Rachel Dolezal article

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/17/us/washington-rachel-dolezal-naacp/index.html

Ezra Dolezal would love to see his sister, Rachel, take a DNA test to prove whose version of the truth about her racial identity is the right one.

But he doesn't think she will.

Rachel Dolezal has gone from a Spokane, Washington, activist to the focus of a highly charged national debate in recent days, after reports surfaced that she was born white yet has claimed she is black. Amid the controversy, she resigned Monday as head of her local NAACP chapter and, a day later, spoke out extensively for the first time in an interview with NBC.

And she didn't back down when it comes how she sees herself, even after her parents shared childhood photos of a young Rachel Dolezal -- her pale complexion and straight blond hair in contrast to the woman with darker skin and dark curly hair who appeared on NBC. 

For the family, one comment stung especially hard. "I haven't had a DNA test," Dolezal said. "There's been no biological proof that Larry and Ruthanne are my biological parents."

Larry and Ruthanne are the Montana couple who helped drive this story, telling reporters that Rachel is their estranged daughter. Ezra Dolezal is black and adopted, one of four such children taken in by the Dolezals -- unlike Rachel, his older sister by 15 years, he says.

"I guarantee that she is not going to take a DNA test to prove that (Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal) are not her parents," Ezra Dolezal told CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday. "Because they are, and she doesn't want to be caught going back on her story again."

Self-portraits in brown crayon

Over the years, several reports have come out identifying Rachel Dolezal as transracial, multiracial or black. She hasn't corrected them -- in part because, it seems, she feels connected with the African-American experience, a link she claims began as early as age 5, when she drew self-portraits in brown instead of peach crayon and with black, curly hair.

"I identify as black," she told NBC's Matt Lauer.

This self-assessment, though, has bothered some -- including African-Americans who feel that Dolezal advanced as an activist by misrepresenting herself and by claiming personal injustices that weren't legitimate coming from a woman who could decide any day to present herself as white again.

She has had her defenders, too, with some pointing to the good she's done as an activist and saying she shouldn't be faulted for her tight bond with the black community.

'She's too nervous' to admit the truth, brother says

For all the Internet outrage, though, the ones most directly affected by all this are the Dolezals. And they couldn't be further apart.

It has been years since Rachel Dolezal talked with her parents. They've been on opposing sides of one custody battle, which ended with Rachel taking in one of Larry and Ruthanne's four adopted children as her own. And Rachel, who attended historically black Howard University and until very recently had taught classes on African-American culture at Eastern Washington University, has claimed she felt her connection with the black experience was stifled when she was growing up.

"I felt very isolated with my identity virtually my entire life, that nobody really got it and that I really didn't have the personal agency to express it," she told NBC. "I kind of imagined that maybe at some point (I'd have to) own it publicly and discuss this kind of complexity."

Yet her parents have challenged her assertions, including that she identified with African-Americans as a youngster or was held back in any way. They've challenged her integrity and even questioned her mental state.

Ezra Dolezal backed his adopted parents Wednesday, while ripping what he called a web of lies -- a web that, he said, is growing bigger by the day.

"I think ... she's too nervous to just admit that she's not been telling the truth," he said. "(That) is why she keeps on making up more and more lies to help fit the story as it goes."

End of article

My thoughts:

I haven't read or watched that much about Rachel, but I think I've seen enough to have an informed opinion. And for me, this whole situation is actually quite simple. Be who you want to be. If you feel like a black person on the inside, if you identify as a member of the African American community, then by all means wear a weave and bronzer and whatever you choose to do to make your outside match your inside. Apply to a historically black college and spend your life for fighting for equal rights for the community that you feel you belong to. I have absolutely no problem with any of that. More power to you. 

What is not okay with me are all the apparent lies that she has told in her quest to live her life as an African American, civil rights activist / educator / author / etc. She has lied about who her biological parents are. She has said her adopted brother is her son. Which is the saddest part of this story, because obviously her parents have no hang-ups about race - they adopted four black children! Their beef with Rachel - just like mine - is not about the fact that she identifies as black - but in the fact that she has lied about being black. And she has lied about other parts of her life as well. Apparently she is a competent educator and has worked hard on behalf of the African American community, and I don't think her efforts or her accomplishments in the field of civil rights should be negated. As NAACP officials have stated, a person does not have to be black to join their ranks and toil for their cause. All someone needs is a commitment to social justice and helping others, and Rachel definitely has that. How unfortunate that she felt she had to lie in order to live the live she desired.

librarianintx