Watching the Rachel Dolezal documentary and I’ve got this to say about it. OBVIOUSLY, as I am not black, I cannot speak on what it means to be black (a lesson she clearly hasn’t learned). But I think it’s a strange and... I’ll say, fascinating concept. [thread]

This is obviously only a small part of the conversation but one of the questions that come up throughout are “what does it mean to be black,” especially to “identify” as black? I, again, can’t say what the right idea is, but her idea certainly is not it.

She clearly has an infatuation with a culture. And that’s one thing. It’s not bad to appreciate and like cultures that are not your own. That’s a great thing! There should be more of that in the world. But she took it to the wrong place.

She assumed you can simply “adopt” a culture in such a way that you are pretending to be something that you simply are not. It’s not converting to another religion you believe in more. It’s pretending to be born of something that just is not there.

She thought if she just changed her hair, wore certain clothes, bought certain home decor, that it meant she is suddenly a part of something in a way that’s pretty much downright offensive.

She wanted to combat racism by reducing a race to just hair, clothes, and a certain attitude, which is insane. Black individuals can come from different places, wear different clothes, listen to different music, and are each their own person as everyone else is.

She completely dismisses the individuality and human-ness of black people by implying that being black is something that can be as simple as looking and acting the part. As if it is a role that can be played.

She reduced “blackness” a costume. That’s certainly no way to fight for the “advancement” of any people. She really thinks blackness can be emulated by adopting stereotypes. It’s blackface. That’s it. That’s just what it is.

I love and appreciate Native American culture and I do adopt some aspects of their culture into my life- a little in the way I dress, and the aesthetic of my home. But for God’s sake I don’t pretend that qualifies me to BE Native American.

I feel for the indigenous people of American and their terribly painful history, but I don’t go putting on head dresses and full traditional garb and telling people that I am Native American because of it. Because I’m not.

She could have been equally as passionate about black communities and history and culture and the advancement of black people and been just as effective a member of the community without pretending to be something she’s not. But she lied and she made a mockery of it. That’s it.

Anyway, that’s how I feel about that. Not that anyone cares what I have to say about a documentary on a twitter rant. Lol

And no, I’m not just now learning about her, I was just watching the documentary and am feeling talkative tonight so here we are. Lol