# Local NAACP Leader Fabricates Black Ethnicity **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357 "2015-06-12T13:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/141 "2015-06-15T16:24:51Z")
Yea, I didn’t think she’d be able to hang onto that job. ---
**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, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/142 "2015-06-15T16:36:21Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > I agree with this. I feel like she thought she was down and no one pressed her because it’s rather rude to ask how black someone is, so she got away with it. Some of the stuff she said on twitter was really something. When she talked about being beaten for being too dark-skinned (in South Africa, of all places), that should have been the first clue that she was out of her fuckin’ gourd. I’m not guessing that she actually has a lot of black friends. Colleagues and associates, maybe. But not a whole lot of black girlfriends, at least. ---
**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, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/143 "2015-06-15T16:47:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m not guessing that she actually has a lot of black friends. Colleagues and associates, maybe. But not a whole lot of black girlfriends, at least. Someone really needed to sit down with her and gently tell her “girl, no.” I don’t know. I feel bad for her because this is just straight up foolishness and fuckery that caught everyone off guard. This is dumb. Why would anyone do this? I bet Chet [del]Hanks[/del] Haze is kicking himself for not doing this first. ---
**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, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/144 "2015-06-15T17:22:47Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > Someone really needed to sit down with her and gently tell her “girl, no.” I don’t know. LOL. I don’t know either. Perhaps she does have black friends, they’ve been quietly thinking “girl, no” for a long time. Maybe she’s the resident “hot mess” friend. Good for some laughs (especially behind her back), but not someone you’d take seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/145 "2015-06-15T17:36:15Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Those who think that someone can’t be Black and be blond need to look at [Walter Francis White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Francis_White)of the NAACP. He investigated lynches in the South by ‘passing’ as white, even though he identified as Black and was considered Black by standards of the day. > > I don’t know what the NAACP thinks about the Rachel Dolzeal issue, but a blonde person identifying as Black isn’t something they haven’t seen before. Homer Plessy was another famous “black” figure who was actually white by any reasonable standard. He had one black and seven white great grandparents - but by the standards of his time, it was the single black ancestor who mattered and Plessy was considered to be black under Jim Crow law. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/146 "2015-06-15T17:53:02Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > When she talked about being beaten for being too dark-skinned (in South Africa, of all places)… Can you tell me where you got this particular bit of information from? I’ve read numerous times that Dolezal claimed her parents punished her with baboon whips during the time they allegedly lived in South Africa but I haven’t read anything where she’s claiming to have been beaten by anybody for being too dark-skinned. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/147 "2015-06-15T18:16:28Z")
She claimed that _her parents_ beat her for being too dark-skinned. I don’t understand it, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/148 "2015-06-15T18:19:07Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > LOL. I don’t know either. Perhaps she does have black friends, they’ve been quietly thinking “girl, no” for a long time. Maybe she’s the resident “hot mess” friend. Good for some laughs (especially behind her back), but not someone you’d take seriously. Considering that she became head of the local NAACP, my guess is that she fit in pretty well, and had the culture down pat. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > She claimed that _her parents_ beat her for being too dark-skinned. I don’t understand it, but there you go. The claim has already been made in this thread. There was a request for a source. ETA: also, the claim appears to be that her alleged _step_father (who she may acknowledge was white) beat her (though not necessarily for being too black, AFAIK). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/149 "2015-06-15T18:27:16Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Considering that she became head of the local NAACP, my guess is that she fit in pretty well, and had the culture down pat.The claim has already been made in this thread. There was a request for a source. > > ETA: also, the claim appears to be that her alleged _step_father (who she may acknowledge was white) beat her (though not necessarily for being too black, AFAIK). This is a reference to the source - though as to what it means, I am not sure. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/06/15/caitlyn-jenner-and-rachel-dolezal-clash-of-identity-and-authenticity/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/06/15/caitlyn-jenner-and-rachel-dolezal-clash-of-identity-and-authenticity/) > [@](#): > > “It’s a painful thing to talk about my childhood,” she paused as she looked down into her hands. “I kind of don’t talk about it much.” > > Doležal has no contact today with her mother or stepfather due to a series of events that still haunt her thoughts today. > > Doležal and her siblings were physically abused by her mother and stepfather. “They would punish us by skin complexion,” she said. > > According to Doležal, the object her mother and stepfather used to punish them was called a baboon whip, used to ward baboons away in South Africa. These whips would leave scars behind, “they were pretty similar to what was used as whips during slavery.” The “They would punish us by skin complexion” quote is, I think, an assertion that her abuse was related to her skin shade - though I admit it makes little in the way of sense. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/150 "2015-06-15T18:32:06Z")
It might also mean the opposite. That she was punished less than her siblings because she was lighter - but that she was emotionally scarred by skin shade being a factor. Considering that even after her skin treatment she is pretty light-skinned for a black person, it’s hard to imagine that she was claiming to be one of the darker skinned of her siblings. Conversely though, there are a lot of things about her story that are hard to imagine, so this could just be one more … ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/151 "2015-06-15T18:40:15Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It might also mean the opposite. That she was punished less than her siblings because she was lighter - but that she was emotionally scarred by skin shade being a factor. > > Considering that even after her skin treatment she is pretty light-skinned for a black person, it’s hard to imagine that she was claiming to be one of the darker skinned of her siblings. Conversely though, there are a lot of things about her story that are hard to imagine, so this could just be one more … Well, true enough - but that doesn’t change the basic libel: that her parents punished their kids for racist reasons. Only, instead of her bearing the brunt of their abuse, it was her siblings. ---
**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, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/152 "2015-06-15T18:41:09Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It might also mean the opposite. That she was punished less than her siblings because she was lighter - but that she was emotionally scarred by skin shade being a factor. > > Considering that even after her skin treatment she is pretty light-skinned for a black person, it’s hard to imagine that she was claiming to be one of the darker skinned of her siblings. Conversely though, there are a lot of things about her story that are hard to imagine, so this could just be one more … According to this [source](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/12/how-did-this-white-woman-convince-everyone-she-was-black.html), it is apparent that she was delusional about her skin complexion. She portrays herself with brown skin in her “childhood” art. The more I read, the more I actually think she’s mentally unstable. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/153 "2015-06-15T19:04:23Z")
She does seem a bit off. My guess is for whatever reason she always identified with and/or wanted to be black and she has built her entire life around becoming part of the black community. Now that this identity has been shattered, it’s probably quite traumatic for her. I feel sorry for her. I wish people would leave her alone and not dwell on something that isn’t anyone else’s business. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/154 "2015-06-15T19:19:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > She does seem a bit off. My guess is for whatever reason she always identified with and/or wanted to be black and she has built her entire life around becoming part of the black community. Now that this identity has been shattered, it’s probably quite traumatic for her. I feel sorry for her. I wish people would leave her alone and not dwell on something that isn’t anyone else’s business. As a Professor of African studies trying to use her “black” experience in her classes, she is damaging her students. As a person making false accusations of hate crimes, as a person who tried to use a false ethnicity in order to get special treatment, she is committing fraud. That does make it other people’s business. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/155 "2015-06-15T20:10:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > She does seem a bit off. My guess is for whatever reason she always identified with and/or wanted to be black and she has built her entire life around becoming part of the black community. Now that this identity has been shattered, it’s probably quite traumatic for her. I feel sorry for her. I wish people would leave her alone and not dwell on something that isn’t anyone else’s business. For probably the first time ever I am in complete agreement with you. Rachel Dolezal has been drawn to and has enmeshed herself in black culture for the last twenty years or so. She attended a primarily black college and almost all of her college artwork (which is quite good, btw) depicts black subjects. She married a black guy and she gained legal custody of her younger black stepbrother. She moved to another state in order to establish her life as a black person, and I’m sure she never imagined her fictitious stories about her parents would somehow reflect on her real white parents back in Montana. And as for the apparent false hate mail she received, meh. As I’ve said before, Al Sharpton has done worse by orders of magnitude and it’s never so much as caused a blip in his career as a black leader. I am frankly gobsmacked by the liberal reaction to her. Yes, it’s true that studies haven’t been made to address the legitimacy of transracialism and that no particular gene has been identified to cause it, but so what? I thought the underlying and most important message when it comes to transgenderism is how a person feels - that they should be able to live in the way they identify with and makes them the happiest and most fulfilled. It’s been my impression that the assertions made in regard to studies and genes and so forth were in support of those feelings rather than as a bright line to to be used to rule other alternate lifestyles. So if the defining quality in determining how a person might legitimately live is how they feel and what they identify with internally, I think it’s beyond question that Rachel Dolezal identifies as a black woman and should be allowed to live that way. I agree that she likely has mental or emotional issues that have led her down this road, but she’s clearly a very intelligent and accomplished woman, and I’ve felt from the very beginning that if living as a black woman is what fulfills her and makes her happy then that’s what she should be allowed to do. I do think that if she’s broken any laws or caused harm to anyone along the way then she should be dealt with according to the law just like anyone else, but while still able to retain her identity as a black woman. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/156 "2015-06-15T20:15:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > She does seem a bit off. My guess is for whatever reason she always identified with and/or wanted to be black and she has built her entire life around becoming part of the black community. Now that this identity has been shattered, it’s probably quite traumatic for her. I feel sorry for her. I wish people would leave her alone and not dwell on something that isn’t anyone else’s business. I don’t think her self-identity is really other people’s business … but the lies that she used to secure public attention because of it certainly are. For example, lying about being abused by her parents, or being the victim of hate crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/157 "2015-06-15T21:06:39Z")
Stranger and stranger … Apparently, back when she was still white, this same person (unsuccessfully) [sued Howard University for discriminating against her for being white](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/rachel-dolezal-discrimination-lawsuit-786451). I guess she figured if you can’t fight 'em join 'em. According to [her brother](http://www.salon.com/2015/06/14/rachel_dolezals_adopted_brother_shes_been_living_in_blackface/): > [@](#): > > He believes her thinking changed while a student at Howard University: > “When she applied they thought she was a black student. When she came there, they saw she was white and she wasn’t treated that well, especially people that worked there. She probably started developing this kind of dislike for being white and dislike for white people. She used to tell Izaiah … that all white people are racists. She might have developed some self-hatred.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/158 "2015-06-15T21:12:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I am frankly gobsmacked by the liberal reaction to her. > > \ > > I do think that if she’s broken any laws or caused harm to anyone along the way then she should be dealt with according to the law just like anyone else, but while still able to retain her identity as a black woman. I don’t think anyone outside the Klan would have a problem with her identifying as a black woman. I don’t think anyone has a problem with her adopting African-American cosmetic and cultural cues. The part we’re upset about is where she identified as a black woman who _never actually existed_; one with a black father, two or more black sons, whip marks on her back, and all the rest of it. The parallel between this and the Jenner story is largely imaginary. It would only exist if, say, Jenner had claimed she won the _womens_’ decathlon in 1978. For what it’s worth, I’ve pointed out a number of times that I think this woman is mentally ill and I feel nothing but sympathy for her. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/159 "2015-06-15T21:21:24Z")
Has her husband spoken out? He must have noticed her body was much paler than her face. Unless she visits tanning salons every day. But she doesn’t look excessively tanned to me. More like a bronzer was used to darken the face and throat. I bet hubby got quite a shock the first sleep over night. Surprise, surprise, surprise. LOL ---
**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, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357/160 "2015-06-15T21:35:39Z")
Her husband was probably aware that black people do tan (naturally) and aren’t one solid complexion all over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-naacp-leader-fabricates-black-ethnicity/722357.md?page=9)