This past week a 14-year-old black girl in a bikini took more physical abuse from a cop than two or three heavily-armed white guys who essentially dared police to shoot them...yet, walked away unscathed. But somehow, the story of a white woman passing for black seemed to upset black America more.
Rachel Dolezal is the President of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP. As the story goes, she's really "white," but has carefully concealed her race by adapting black linguistics, style, appearance (primarily through wearing frizzy extensions, weaves and wigs, and occasionally donning braids, and allegedly lots of tanning lotion).
Apparently Dolezal's white parents came out of nowhere to "out" her.
But were her parents even qualified to do that? For all they know one or both of them might have black ancestry. It's not that uncommon, particularly for "whites" from the American South.
I imagine most of you know about the one drop rule, where due to the utter inferiority of the black race, if a person has "one drop" of black blood in them, they're tainted...they're black. Fact is, most Americans are of mixed heritage...whether it's obvious or not. I look like what most consider an average black American male, but my grandfather's grandfather was an old white Irish slave owner who got a young black slave girl pregnant.
And frankly, having seen pictures of Dolezal, I've known "black" people who looked whiter than her who were "accepted" as black. Growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas there was a girl a year ahead of my brother in school who had naturally blonde hair, very light skin and hazel eyes. She looked way more like Britney Spears than Gabrielle Union or even Kerry Washington. We all accepted her as black and didn't give it a second thought.
And then there was that old guy in our neighborhood who used to fix TVs who looked like Dean Martin's long lost twin brother...and for all we know, he was. But we all saw him as black.
I mean is Johnny Mathis black? How about Vanessa Williams? Or former NAACP President Ben Chavous? Or are they all faking the funk?
In the aftermath of Dolezal's "outing," hordes of black people...particularly those on "Black Twitter," (another ridiculous step back) have crucified Dolezal and anybody (such as singer Keri Hilson) who dared to say anything positive about Dolezal.
I really don't understand why all the hate and controversy. In fact, Dolezal's story is more puzzling and funny to me than anything.
She's got to be one of a handful of so-called "white" people in American history who have willingly passed for black, while literally millions of so-called blacks have passed for white since slavery days--and it's easy to understand why.
But as for Dolezal, why would someone white want to give up the privileges and advantages that go with being white to be black? That's my primary question. Why?!
I understand her birth parents adopted some black children and she was married to a black man at one time. Maybe there are clues there...who really knows? But apparently being "black" makes her happy and comfortable.
My secondary question is why did so many black people--particularly black women--come unglued when she was outed? Okay yeah, she's a liar and perhaps a con artist...but why does that bother so many people? I'm not offended at all. Her choice has no impact on my life.
Scanning over some of the tweets, I saw stuff like:
What's most sickening about #RachelDolezal is she freely lied about experiencing racism when there are people who actually experience that.
I don't have much sympathy, if any, for a woman who wore my reality like it was a costume. #RachelDolezal
Do people not realize that #RachelDolezal co-opted a Black identity which helped her take opportunities away from actual Black people?
Oh, the misplaced, politically corret outrage. Amazing how people want to be the guardians of blackness or the black experience. Just stop it. Please.
There are far more important, heinous things going on in America that black people really need to be pissed off and concerned about. Twenty-six percent of us are living under the poverty level! George Zimmerman still walks free! The cop who murdered 12-year-old Tamir Rice hasn't been indicted! People like Karen Fitzgibbons are still teaching our children!
Who cares that one woman is choosing to live her life as a black person? No big deal. I'm not offended. She has the right to pursue happiness...so what if she identifies with black culture and lives her life that way? I actually see it as more funny than anything. Some of the funniest stuff I've seen was on the Twitter hastag #AskRachel.
Besides, Dolezal is not the first NAACP leader whose color has come into question. This story has a huge irony going back decades to Walter White, who led the NAACP from 1931-1955.
Here's what he said about himself in 1942: “I am a Negro. My skin is white, my eyes are blue, my hair is blond. The traits of my race are nowhere visible upon me.”
Yeah, White looked whiter than Dolezal, even before she put in the frizzy extensions and spent more time in a tanning booth. And there were those who doubted White's "blackness" and didn't want him leading the NAACP in spite of what he said about himself. Sound familiar?
But what is blackness? Is it skin tone or color? Is it the texture of your hair or the size and shape of your nose? Is it life experience? Is it a state of mind? What is it?
There's a story on StyleBlazer.Com titled "25 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Black" (http://styleblazer.com/...), which also could've been titled "An Ode to the One Drop Rule."
I'm sure some of the "white" celebs pictured in that story--such as Fall Out Boy drummer Pete Wentz and actor Wentworth Miller--were surprised to read they were black.
How about Eminem and Johnny Manziel? Are they black or white? And Larry Bird, the way he played basketball? And Elvis, the way he sang and danced? No way they didn't have at least a little black in them, right?
I've read that as many as 90 percent of Americans have mixed heritage and most don't even know it--and some of those who do know, try to hide it. But almost nobody can pass the one-drop rule at this point of our evolution.
No easy answers, but unfortunately race still matters. However, maybe it's time to let people decide who or what they are themselves. At the end of the day, it should be an individual's right to declare and decide who and what they are. The rest of us shouldn't get to make that call, nor should we want to.