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You're What You Say You Are
Townhall.com ^ | June 24, 2015 | Walter E. Williams

Posted on 06/24/2015 7:11:37 AM PDT by Kaslin

Rachel A. Dolezal, the recently resigned president of the Spokane, Washington, office of the NAACP, has come under a bit of controversy. Both of her parents are white, but for eight years, Dolezal claimed that she was black. In addition to her role as president of an NAACP chapter, Dolezal was an instructor of Africana studies at Eastern Washington University.

Some critics claim that Rachel Dolezal's actions were motivated by greed and narcissism. By becoming a black person, she could more easily become an NAACP leader, chair a police watchdog committee and get a teaching appointment.

Dolezal is not the only white woman who has benefited from racial fakery. Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed that she was of Cherokee Indian ancestry. That helped her land a job at diversity-hungry Harvard University as a professor of law. Not only was her great-grandfather not a Cherokee as she claimed but also he was a white man who boasted of shooting a Cherokee Indian.

Personally, I don't hold either Dolezal or Warren at fault for racial fakery. If you read my autobiography, "Up From the Projects," you will see that I had the occasion to fake my race. It was 1960, during my troubled time in the U.S. Army, when I had just landed from a troop carrier in Incheon, South Korea. Upon disembarkation, soldiers were required to fill out a vital information form denoting one's next of kin, religion, blood type and race, among other things. Where it asked for race, I checked off "Caucasian." The chief warrant officer, in charge of inspecting the forms, told me that I had made an error by checking off "Caucasian." I told him that I hadn't and was in fact Caucasian. After a couple of minutes or so of going back and forth, he asked me why I would put down "Caucasian." I told him that if I put down "Negro" -- what we called ourselves at that time -- I'd be given the worst job. I never changed the form, but the officer probably did.

By the way, faking one's race is not uncommon. There was a 1947 study by E.W. Eckard -- "How Many Negroes 'Pass'?" -- which estimated that 2,600 Negroes had become white, or passed, each year during the 1930s (http://tinyurl.com/pqhfzh8).

The bottom line is that modernity permits liberties previously unknown or unrecognized. Today we're not held to reality. For example, one does not have to accept the limitations of biology. Say that one is born with XX sex chromosomes and is therefore female or that one is born with XY sex chromosomes and is therefore male. One doesn't have to accept nature's determination. An XXer can say that he's a male. Or an XYer can say he's a she. One's sex is seen as optional. Moreover, if a male claims to be a female, others are expected to acknowledge that. For example, Bruce Jenner, Olympic decathlon champion and reality show personality, has recently become Caitlyn Jenner. People now are required to address him as her.

There is a condition known as species dysphoria, similar to gender dysphoria. It is a condition in which people think they are animals trapped in human bodies. I've been giving this option some serious thought. I've been thinking of calling myself a springbok trapped in a human body. Some people might argue that I would be in need of psychological treatment. I'd dismiss such a claim as being animalphobic. You might ask, "Williams, why in the world would you want to call yourself a springbok?" I would be doing it for personal gain, just as Rachel Dolezal and Elizabeth Warren benefited by pretending they were of another race. I'd be doing it for tax reasons. I've read a considerable amount of the Internal Revenue Code. It says nothing about wild animals having a federal tax obligation. Were government officials to demand that I, as a springbok, pay taxes, I'd report them to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: modernity; race; racegender; racheldolezal; transracionalism
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To: Kaslin

If you can simply declare your race, sex or ethnic origin, doesn’t that make a mockery of affirmative action?


21 posted on 06/24/2015 8:01:48 AM PDT by The Great RJ (“Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money.” Margaret Thatcher)
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To: PATRIOT1876

Idi Idi Idi Amin,
most amazing man ders ever been...


22 posted on 06/24/2015 8:10:09 AM PDT by null and void (I wish we lived in less interesting times, but at least we have front-row seats.)
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To: Kaslin

I’ve never been to med school, but I believe I am a brain surgeon. I am ready to operate, show me to the patients, or you are a bigot.


23 posted on 06/24/2015 8:12:35 AM PDT by Cubs Fan (Pam Gellar draws pictures, muslims murder people-- liberals speak out against the first)
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To: PATRIOT1876

Good morning, Idi Amin.


24 posted on 06/24/2015 8:16:39 AM PDT by Pecos (What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.)
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To: The Great RJ
Making a mockery of affirmative action sounds like an excellent idea. But only if I can be a springbok and a cheetah on alternate days.

Like Rush, using absurdity to point out absurdity.

25 posted on 06/24/2015 8:20:04 AM PDT by Pecos (What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.)
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To: Pecos

Retracting part of my post - I’m already an endangered species: White, male, heterosexual, Christian.


26 posted on 06/24/2015 8:21:45 AM PDT by Pecos (What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.)
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To: WayneS

I am king of the Tartars.

I exercise Tartar control.


27 posted on 06/24/2015 8:24:54 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: Kaslin

Negative, I am a...

28 posted on 06/24/2015 8:25:10 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
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To: Kaslin
I'm the queen of England.

You can reach me at #queen@buckinghampalace.

5.56mm

29 posted on 06/24/2015 8:44:53 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: Kaslin

I own this planet and all you people are past due on your rent! Pay up or leave!


30 posted on 06/24/2015 8:58:02 AM PDT by MeganC (You can ignore reality, but reality won't ignore you.)
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To: Kaslin

Good. Then I’m a Black Spanish-speaking Trans towelhead warlock atheist. Give me my government benefits.


31 posted on 06/24/2015 9:18:48 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country)
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To: Kaslin
. I've read a considerable amount of the Internal Revenue Code. It says nothing about wild animals having a federal tax obligation. Were government officials to demand that I, as a springbok, pay taxes, I'd report them to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

hahaha Walter, you the man!...I mean, the springbok!

32 posted on 06/24/2015 9:23:50 AM PDT by uncitizen
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To: null and void
*Idi Idi Idi Amin,
most amazing man ders ever been...*

I'm dee General De President Dee King of The Sea...

33 posted on 06/24/2015 10:32:37 AM PDT by PATRIOT1876
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To: Kaslin
I Yam What I Yam
34 posted on 06/24/2015 8:05:58 PM PDT by Semper Mark (Vlad Tepes was a piker. ><)
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To: Leaning Right

...and where would you like your presidential library built?


35 posted on 06/24/2015 8:08:18 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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To: Daffynition
...and where would you like your presidential library built?

In my younger years I frequented a bar that had exotic dancers and pizza. The pizza was 75 cents a slice. Both the dancers and the pizza were good. I'm thinking right next door to that bar would be a good place for my presidential library.

36 posted on 06/24/2015 9:06:30 PM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: Leaning Right

LOL....sounds good!


37 posted on 06/24/2015 10:53:58 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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