The LuLac Edition #2950, June 17th, 2015
BLACK LIKE……………HER?
Rachel Dolezal. (Photo: AOL).
First off, a disclaimer. With this edition of LuLac I do not want to offend anyone here. I was told to stay away from this subject because people would misunderstand. Truth be told I held off a few days but this thing is so damn tempting I can’t resist. Consider the case of Rachel Dolezal, who has posed for years as a black woman, faced tough questions about her racial identity long before her career as a civil rights advocate was derailed by this week's revelations that she grew up "Caucasian."
More than a decade ago, Howard University's lawyers questioned whether she had tried to pose as African-American when she applied for admission to the historically black college in the nation's capital.
Dolezal had sued the University, claiming among other things that she had been denied a teaching position because she was white.
I was relieved to hear Dolezal write in her college entry essay "I plunged into black history and novels, feeling the relieving release of understanding and common ground. My struggles paled as I read of the atrocities so many ancestors faced in America."
At least she realizes the struggle that black Americans went through in the 20th century. As a child Civil Rights was one of the formative issues of my youth. I could not understand why the baseball players I worshiped had to sit on a bus and get their food while the white players dined inside. I delved into books like “Black Like Me” by John Griffin, "Malcolm X Talks to Young People" and Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” through my time as a student. I understood that the struggle was one to be admired, supported but never truly understood the pain by the very virtue of my upbringing.I had empathy but not the experience of the humiliation.
To me it is akin to someone wearing a Military uniform with no record of service. Plus the thing that everyone seems to forget in the great Civil Rights struggles of our time is that people of other races died in the cause. That is the reason why I always felt there should be a Martin Luther King/Civil Rights Heroes Day”.
There are for me too many discrepancies to follow. She says one thing, the parents say another. It was revealed that her parents adopted a black son and today she reportedly said she wasn’t sure who her real parents were.
Human behavior is hard to understand and I was at a loss to even try to explain it. Somewhere along the line with her great studies of black history, her envy of her adopted brother and the fact that she is unsure of a lot of things…. something triggered this. Could have been in the past. Could have been before Howard. Maybe she caught a glimpse of this movie now outdated and undoubtedly judged by some to be politically incorrect. If that’s the case, I apologize. But this is as good of an explanation as any. Can anyone say transference?
Maybe if she wants to get a real black experience, she should talk to this guy pictured below.
posted by David Yonki @ 9:39 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I have become interested in the story of Rachel Dolezal as well. At first I kind of just shrugged it off because I really know much about it, but as it had more coverage, I read more about it and after I saw her interviewed, I became more intrigued.
I'm not sure what her motivation is, only she knows, but if she's being genuine, I actually understand.
You know I have a list of reasons I don't like it in Northeast Pennsylvania. I am of Sicilian descent, born and raised here, yet so desperate to get out of this area I left at 17 years old, 5 days after I graduated high school. I finally found a place where I felt at home, that was on the island of Oahu. For 2 years, because of my stint in the Navy, I was able to reside in paradise. However, it was not only paradise because of the beautiful weather, the expansive ocean, and the gorgeous beaches. It was paradise to me, because it is the only place, before or since, I have ever felt that I fit in.
I belonged to a gym that was off base. I developed friendships with local people who were descents of generations on Hawaii. I got to experience, because of this, genuine Hawaiian culture. I was invited to different parts of the island I never would have seen, places where you would not even step on the land, where deep reverence was given. I felt at home, I felt that I belonged.
That feeling has never left, there was even a time when I was going to legally change my name to the Hawaiian version. People thought I was nuts, some of my closest friends ridiculed me, so I never went ahead with that plan.
Even if I changed my name, would I have been Hawaiian? Would I ever have considered myself Hawaiian? No, of course not. But I understand Rachel’s inner turmoil. Trying to identify with, and finally finding a community where she felt she fit in.
Maybe, it comes down to age old question, a questions we ask about everything when we're discussing human behavior. Is it nature, or is it nurture? Are we a product of DNA or a product of environment? Or maybe we should just accept is it something we simply do not comprehend? Whatever the answer, perhaps the most important aspect is we should not judge, in absence of criminality or harm to others, that which we don’t understand.
I was with you until you dug up Mr. Z. Should have thought that one out, not funny, not relevant, mean.
I was with you until you dug up Mr. Z. Should have thought that one out, not funny, not relevant, mean.
IN RESPONSE
Yeah that was an after thought proving that you should stop when you think you're done.
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