July 20, 2015

Vanity Fair on Rachel Dolezal: "Her cover’s blown, but that turned out not to matter. It was never a cover to her, anyway."

I know: Weren't Rachel Dolezal's 15 minutes of fame over? She's so last month!

But — you may remember — the discussion of Rachel Dolezal was abruptly cut short when another race-related news event suddenly, dramatically overwhelmed it and made it seem too stupidly trivial to talk about. That feeling  — that the Charleston massacre makes it wrong to talk about Rachel Dolezal — has worn off.

And, more importantly, Vanity Fair has put up a big article that plays right into the zone that we'd left unexplored, the concept that race, like gender, can be a matter of personal, inward identification:
Dolezal feels her outing was a big misunderstanding... Had she been able to explain her complicated childhood and sincere, long-time love for black culture to everyone before the blow up, all would have been forgiven.

“Again, I wish I could have had conversations with all kinds of people,” she says. “If I would have known this was going to happen, I could have said, ‘O.K., so this is the case. This is who I am, and I’m black and this is why.’”

46 comments:

Laslo Spatula said...

"“If I would have known this was going to happen, I could have said..."

Never want to be too truthful until you absolutely have to.

That actual moment may not have occurred yet.

I am Laslo.

Curious George said...

O.K., so this is the case. This is who I am, and I’m batshit crazy and this is why.”

FIFY Rachel

TreeJoe said...

In the age of science and technology, where we know that every cell of our being contains DNA differences between men and women as well as certain ethnicities...and we haven't yet learned how to change those things...it's wonderful that we can societally ignore those hard coded genetics and simply claim to be whatever we want.

Anonymous said...

gayness is immutable and genetic, but race and gender are flexible personal decisions and cultural constructs.

Ah, now I understand...

If the decision to be Black is voluntary, then we don't have a race relations problem except to evaluate all those dark skinned folks that refuse to be white and entitled. They're just masochists, not minorities...

Curious George said...

"It was never a cover to her anyway."

That would explain her evasiveness here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKRj_h7vmMM

Mark Caplan said...

The male version of Rachel Dolezal is Barack Obama, who stumbled around for decades, unable to resolve which racial or ethnic group to attach his identity and loyalty to.

Quaestor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hagar said...

She is still a nut case.

Quaestor said...

... the concept that race, like gender, can be a matter of personal, inward identification...

The "gender" thing is bullshit. The "race" thing is doubly so.

Just try applying for one of those minority set-asides based on your "personal, inward identification."

ken in tx said...

Anyone who has taught in public schools lately, knows that the schools are full of white wannabe gangstas. There's a name for them that starts with W and ends in ER. I have seen confrontations between these and real Blacks. Unless they are good looking females, they are not really welcome.

Anonymous said...

Quaestor said...
Just try applying for one of those minority set-asides based on your "personal, inward identification."


Liz Warren?

Quaestor said...

If Rachael Dolezal can get a consideration based on her inward Negro, them can I get some of that WWII interment camp reparation money based on my inward Jap?

Michael K said...

These stories show us why the culture is almost at the point of implosion. Of course, there is a minority, maybe even a majority, who live normal lives and go to work in the morning or study and get good grades who are unaffected unless they have the misfortune to interact with the gay Nazis and the marriage fantasy.

JAORE said...

Said it before. Next census, next application, next ANYTHING asking for racial information, put down African American. Many scientists say we all came from ancient ancestors in Africa. So it may well be true.

But if we can now self identify, choose THAT moment to choose black. Then, should it serve your inner needs, re-self identify to whatever floats your boat.

Same with gender.

Quaestor said...

In the case of Fauxahantas is was a simple and direct lie offered to a faculty board predisposed to delusional thinking. She claimed to be a Cherokee by lineal descent, not an inward squaw.

Gusty Winds said...

In this morning's Daily Mail, Ms. Dolezal still insists she did not deceive anyone.

Neither did Elizabeth Warren. Nor did the wolf in sheep's clothing.

mikee said...

As a person of rather extreme pallor, can my self-identification as a member in good standing of a darker complexion help me not to sunburn so readily?

If not, I have no real use for racial reclassification and will remain frog-belly white, except when I am sunburned and glowing pink.

And in between sunburned and extremely white, I shall be peeling, so maybe I can self-identify as a snake shedding its skin during such times.

And if anyone complains, I can call them a speciesist, and hiss at them!

fivewheels said...

Wait a minute! Isn't anyone here a real sheep?

Gusty Winds said...

This type of dishonesty is really going to mess up Obama's race database.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Althouse said ...
made it seem too stupidly trivial to talk about. That feeling — has worn off.


YMMV.

Gahrie said...

This is who I am, and I’m black and this is why.’”

But she's not Black. That is the objective truth.

Doesn't truth matter anymore?

Do you want to live in a world where truth doesn't matter? I don't.

Michael K said...

Anything that infects the federal database is OK with me.

I used to think data mining would be good mechanism for medical research but it has been so corrupted in its application that it should be destroyed.

We may have to go back to paper records to keep identity theft to reasonable proportions.

kcom said...

"the concept that race, like gender, can be a matter of personal, inward identification"

No, it can't. You can adopt any cultural lifestyle you want but if you were born lily white you'll be lily white until you die (barring medical intervention). Going "natural" with your hair by paying someone to do something unnatural to it is a lie.

"This is who I am, and I’m black and this is why."

No, you're not. As you said above, quite accurately, you have a long-time love of black culture. That's what you are. I have a long time love of bicycling, but I'm not a bicycle.

Michael said...

Well this could create affirmative action challenges.

LYNNDH said...

Yep, today I am a black, female, transgender, American Indian. Where's all my money. Give me give me. I want it Now.

Michael said...

Michael K

Every time I think the culture is collapsing I take a look at the cars on the freeway and the people in them. They are going about their business. They want a house in a neighborhood with good schools. They want to cook out on nice summer weekends. They want to coach their kids in baseball and teach them to sail and they want to flirt with their neighbor's wives.

It is too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all these people yakking away on this and other blogs and all these nutty "thinkers" are normal. They, we, are not. We must represent the teeny tiniest fraction of people in this country.

99.9% of the people in this country would laugh in this person's face if they knew who she was or what she thought.

At least that is how I see it this sunny Monday morning.

Quaestor said...

Dr. Johnson refuted garbage thinking like this by kicking a rock. Suppose Quaestor kicked a Negro, just by way of experiment, you understand?

Quaestor said...

Do you want to live in a world where truth doesn't matter? I don't.

Welcome to Planet Earth, Gahrie.

victoria said...

Liar, liar, obfuscator. Wouldn't listen to anything she has to say. How do you know she is lying? She opened her mouth.


Vicki from Pasadena

Roughcoat said...

Every time I think the culture is collapsing, etc.

Michael K,

Good post, well said. My sentiments exactly.

It's also instructive in this regard, and quite comforting, to read the texts of ancient historians, e.g. Thucydides, Hesiod, and many others. One quickly discovers that the ancients had to deal with the same or very similar societal/cultural problems. They lamented cultural decay, the coarsening of everyday life, the lack character in the younger generation, etc. But they also got on with their lives. In many instances, in relative terms, in the context of their times, they found much that was good about their lives: much to enjoy.

D.E. Cloutier said...

New nonfiction book from the University of North Carolina Press:

"Real Native Genius: How an Ex-Slave and a White Mormon Became Famous Indians"
By Angela Pulley Hudson

UNC Press: "In the mid-1840s, Warner McCary, an ex-slave from Mississippi, claimed a new identity for himself, traveling around the nation as Choctaw performer "Okah Tubbee." He soon married Lucy Stanton, a divorced white Mormon woman from New York, who likewise claimed to be an Indian and used the name 'Laah Ceil.' Together, they embarked on an astounding, sometimes scandalous journey across the United States and Canada, performing as American Indians for sectarian worshippers, theater audiences, and patent medicine seekers. Along the way, they used widespread notions of 'Indianness' to disguise their backgrounds, justify their marriage, and make a living. In doing so, they reflected and shaped popular ideas about what it meant to be an American Indian in the mid-nineteenth century."

More details at Amazon.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Well, let's be clear, though, only CERTAIN people can define themselves however they choose (the S. Court's poetic pronouncement notwithstanding). Did Mitt Romney get to define himself, or was his character defined by the Media? I mean, he said he worked well with women and minorities all of his career, gave to and worked for charities, was a decent family man without prejudice or hatred, and his record amply backed up all those points---but was he allowed to define himself in that way?
If someone the Left and Media doesn't like adopts aspects of a different culture they're labeled vicious appropriators, colonizing culture rapists, etc. If someone the Left and Media likes adopts aspects of another culture their choices are accepted and celebrated. Hey, isn't that a form of privilege??

Quaestor said...

Roughcoat, I think you've directed your compliment to the wrong Michael.

William said...

It is interesting to note that the Hispanic community has not embraced George Zimmerman. (I think if he had killed a white youth under similar circumstances he'd be a bigger hero than Bolivar.) One also notes that the black community has not been vehement in their repudiation of Dolezal, nor has the Native American community been especially vocal in their condemnation of Warren. I think if either of these two worthies had feel afoul of the PC police, we would have heard more cries of outrage.

richard mcenroe said...

Ken in Texas... They're more like wickaninnies...

Roughcoat said...

Quaestor:

You are correct, sir!

damikesc said...

Only the Left can confuse feelings for reality.

If the decision to be Black is voluntary, then we don't have a race relations problem except to evaluate all those dark skinned folks that refuse to be white and entitled. They're just masochists, not minorities...

I guess the old question of "Who would CHOOSE to be..." is no longer needed, eh?

Do you want to live in a world where truth doesn't matter? I don't.

You aren't a Progressive who thinks science should cower in the presence of...IMAGINATION!!!

At least the science conservatives think is BS isn't pretty well locked down as completely as possible. Progressives think fucking genetics is a hodge-podge of feelings.

No, you're not. As you said above, quite accurately, you have a long-time love of black culture. That's what you are. I have a long time love of bicycling, but I'm not a bicycle.

Are you SURE? You can attractive women (or men, YMMV) to ride you in tight clothing if you say you are one. And they cannot call you a liar.

It is too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all these people yakking away on this and other blogs and all these nutty "thinkers" are normal. They, we, are not. We must represent the teeny tiniest fraction of people in this country.

But they tend to move the culture.

They have people proclaimed as being rude for noting that a dude in a dress is, in fact, a dude.

Michael K said...

"99.9% of the people in this country would laugh in this person's face if they knew who she was or what she thought. "

I wish it was that high but I do think it is probably a majority.

I examine recruits for the military a couple of days a week. In Los Angeles, they are about 40 to 50% Hispanic but they have clean records. No drugs, no arrests. We do get some kids with histories of trouble but some of them are trying to get their lives back on track. They are good kids for the vast majority and it heartens me. I like talking to them.

I agree about the cars on the freeway. At 5:30 AM, there are a lot of expensive cars and they seem to be going to the same small area where the recruit center is, which is in the middle of the aerospace industry. Ironically, 50 years ago I worked about a half mile from where I go now, as an engineer for Douglas Aircraft. Lots of engineers on the road at 5 AM going to work.

There is still a significant fraction of the country that either doesn't work or disdains those who do. They are called "Democrats." Lots of rich Democrats but they do not respect those kids who are joining the military to improve themselves.

Julie C said...

I recently read a news story about a girl who had been recruited to swim for Harvard. However, she considers herself transgender and had to make the decision whether to continue to swim for the women's or switch to the men's team. She chose to swim as a man because that's how she feels. The men don't care, really, because while she's a fast swimmer for a girl, she's not competitive with the men. The coach said fine because, I assume, he or she doesn't need the grief that would come with complaining.

My question is, if the situation were reversed, how long would it be before the women's team would be up in arms? Their times would be blown away by a genetic male in a woman's suit. Remember the East German "women" in the Olympics?

Sebastian said...

"One also notes that the black community has not been vehement in their repudiation of Dolezal, nor has the Native American community been especially vocal in their condemnation of Warren. I think if either of these two worthies had feel afoul of the PC police, we would have heard more cries of outrage."

Politics trumps race.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

If she took actions to maintain it, it was a cover. Maybe not a super-deep secret cover like Valarie Plame had (/sarcasm), but from what I've read Dolezal took steps to keep her parent's/biological family's painful whiteness hidden--that's knowingly maintaining a cover.

Michael K said...

"Their times would be blown away by a genetic male in a woman's suit"

Well, at least the trainee "male" doesn't have the aerodynamic drag of a penis.

Simon said...

*Slaps hand against face*
*Drags hand slowly down face*

Sammy Finkelman said...

It reported that she is running out of money and will have a problem on August 1. Her last $1800 paycheck was in June. She is making some money by braiding hair.

damikesc said...

One also notes that the black community has not been vehement in their repudiation of Dolezal, nor has the Native American community been especially vocal in their condemnation of Warren. I think if either of these two worthies had feel afoul of the PC police, we would have heard more cries of outrage

Well, #BlackLivesMatter, right?

RonF said...

“If I would have known this was going to happen, ..."

Right. Because there was no particular reason why it should every have occurred to you that pretending you were black while becoming an extrememly prominent anti-racism activist while you were really 100% white should have been controversial. That's why you never TOLD anyone you were white.

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