Rachel Dolezal is an American civil rights activist, former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in Spokane and former lecturer for African studies at the Eastern Washington University in the United States of America (Anon., 2016). She was also chair of the Spokane’s police ombudsman commission and an education director at the Human Rights Education Institute (Anon., 2016). All this ended when her parents came out and revealed that Rachel was in fact born white after many years of Rachel identifying herself as black. Much criticism was spewed at the former NAACP president and now she works as a hairdresser, fallen far from the status she had once had. Though born white, Rachel has always felt that she was black and could not identify with people within the white community. Her parents were very religious and extremely strict; she grew up in poverty and had a harsh childhood. This …show more content…
She used weaves and did hairstyles normally used on black women and tanned her skin darker. This all appropriates black culture. Block Samson an African American podcaster and movie/television show reviewer said, “Rachel Dolezal took it to the next level and jacked everything from black women’s experiences when it suited her.” This quote represents the anger of many African Americans. What is more is the fact that historically, African Americans have been subject to racism so for Rachel to just decide to adopt the skin that has been the subject of so much hate is offense to the ones whose forefathers fought the struggle and who still have to live in a society where they struggle to survive. Therefore, for Rachel to wear the very things that are associated with black people and have a history behind them is in a sense wronging the people who have fought the right to wear those