# Black \[not\] like me; The Rachel Dolezal Story in the News **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413 "2015-06-13T04:16:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/41 "2015-06-14T17:42:29Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > If a black person’s favorite genre was country or they watched a lot of hockey, they’d get a lot of comments from blacks and whites. The majority’s culture is definitely seen as mainstream, but a black person will be seen as odd if they embrace things that are on the fringes of mainstream white culture, like NASCAR. Huh? I can’t imagine batting an eye at a black person who like Country Music or NASCAR. Do those cultural phenomena include characteristics that are unwelcoming to blacks? I’ll admit I don’t know much about either… ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/42 "2015-06-14T18:10:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Huh? I can’t imagine batting an eye at a black person who like Country Music or NASCAR. Do those cultural phenomena include characteristics that are unwelcoming to blacks? I’ll admit I don’t know much about either… I’m not sure if this is a woosh. They’re often associated with the good 'ol boy, redneck sort of culture, which is often not welcoming to blacks, and which blacks often don’t feel comfortable around. It is considered unusual for a black person to enjoy those things, and someone who does will draw startled stares, comments and jokes (not necessarily cruel comments or jokes, but surprised ones). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/43 "2015-06-14T18:18:59Z")
If the black person was a 16-year-old living in NYC, I’d probably be surprised. If he was a 50-year-old living in Texas, I wouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/44 "2015-06-14T19:04:42Z")
Why does the NAACP use such an outdated/racist term for black people? What is a “colored person” anyway? Is it anybody who is non-white? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/45 "2015-06-14T19:07:49Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why does the NAACP use such an outdated/racist term for black people? What is a “colored person” anyway? Is it anybody who is non-white? Historical reasons I suppose. It doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/46 "2015-06-14T19:11:42Z")
It made sense at the time. Same with United Negro College Fund. It’s not like those were just named yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/47 "2015-06-14T19:29:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > If the black person was a 16-year-old living in NYC, I’d probably be surprised. If he was a 50-year-old living in Texas, I wouldn’t be. There are people who’d think that kid was strange for playing hockey and listening to Ed Sheeran. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/48 "2015-06-14T19:33:55Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why does the NAACP use such an outdated/racist term for black people? What is a “colored person” anyway? Is it anybody who is non-white? “Colored person” was the polite term for black people when the NAACP was founded in 1909, and still was when I was growing up in the 1950s. It wasn’t racist, as witness it’s use by the NAACP. Back then, the racist term was “black.”\*😉 \*Not really, but if you were white and were trying to be polite you would say colored person or Negro rather than black, which was considered a bit crude. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/49 "2015-06-15T11:46:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Why does the NAACP use such an outdated/racist term for black people? What is a “colored person” anyway? Is it anybody who is non-white? For the same reason we still have the United Negro College Fund. The UNC along with the NAACP were organized that were created a long time ago when words like Negro and colored were not considered to be insulting and they’ve been grandfathered in. I certainly wouldn’t refer to someone as colored or a Negro but I’ll use the words when talking about the colored regiments of the Civil War or the Negro baseball leagues. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/50 "2015-06-15T12:25:34Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I don’t think a black person straightening their hair, lightening their skin and letting people assume they were white would be unremarkable. They would be accused of being a self hater. Hair straightening is mainstream enough some employers have prohibitions on afros or braids/dreads(enforced fairly for all races of course:rolleyes:). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/51 "2015-06-15T13:04:53Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Hair straightening is mainstream enough some employers have prohibitions on afros or braids/dreads(enforced fairly for all races of course:rolleyes:). Hair straightening = ok. Hair straightening + skin bleaching = one raised eyebrow Hair straightening + skin bleaching + letting others think they are white = remarkable Now, they wouldn’t be so remarkable that they would get plastered on national news. Unless, that is, they were president of the NAAWP. Or they were Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/52 "2015-06-15T13:39:16Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I don’t think a black person straightening their hair, lightening their skin and letting people assume they were white would be unremarkable. They would be accused of being a self hater. If a black person’s favorite genre was country or they watched a lot of hockey, they’d get a lot of comments from blacks and whites. The majority’s culture is definitely seen as mainstream, but a black person will be seen as odd if they embrace things that are on the fringes of mainstream white culture, like NASCAR. Heh, I was helping a black guy on a library computer once who was having a hard time figuring out some form to buy concert tickets. Dude had a gold and diamond grill, t-shirt of a rapper I hadn’t heard of, his entire look was clearly identifying himself culturally with urban blackness. We finally figured out what the problem was with the payment form and I asked him who he was going to see. “Kenny Chesney!” I took it as a learning experience about making cultural assumptions. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/53 "2015-06-15T17:40:25Z")
Well, she resigned from the NAACP leadership role in Spokane. I wonder what the 6 black people in that city there think. ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/54 "2015-06-15T19:05:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, she resigned from the NAACP leadership role in Spokane. I wonder what the 6 black people in that city there think. Just a guess, but probably “lol ok.” ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/55 "2015-06-15T21:31:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Huh? I can’t imagine batting an eye at a black person who like Country Music or NASCAR. Do those cultural phenomena include characteristics that are unwelcoming to blacks? I’ll admit I don’t know much about either… Charlie Pride Darius Rucker ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/56 "2015-06-15T21:46:06Z")
Anyone remember Ward Churchill? White guy who made a career out of playing a Native American spokesperson? [5 Celebrity Careers Launched by Ethnic Makeovers | Cracked.com](http://www.cracked.com/article_17501_5-celebrity-careers-launched-by-ethnic-makeovers.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/57 "2015-06-15T22:39:31Z")
Anyone know what provoked her parents to out her? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/58 "2015-06-15T22:41:00Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > Charlie Pride > Darius Rucker Nobody said that there aren’t any black people who enjoy country music. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/59 "2015-06-15T22:57:24Z")
> [@camille](#): > > This I agree with. IMO being a pathological liar is the real issue in her case. What I’m questioning in the hypothetical is whether or not she would still be considered mentally ill if she had been honest about her background. Lying about being black is wrong, but is wanting to live as a black woman crazy? Would she have been accepted if she was honest? Apparently she thought not. Seeing as she felt the need to not only claim to be black but to make up stories of abuse and harassment, I don’t think it was about acceptance. A pathological liar is itself a mental issue. Hence the word “pathological.” She’s failing to cope with life itself without lying. I don’t think it was about not being accepted. Because, if that were the issue, the way to go about it would be to not quite say it. Say you grew up with black siblings and found a home in the black community after college. Go ahead and tan and curl your hair if you like the look. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be a problem. > [@DSeid](#): > > Anyone know what provoked her parents to out her? Accusations that she was abused by them as her “adopted” parents. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-not-like-me-the-rachel-dolezal-story-in-the-news/722413/60 "2015-06-16T00:09:56Z")
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