Rachel Dolezal, A Transracial Woman

About a month ago, a rather unique woman became the topic of discussion in millions of homes and social network accounts across the world. Rachel Dolezal, a former chapter president of the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), now claims to be a “transracial” woman that was recently exposed for pretending to be black for so many years. While she has gained many supporters, the naysayers were the ones that have really made her story a controversial one. What really seems to be the concern is why her story is such a big deal. Every day, we see people of different social and cultural backgrounds trying to pass off as a member of a community that they were not born into. This paper will be addressing why the media

She admires the African American history, the art of African American hairstyles, and she has even attended one of the top HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the country. While that has not given her the “rite of passage” to blackness, it has made her the laughing stock as she is being ridiculed by the media for wanting to be something she is not. The question still remains why that is the case. There are millions of people that do anything in their power to pass off as a different race in order to obtain the job or mate they desire. Although the extremes typically go viral on sites like Youtube and Instagram, it never really makes the news. Why is this one story in particular getting so much coverage? The only reason that comes to mind when trying to answer that question is the fact that someone is actually giving up the privileges that come with being white and trading it in for all the hardships that come with being black. More often than not, when Blacks make the news, it’s usually to report rapes, murders, kidnappers, robberies, shootings, riots, and wrongful killings of the youth by police officers and terrorists. If it’s not regarding that, it’s about the U.S. education system that continues to welcome the achievement gap between white children with a high

She also continues to consider herself a transracial black woman, regardless if she meets the qualifications set by society or not. Her story has become such a big deal in the media because, for once, it’s not about a minority coming into this country and leaving their culture at the door. It’s about a White woman that was born with the luxury of having a choice and yet still chose to take on the tribulations of African Americans. The fact that this woman’s story is so mind-boggling for many Americans just proves that white supremacy, the belief that white people are superior and dominate society, still