Democrat Looney Tunes
2015-07-21 05:35:20 UTC
A civil rights activist who drew national attention for self-
identifying as a black woman despite being the child of white
parents, told magazine Vanity Fair she did not lie, but her
critics are limited by their views of race: "I would say I'm
black."
Washington state activist Rachel Dolezal, 37, resigned in June
as president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading civil rights
organization, amid reports she was falsely claiming to be black.
Dolezal came under intense scrutiny when a white couple who
identified themselves as her estranged biological parents told
U.S. media she has Caucasian roots. She was raised in a home
with adopted black siblings, attended historically black Howard
University, and has produced art work and taught classes about
black culture.
"It's taken my entire life to negotiate how to identify, and
I've done a lot of research and a lot of studying," Dolezal told
Vanity Fair in an interview published on Sunday.
"I could have a long conversation, an academic conversation
about that. I don't know. I just feel like I didn't mislead
anybody; I didn't deceive anybody," Dolezal said, according to
the magazine.
"If people feel misled or deceived, then sorry that they feel
that way, but I believe that's more due to their definition and
construct of race in their own minds than it is to my integrity
or honesty, because I wouldn't say I'm African American, but I
would say I'm black, and there's a difference in those terms,"
she said.
Her self-expression triggered a national debate over the bounds
of racial identity and self-identification.
After she stepped down as local NAACP president, Eastern
Washington University did not re-new her teaching contract, and
the Spokane City Council ousted her from a municipal police
oversight commission over conduct violations.
Court records show that while a graduate student in the fine
arts program at Howard, Dolezal filed a lawsuit against the
school claiming she was discriminated against for her race,
gender and pregnancy. She lost the case, and an appeals court
ordered her to repay the university's legal costs.
"You can't just say in one sentence what is blackness or what is
black culture or what makes you who you are," Dolezal told
Vanity Fair.
What a sack of nuts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/us-usa-race-washington-
idUSKCN0PU27B20150720
identifying as a black woman despite being the child of white
parents, told magazine Vanity Fair she did not lie, but her
critics are limited by their views of race: "I would say I'm
black."
Washington state activist Rachel Dolezal, 37, resigned in June
as president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading civil rights
organization, amid reports she was falsely claiming to be black.
Dolezal came under intense scrutiny when a white couple who
identified themselves as her estranged biological parents told
U.S. media she has Caucasian roots. She was raised in a home
with adopted black siblings, attended historically black Howard
University, and has produced art work and taught classes about
black culture.
"It's taken my entire life to negotiate how to identify, and
I've done a lot of research and a lot of studying," Dolezal told
Vanity Fair in an interview published on Sunday.
"I could have a long conversation, an academic conversation
about that. I don't know. I just feel like I didn't mislead
anybody; I didn't deceive anybody," Dolezal said, according to
the magazine.
"If people feel misled or deceived, then sorry that they feel
that way, but I believe that's more due to their definition and
construct of race in their own minds than it is to my integrity
or honesty, because I wouldn't say I'm African American, but I
would say I'm black, and there's a difference in those terms,"
she said.
Her self-expression triggered a national debate over the bounds
of racial identity and self-identification.
After she stepped down as local NAACP president, Eastern
Washington University did not re-new her teaching contract, and
the Spokane City Council ousted her from a municipal police
oversight commission over conduct violations.
Court records show that while a graduate student in the fine
arts program at Howard, Dolezal filed a lawsuit against the
school claiming she was discriminated against for her race,
gender and pregnancy. She lost the case, and an appeals court
ordered her to repay the university's legal costs.
"You can't just say in one sentence what is blackness or what is
black culture or what makes you who you are," Dolezal told
Vanity Fair.
What a sack of nuts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/us-usa-race-washington-
idUSKCN0PU27B20150720