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 cant 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?
Im going to give the benefit and hope most folks mean the former, not the latter. And to answer that Ive got a theory, that goes beyond, um, duh. Because black women are inherently awesomene!
My conclusion: Rachel Dolezals social capital goes even further as a light-skinned, blue-eyed black girl even than a white girl whos 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, Id never heard of.
And despite proclaiming a love for all things black, Mary didnt 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 Id 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 dont come in here talking that way. Were 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 wasnt unattractive, but she wasnt 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 (daddys) 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 dont 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 Georges County is one of the wealthiest and degreed black counties in the nation. Its 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 its 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 Id meet a black woman of any age and say I worked there, shed go OMG! Essence?! She was impressed. Id tell a white person 30-50, the core age demo of the publication, shed ask, whats Essence?
I tell you this to make this point: White girl with a double degree? (Rachel hold a masters from Howard University) Good for you. Black girl with a double degree? Among black people youre 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 Dolezals social capital extends the farthest. Shes 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.
She actually makes a lot of sense.
Big fish in small pond explains it all.
Much like her black-loving white roomie.
I hear J. Edgar Hoover was really black. Does that have social capital among Washington queers?
Yes. Then, again how could ya tell?
We had the same rumors in my family, supposedly way way back and even sourced and documented. I finally got my father to do a Dna test and it came back zero American Indian, so that settled that.
There is a rumor in our family that there was a some Choctaw princess in our past too. Just a rumor.
My godson who has white girls hanging all over him, really only dates ethnic (mainly Filipina) women probably for the same reason TransRachel dates black guys. He wants to be their knight in shining armor.
Any superannuated Washington queers on Freep who can answer?
A very honest article that on some levels must not have been easy to write.
Interesting take on Rachel Dolezal bookmark
As a white woman, she was nobody special. As a black woman, she was in the top 1%, got all the affirmative action perks, and got lots of attention.
Not bad, you may be a funny guy.
Down with Socialist Capitalism.
To me the biggest take home message of this article is that there persists an ‘us and them’ separatism that is very strongly entrenched, and we’ve come no where near being a ‘colorblind’ society.
I think the key to her story may be her experiences at Howard University. Before that, she was a typical Whigger, white kid who loves the “black” culture. At Howard she experienced racism against whites and her conclusion was, well I will just become black. I don’t know whether she actually experienced racism there, the court case was thrown out after all. In her mind, she did experience racism against whites and that is what lead to her decision.
This was a good read. The author lays out a great set of insights that are very plausible.
Rachel Dolezals brother, author Joshua Dolezal, faces trial for alleged sexual abuse of a black child
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/16/rachel-dolezals-brother-author-joshua-dolezal-faces-trial-for-alleged-sexual-abuse-of-a-black-child/?tid=pm_pop_b
What I don’t get is that she doesn’t look black. Her curly hair doesn’t look “black” to me. Just looks curly. Of course I don’t think Bruce Jenner looks like a woman, so what do I know.
My husband heard the same kind of “Indian in our background” but no details. Finally he asked his oldest aunt. Said said “ yes there was an Indian grandmother, but don’t worry, she was a white folks kind of Indian”.
My husband wanted nothing more than knowing that he had Indian blood, but apparently it was something shameful back in the day.
We have a lot of friends in Oklahoma and about half of them you would never guess have Indian blood, some are fair and some have blue eyes.
But they get government checks.
The only one who looks Indian doesn’t get a check because he said his tribe was too dumb to sign up by the deadline.
My blue eyes link me to Padishah so I get spice at a discount...
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