time. Before last week I had never heard of Rachel Dolezal. Practically no-one had ever heard of Rachel Dolezal. I do not care about Rachel Dolezal. A better discussion would be wider, and would focus less on the personal history of Rachel Dolezal and more on the idea that, no matter how important race and identity is in our society, it is a fragile social and linguistic construction.
None of this is to explicitly say that the anger anyone might feel (*especially* the anger of people of colour) is wrong or misplaced, because my reading of the Rachel Dolezal story is just one of many possible readings. I'm also not academically or experientially educated about race and racism.