Rachel Dolezal resigns as leader from NAACP's Spokane chapter

[FrodosPet]

Source: AP via Yahoo!

Rachel Dolezal stepped down from her position as the president of an NAACP chapter in Washington State on Monday – days after her ethnic identity became a national controversy.

The civil rights activist made the announcement in an open letter – posted on Facebook – to the organization’s executive committee and members.

“It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley,” she wrote.

~ snip ~

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/rachel-dolezal-resigns-as-leader-from-naacp-spokane-chapter--160937684.html

---

I believe she WANTED to do the right thing all along, but was snared by her own ego.

[Veldrick]

1. Her dishonest was going to hurt the prestigious NAACP

They will do better with honest workers.

[valerief]

2. and life goes on

[vlyons]

3. So much for judging someone by the content of their character

rather than the color of their skin. First off, "race" doesn't really exist the way most people believe. "Race" is not biologically determined; it's culturally determined. Most African-Americans have European genetics in the background. And many, many "white" Americans have Asian, African, Semitics, native-American, Pacific-Islander genes in the background as well. So I guess that working for economic and social justice count for squat. But perming your hair is a big bad deal. What hypocrites we are. We humans are all connected to one another.

[laserhaas]

4. Concur.... NAACP should have declined the resignation.

You can't be an organization that argues about equality of race issues;
and then let someone go - because of perverted media takes about one's race.

[LovingA2andMI]

23. No they should not

Her being there in that position was damaging the organization to the very people they claim a desire to advance. Rachel Dolelaz needed to go and now she's gone.

If she wants to continue her work with the NAACP, do so as a Member and a Caucasian Woman. Let's see if that happens.

[snooper2]

5. ‘Ultimate exercise in white privilege' - Yo, 'I'm going to be black for a little while"

Published on Jun 12, 2015
A CNN panel tonight on Rachel Dolezal really just unloaded on her completely unnecessary posing as a black woman when she still could have been involved in race issues as a white woman. Marc Lamont Hill in particular was incredibly puzzled by Dolezal’s actions, saying that no one really chooses to be black as an identity.

He told Anderson Cooper this is a “very dangerous practice of trying on someone’s identity” and even said what Dolezal did was the “ultimate exercise in white privilege to say ‘I’m gonna be black for a little while.'”

Michaela Angela Davis pointed out that this was also completely unnecessary, and said Dolezal could have easily “done all this good work as a white woman” and “she didn’t need to lie in order to do good race work.”

Hill added there are probably some mental health issues at play, but also thought it was “the height of arrogance” for a woman to lecture others about race and diversity and representation when she’s passing herself off as black.

[Paladin]

6. I agree: some significant white privilege and arrogance at work, here.

I'm glad Ms. Dolezal did the right thing by stepping down.

[Jesus Malverde]

19. lol "she's going natural".

[bravenak]

29. I know...

[handmade34]

7. ...

[WinkyDink]

8. Her "content" comprises some serious prevarications. People need to read more of her. And "race" is

not from a "culture" in the way SHE deems it. I can't go to Harlem and declare myself, my Celtic-Sicilian-Slovak self, to be "Black," no matter that I voted for the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Pres. Obama.

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. Are you arguing that Dolezal's "character" wasn't an issue here? Playing black is not an issue for

you? If she had been honest about herself, and from everything I've read about her, she has the heart for civil rights activism, I don't see why she shouldn't have been hired for the position anyway. However, if you're dishonest about the essence of who you are, it raises questions of integrity.

Call me a "hypocrite" if you like, but this woman's privilege doesn't give her the right to "play black".

[840high]

13. +1

Glad she's gone. Lying is never to be admired.

[LovingA2andMI]

24. Ditto!!!

[suffragette]

28. + 1,000

[heaven05]

16. Labels, labels, labels

all contrived bullshit to keep us divided.

[Veldrick]

17. Actually it is her character that is being judged

Honesty has to do with character. Making up racist mail has to do with character.

[LovingA2andMI]

25. Yes, indeed and Welcome to DU

Your comment is much appreciated!

[leftynyc]

18. Her character includes

that she's a fucking liar and has been lying for years. Is that a good enough reason to get rid of her?

[lovemydog]

21. Sorry but it goes way beyond that.

There's just lie after lie after lie coming out. The most basic one that she is white, playing blackface. Another, the alleged hate mail she received. Here's an article on a few of her lies.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/daniel-hayes/2015/06/rachel-dolezal/

I think there are many more lies as well, that will be coming out in the next few days, weeks or months.

[cyndensco]

30. Judging someone by the content of her character

would necessitate the NAACP to accept her resignation. It was not the color (or lack of) that made her unfit for the position, but the lack of integrity.

[Matariki]

37. My take-away from all this has more to do with the collective love for public humiliation

this story, about a more or less non-public person, dragged on for days.

[Blue_Tires]

44. Uh...You realize she was also a hustler and scam artist, right?

This goes a bit farther than "pretending to be black"

[Sparhawk60]

45. Her Character is Being Judged

This is not an issue of a white woman being the head of the local NAACP. The issue is her lack of integrity. She lied and committed fraud, and that speaks volumes about her character.

[fishwax]

52. it seems to me the content of her character is precisely what is at issue

[CTBlueboy]

9. how do i say this

Au revoir , adios ,ciao

I still haven't seen the "good work" she has done for the black community ?

[Old Codger]

10. Strange indeed

I personally would think that fighting for civil rights for all would be somewhat more effective as a white person than as a black person and getting caught at this pretense has done quite a bit more harm that help she may have given. Her lies just cast serious doubt on her character overall and her judgement is totally flawed and suspect.

[B2G]

12. Woman needs therapy. nt

[heaven05]

14. I knew it was coming

she had her heart in the right place. She would never be effective in a leadership position with all the labeling going on so she did lessen a lot of negativity.

[LovingA2andMI]

26. She could have and should have just been HERSELF!

Rachel Dolelaz brought the negatively on by HER CHOICE to LIE. Period!

[heaven05]

38. yeah

no argument.

[GGJohn]

42. Lableling?

She labeled herself a liar by being a liar.

[heaven05]

47. yeah, I know

the lie is the lie, but still americans still love people to label themselves. An american apartheid era holdover. I think. White is white and black is black and never the twain should meet, except in interracial situations. I am just sick of labels, aren't we all just human? If there were no labels, then this would never have been an issue, that is my point and I'm sticking to it. I still think her heart was in the right place, perceived wrongdoing or not. If there was some emotional, psychological wounding somewhere, then I hope she can, with professional help, resolve those issues.

[GGJohn]

48. Agreed. eom.

[Jesus Malverde]

15. Strangest story this summer.

[Stuart G]

20. I agree, I hope this goes away..But it won't

Very strange and unusual. The kind of story that lights up people.

Was anyone terribly hurt as a result.?.(except Rachel and her parents). From what I read, she put in a lot of time and effort into her job and her cause. And this is a very interesting discussion.. And it is about her lies and deception...She is gone from that leadership position, but I do not think the media will let this go. At least that is my opinion.

[lovemydog]

22. Yes, people were hurt by her lies.

this article describes some of her lies.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/daniel-hayes/2015/06/rachel-dolezal/

It also appears she has filed numerous false police reports. And made claims of physical and sexual abuse. If the latter claims are true, how can she be a credible witness in court? If they are not true, don't you think that hurts people?

[Stuart G]

27. Yes, I agree with your views.

False police reports are very damaging, and she has no credibility at all. Good point and you are correct.

[Android3.14]

31. If it is acceptable for a person to self-identify another gender...

Then why is it wrong for a person to self identify as another race?

I've known men and women who say they feel more at home with a race different from their own. It's always struck me as odd, but not as an act of contempt or white privilege. I'm of middle age, and watched my own attitudes towards gay marriage change these past fifty years, so the idea of respecting a person's contention that he or she is another race seems pretty par for the course.

Remember Steve Martin's "The Jerk"? Look at our very own POTUS claiming African American rather than biracial.

Is there inconsistency regarding the progressive community's response?

[LovingA2andMI]

32. This is why....

The words of Malcolm X said it as best is IT ever can be said:

[Android3.14]

33. I'll have to check that later

The time to watch and digest 23 minutes of video is unavailable from 8-5. Any chance of a summary?

[LovingA2andMI]

36. It's best to listen and learn....

Find sometime to do so. At that point and after some reflective thought, that will answer your question.

[Android3.14]

41. 'Kay. I gave it a listen

Unfortunately, the audio was unhelpful.

You seem to be saying that a white person who identifies as a black person is the equivalent of a "house negro". The connection is tenuous at best.

Malcom X's speech doesn't come near to addressing the discrepancy between the respect a progressive person gives to a transgender person and the contempt I've seen expressed towards a person claiming to identify as an African American.

Perhaps you can explain it in your own words. Rephrasing and interpretation is one of the best ways to demonstrate deep learning.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

34. Did she really think she would get away with this forever???

[Bosonic]

35. NAACP Imposter Sued School Over Race Claims

NAACP Imposter Sued School Over Race Claims

JUNE 15 -- The NAACP official who today resigned in the face of evidence that she masqueraded as black once sued Howard University for denying her teaching posts and a scholarship because she was a white woman, The Smoking Gun has learned.

Rachel Dolezal, 37, who headed the NAACP’s Spokane, Washington chapter, sued Howard for discrimination in 2002, the year she graduated from the historically black college with a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Dolezal, then known as Rachel Moore, named the university and Professor Alfred Smith as defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C.’s Superior Court. During the pendency of the civil case, Smith was chairman of Howard’s Department of Art.

According to a Court of Appeals opinion, Dolezal's lawsuit “claimed discrimination based on race, pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender.” She alleged that Smith and other school officials improperly blocked her appointment to a teaching assistant post, rejected her application for a post-graduate instructorship, and denied her scholarship aid while she was a student.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/rachel-dolezal-discrimination-lawsuit-786451

[Monk06]

43. Well that certainly complicates the story. She sues for discrimination at a Black University

on the basis of being white and then goes on to pose as a black person.

Did she decide that as a black graduate of Howard she would have a career advantage based on the failure of her discrimination suit? If so passing as black is a clever fraud since very few people will take the chance of a questioning the racial background of a light skinned African American.

We can thank Adrian Piper for making the questioning of race origins out of bounds. First in the case of white people starting with her Vanilla Nightmare gambit. Then eventually for all issues of race and identity.

The result is that important political and philosophical issues cannot be openly discussed except by those hiding behind a wall of hyper subjectivity.

It is no small matter either that Dolezal received her masters degree in visual art. Visual art departments are fast becoming hotbeds of Title IX discrimination suits based on lies and political ambition. Note Emma Sulkowitz was also a visual art student.

Also recently, the entire graduate student body at USC Roski along with their graduate adviser, Francis Stark, quit en masse to protest changes in their very generous funding and faculty hiring structure. Although the Roski incident is not based on complaints of racial or gender discrimination, it does show that visual art departments are becoming the centers of student activism amongst millenials. For what that is worth.

I guess a bourgeois revolution on the part of the privileged children of the rich is better than no revolution at all.

[rocktivity]

39. I don't wish her ill because she IS ill.

If she were resigning because of dementia or cancer or even substance abuse, I'd be wishing her well and hoping that she gets the medical help she needs. So I'm not going to make an exception for pathological lying -- it's a personality disorder.


rocktivity

P.S: The news story that started it all is well worth the read.

[DanM]

49. You win the internet with "I don't wish her ill because she IS ill."

I lol'd. Gotta remember to use that one-liner in the future, it's got some zing!

[Weefee]

40. What a BS apology...

[romanic]

46. She could have done the right thing without changing her identity.

The NAACP isn't some exclusively black club where other races are barred from entering. She didn't have to be something she wasn't to make a difference, hell she could have worked her way up to president of the Spokane branch without having to create some kind of delusional web of lies.

I don't think Ms. Dolezal is some malicious racist, but I also don't think she's some mentally ill victim that needs to be coddled. She clearly made up lies and then believed in her own lies soon after, robbing and degrading other people (taking a scholarship to Howard from a minority student, telling a Hispanic student he/she wasn't Hispanic ENOUGH, false claims of death threats and racial threats) in the process. I have no sympathy for her at all.

[FrodosPet]

50. She went off the deep end for sure

Her ruse was not free of victims who were not her.

The NAACP is embarrassed. A deserving candidate was denied a scholarship. Another student was unduly embarrassed. And crying wolf about the death threats degrades the trust people may have in legitimate claims of harassment.

All because of her egotistical combination of jealousy and guilt.

[ann---]

51. Good

Now maybe someone can convince her to get
the help that she needs.

[Rossi]

53. She's a professional victim.

She claimed to be a victim of anti white discrimination when she sued Howard University, and then assumed the mantle of victimized black woman when she ran for NAACP chairperson. The purpose? Victimhood confers moral superiority in the minds of many people. She got scholarships and jobs this way. She's not crazy. She's a conscienceless fraud.