Posted on 06/15/2015 8:16:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
In the countless articles and conversations about Rachel Dolezal, so many have wondered why ol’ girl would pretend to be black.
I can’t tell if they mean that question genuinely, like, “like who in their right mind would she put on this ruse for a decade?” Or is it self-depreciating like, “why would anyone in ther right mind want to be black, given the burdens of being such?”
I’m going to give the benefit and hope most folks mean the former, not the latter. And to answer that I’ve got a theory, that goes beyond, “um, duh. Because black women are inherently awesomene!”
My conclusion: Rachel Dolezal’s social capital goes even further as a light-skinned, blue-eyed black girl even than a white girl who’s down for the cause.
Stay with me.
In college, my bestie had a roommate, a white girl, who loved black guys and all things black culture. “Mary” was raised in a lilly-white cow town, somewhere way out in Maryland that despite growing up in Maryland, I’d never heard of.
And despite proclaiming a love for all things black, Mary didn’t really get black people, especially women.
One day she burst into my dorm room, without knocking and yelled, “where yo baby daddy?” There was a popular song at the time (1997) called “My baby daddy.” It was the first time I’d heard the term. But here was Mary, thinking that because she heard the new term in a song, it must mean all black people spoke this way.
She was that type of white girl.
More Vanilla Ice than Eminem if you understand the (important) distinction.
Uh, no. My roommate chastised her for not knocking, then added, “Hey, do you hear us talking like that?”
Her: No.
Roomie: Then don’t come in here talking that way. We’re in college. Speak like it.
Everytime me and bestie, a black girl, went down to Route 1, the local strip where (mostly white) college kids hung out, Mary declined. No interest. Every time we went to the popular black clubs in DC at the time— DC Live, VIP, The Bank or The Ritz— Mary was the first one dressed.
It was interesting partying with her. Mary wasn’t unattractive, but she wasn’t stunning. She was about average. And yet, black guys would clamor over each other and stumble over themselves to get her attention, spit game, and/or dance with her. Part of it is because of the stereotype about white girls being easy, treating oral sex as casually as a kiss, and having (daddy’s) money they freely spend to trick on their Black boyfriends. The other part of it is the surprisingly common belief that snagging “a white girl” is some kind trophy-worthy accomplishment.
So of course she liked partying with black folk. Her otherness made her exotic and her social capital and white privilege were magnified in a room full of color-struck black guys far moreso than in a room full of white boys. She was a unicorn instead of just another horse.
This is why I think Rachel Dolezal, another white girl from a cow-town, would be enamored with being around Black folk. Now why she would go the extra step to “pass” as a black woman?
A lot of Black folks still think “white is (closer to) right.” Blame it on slavery, if you wish. But the result is blue-eyed white girl Rachel? Meh. Dime a dozen. Blue-eyed black girl Rachel? Four leaf clover.
There are other factors at play here beyond aesthetics. Healthy doses of racism and the resulting unfavorable economics for black folk have resulted in a somewhat skewed versions of success when it comes for us vs. them.
Another story: I lived overseas once with five roommates. We were all sitting in the living room and one of them, the other black girl, began speaking to another (white) roommate who was also from Maryland. “I don’t get the obsession with PG County,” the black roommate said. “Like the black people there are so bourgeoisie.” (It was a dig. She knew I was from PG.)
Prince George’s County is one of the wealthiest and degreed black counties in the nation. It’s the east coast version of Los Angeles’ Ladera Heights (which Frank Ocean sings about in “Sweet Life”, calling it “the Black Beverly Hills.”). That said, it might be one of the richest black counties, but it’s only slightly above average in terms of money and degrees in comparison to the overall white counties in the state.
(Yet) another story: I used to work for Essence. When I’d meet a black woman of any age and say I worked there, she’d go “OMG! Essence?!” She was impressed. I’d tell a white person 30-50, the core age demo of the publication, she’d ask, “what’s Essence?”
I tell you this to make this point: White girl with a double degree? (Rachel hold a master’s from Howard University) Good for you. Black girl with a double degree? Among black people you’re deemed bourgeoise, a part of the New Talented Tenth, and you get on the radar of the Links.
Chris Rock made a joke about this set up, something like “Tom Hanks is an amazing actor, but Denzel Washington is a god to his people.”
As an educated, blue-eyed, mixed-race looking black woman operating in black spaces, Rachel Dolezal’s social capital extends the farthest. She’s held in higher esteem, gains greater access to influencers, even becoming one in her circle, perhaps she garners more sexual/marriage interest because of black folks and our collective colorism issues.
She becomes a big fish in lake as opposed to just another fish in the ocean.
Gosh, can you imagine what hell her life is today ... good.
So, she pretended to be an American of African descent because there are advantages to being an American of African descent.
Got it.
sort of anti-white-privilege ain’t it?
kinda glad this is happening with obama as _resident. The dems would find a way to blame the GOP if a Republican were president
She did it cuz of BLACK privilege, which she did receive once she went down that road.
Very interesting.
Alinsky: Always accuse the other side of what YOU are about to do.
It makes SENSE that we now constantly hear of White Privilege, precisely because it’s getting more and more plain that the chief US injustice is BLACK privilege.
How many Caucasians are digging online to find a Native American link in their ancestry. There’s benefits to it.
Seems to contradict it, but she covers that here “Her otherness made her exotic and her social capital and white privilege were magnified in a room full of color-struck black guys”
Interesting article.
Goes hand in hand with the latest revelations that good old Rachel is a copyist rather than an original artist. Pathological liar is what I call her
My grandfather had an Indian type nose. I’d like to prove some AI ancestry and get some of that casino loot.
Basically it seems she’s some airhead that has a major thing for black guys...but she snookered the NAACP elites!
Indeed
“Basically it seems she’s some airhead that has a major thing for black guys...but she snookered the NAACP elites!”
What you said.
Just like US soldiers found Nazis dressed as Jewish camp prisoners who were trying to run away with the swiss account numbers... but I guess I am not jewish, nor woman, nor black, so “shut up and mind your own business, not what the pimps do”
White woman keeping de black man down by taking a job from a black person!
Sorry, I could not pass it up.
I was always told there was a “Genuine Cherokee Indian Princess” in our background. For year we knew nothing of our background as my dad kept it very his for some reason we never found out. When I did, I found a mention of the Cherokee Indian Princess in our background, but it did not jibe with the regular ancestry.
End result, there was NO Cherokee Indian Princess in our background, it was a family myth.
Now, my wife may have Cherokee or other Indian in her background. Her cousin was married to a genuine Cherokee for years.
Back in the early days of Oklahoma when the roles were established, it was considered a shame to be part Indian so many people did not sign up.
Now they wish they had ans there is MONEY involved!
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