# Rachel Dolezal learns what life is really like for many blacks **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 27, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943 "2017-02-27T13:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/21 "2017-02-27T19:35:30Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Dolezal has (partly) black kids, and was married to a black man. A white woman with black kids and a black husband can get a lot of hostility from the white general public - the grandmother in the supermarket who whispers, “You’re nothing but a whore,” the tradesman driving by who shouts, “Niggerlover!” and so on. > > One way to put a stop to all this is perm your hair, and smack on an extra coat of tanner. I could have sworn she went a _teeny_ bit further than that. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/22 "2017-02-27T19:35:53Z")
Aldi’s pissed off at Dolezal - as are many black and white Americans, because she’s living proof that the way we draw lines between ethnic groups is arbitrary and absurd. As a mother of black children, she has every right to head up an organization dedicated to defending the rights and freedoms of black people. No contradiction there at all. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/23 "2017-02-27T19:42:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I could have sworn she went a _teeny_ bit further than that. No big deal. She invents a backstory to fit in better. It’s common for newcomers to go all in when joining a group, an organization, a culture. Alleviating one’s insecurity, proving one’s loyalty, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/24 "2017-02-27T19:42:45Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s never been clear to me why Dolezal should get a negative reaction from anyone, let alone generate glee through her setbacks. How about the fact that she was untruthful and deceived many of those she was supposedly trying to help? She identified as black, yet sued Howard University for discriminating against her because she was white. She made up stories to evoke sympathy, like claiming her uncle’s black friend was her father. She’s gotten through life by constantly playing the victim card and lying her ass off. Why \*doesn’t \*she deserve negative reaction? ---
**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:** [February 27, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/25 "2017-02-27T19:51:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The fact that the OP thinks being homeless and/or on food stamps is what life is really like for black people in the US (as opposed to any other ethnic groups) says more about him tha about Dolezal. > [@Bone](#): > > It’s hard not to see the OP as incredibly racially insensitive bordering on racist in the way it equates black people to homeless or unemployed. Seriously, dude - that’s pretty fucked. Right. Regardless of what one might think of Dolezal, the OP demonstrates just how completely fucked up **aldiboronti’s** world view is. And I wouldn’t say it’s “bordering on racist.” It’s well inside. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/26 "2017-02-27T19:53:21Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > How about the fact that she was untruthful and deceived many of those she was supposedly trying to help? Were her efforts to help affected by her untruths? Did her untruths matter in the least? > [@](#): > > Why \*doesn’t \*she deserve negative reaction? Because race doesn’t deserve to be an important issue. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/27 "2017-02-27T19:56:58Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > In the OP’s defense, MANY people in the US see someone that may, kinda, sort of, might be black then automagically assume that we’re jobless, lazy, worthless criminals. Yeah, most racists think like that. Is that the OP’s excuse? Just like Trump going after the black vote by telling them things can’t get any worse, trapped in the inner city hellholes as they all are. While there are social & economic inequities, most African-Americans have jobs & homes & families. (Not that they aren’t concerned about racism.) And the “inner cities” are becoming increasingly gentrified–although there are still crappy neighborhoods. Doesn’t Trump live in the middle of a very large city? (Still, Dolezal could probably find work if she really looked. Maybe beneath what she considers her due–but better than homelessness.) ---
**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:** [February 27, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/28 "2017-02-27T20:17:54Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > She’s talking about being “offered” jobs. > > Does she know her way around a keyboard? She could try working temp. Which can even lead to a job–if you do well. > > Or she could try food service. Or work in retail. Read the Guardian article. She says she’s applied for more than 100 jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/29 "2017-02-27T20:44:51Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > No big deal. She invents a backstory to fit in better. It’s common for newcomers to go all in when joining a group, an organization, a culture. Alleviating one’s insecurity, proving one’s loyalty, and so on. I hope this is a whoosh. Lying about your credentials, experience, background, etc. is crap. I wouldn’t knowingly hire someone who did it. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/30 "2017-02-27T20:47:38Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I hope this is a whoosh. Lying about your credentials, experience, background, etc. is crap. I wouldn’t knowingly hire someone who did it. If she lied about her education or work experience, she’s wrong, full stop. That’s a separate issue from her calling herself a black American, which is what everyone seems to be upset about. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/31 "2017-02-27T20:51:50Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > In the OP’s defense, MANY people in the US see someone that may, kinda, sort of, might be black then automagically assume that we’re jobless, lazy, worthless criminals. That’s what you call a “defense”… that he fits in with other racists in the country? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/32 "2017-02-27T21:02:03Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > I don’t blame Dolezal at all for how she chooses to identify, any more than I would blame Arnold Schwarzenegger for calling himself a white American and marrying into the Kennedy family. I have no problem if Schwarzenegger calls himself an American, since he became a citizen in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/33 "2017-02-27T21:34:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I have no problem if Schwarzenegger calls himself an American, since he became a citizen in 1983. But he’s been calling himself _schwarz_ a lot longer than that, and he still gets work. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/34 "2017-02-27T23:14:21Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > In the OP’s defense, MANY people in the US see someone that may, kinda, sort of, might be black then automagically assume that we’re jobless, lazy, worthless criminals. That’s not a defense, that’s a god damned shame and a black mark on our society. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/35 "2017-02-28T00:01:56Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > [Rachel Dolezal, white woman who identifies as black, now jobless, may soon be homeless](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/26/rachel-dolezal-white-woman-who-identifies-as-black-now-jobless-may-soon-be-homeless.html) > > I guess things were different when she was swanning about as the head of an NAACP chapter. Now she faces the reality of what it’s like for many African-Americans in the US. A case of be careful what you wish for, it might come true. > > I must give her some points though for continuing to pose as black even in adversity although I still think she could benefit from a course of psychoanalysis. Many blacks do have lives like this. So do many whites, Asians, Native Americans, etc. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/36 "2017-02-28T00:35:07Z")
Dear OP: Get a fucking job. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/37 "2017-02-28T00:36:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And the lazy bum is refusing work! > > > [@](#): > > > > Dolezal said she’s only been offered jobs in reality television and porno flicks. > > Slacker! One of those jobs has been known to lead right to the White House! > > Or she could do reality TV. > > Regards, > Shodan OK. Props where props is due. That was clever. A little mean, perhsps, but objectively clever. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/38 "2017-02-28T01:14:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I don’t have that high an opinion of the OP. But this thread actually lowered it. Only a racist equates poverty with black people. > > I’d actually not considered **aldiboronti** a racist until now. > > You took something we all pretty much agreed was wrong, pretending to be a race you are not. And yet you somehow turned it into something that made you look bad. That’s talent, right there. Who’s “we?” Why is “pretending” or more accurately identifying yourself as other than your birth characteristics wrong? Try thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/39 "2017-02-28T02:09:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Read the Guardian article. She says she’s applied for more than 100 jobs. Depends on the jobs. If you apply to be the Surgeon General and you don’t get the job, does that count as one turndown? My puzzlement is with her inconsistency. (Paraphrased) “Race is a cultural construct of society, but being black is an essential part of my being.” Ummm…no. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works. You can say that you have always felt more comfortable in a traditional black culture than otherwise, but saying that something you just dismissed as a construct is an essential part of you? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943/40 "2017-02-28T02:40:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And the lazy bum is refusing work! > Slacker! One of those jobs has been known to lead right to the White House! > > Or she could do reality TV. > > Regards, > Shodan I thought both of those jobs have been known to lead to the White House this time. About Dolezal: Is she the one who sued for being discriminated against for being White while she was claiming to be Black? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rachel-dolezal-learns-what-life-is-really-like-for-many-blacks/780943.md?page=3)