(ThyBlackMan.com) Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane, Washington NAACP has some explainin’ to do. As we heard in recent reports, Ms Dolezal is being accused of perpetrating an African American woman. She has been exposed by none other than her White parents. They have made headlines all over the country and have taken part in television interviews in order to help spread the word that their biological daughter is, “White“ and is “the master of deception.”
Brother and sisters, I’m so stunned by this revelation that carries many legs, honestly, I don’t know which direction to offer my thoughts in penning.
I ponder, first of all, what would cause a White woman to take on a metamorphosis of a Black woman? Aside from our striking beauty or vying for our men, I believe our strength may take center stage in this arena. I offer this for discussion because I simply believe Ms Dolezal may have hoped she would seem more powerful and respected as a Black woman in the position as president of the local NAACP chapter, even though, her credentials and Civil Rights activism would have more than qualified her.
Yet, we must touch the physical aspect of her drastic change in appearance from blonde hair, blue-eyed, to now sporting darker skin and kinky hair. Many people are very upset about this, and I wonder why when it’s our own personal choice as to how we physically chose to present ourselves to world. How many sisters are going broke trying to have the straightest, longest, most human European hair that’s available for purchase in the industry? What
makes her any different from the white women who vacation on the islands and get their straight hair braided? Delving further, what makes her any different from Bruce Jenner or Chastity Bono who’ve chosen to alter their bodies because they feel inside they are someone different than what we see on the outside?
Furthermore, if one is saying this is about the deception of the public, well we could go on and on as to how many of us (if skin tone permitted) in our past have chosen to “pass as white” to avoid getting entangled into the many pitfalls we faced, and continue to face, as a people. Her parents have labeled their daughter as “deceptive”, it only makes we wonder if they have branded J Edgar Hoover with the same seal of deception?
But, all of the above is based on her parents proclaiming that she is not African American. They say her roots are limited to that of German, Swedish, Czech and Native American. Well, Ms Dolezal says differently and she explains it by stating, “All of us are from Africa”. In which she is absolutely correct. And with her being an Africana studies adjunct professor, her studies of our culture would certainly conclude it to be so as fact. But, even in more recent history here in the United States, it is no secret that many of us carry Native American blood. So it may be beneficial for her parents to analyze their history more in depth, it could be that they are multi-racial with African American blood and have been passing as white for all these years?
I must say, I admire the German-Swedish-Czech-Native American Afro sister for living the person she chooses to be. However, no matter how much I admire her, I must question if her intentions were meant to be deceptive. Yet, I will not draw any conclusions until she has explained herself. As she stated, “The complexity of this situation is more than we know”, and has requested to explain herself to her staff before speaking publicly.
While we await this story to unfold, I just want to pose the question, “Which mask did you choose to wear today”?
Staff Writer; La Royce
One may read over more of this sister writings over at; http://laroyceblog2014.com.