This week I went to a Monday Table Talk about Rachel Dolezal and whether her concept of “transracialism” is valid or not. Someone brought up the point of how Rachel is from a position of privilege and power and so is attempting to achieve some kind of benefit from passing herself off as African American when she is of European-American descent. I think that this is one aspect of why people see her concept of race as problematic. While people who are not of a certain race can choose to share in the culture and advocate for members of that race, Rachel crosses a line by choosing to embody the African American race that she admires. In our talk, we discussed how difficult it is to determine whether what she is doing is acceptable or not. Overall, most people did agree that it was not okay.

However, in my opinion, as an African American woman myself, I am glad to see that someone desires to look like me, since for so many years, black women have been relegated to the lower rungs of society especially in discussions of beauty and appearance. In addition, Rachel did attempt to make contributions to the African American race, by serving as president of an NAACP chapter and making artwork that celebrated the African American experience. On the other hand, she does not have the negative and oftentimes painful real-life experience of being a black woman, so she can never really be one.

In conclusion, the problem of Rachel Dolezal is a difficult one to solve. I think that society has to try to solve it though. Her example and whether she really ever gains acceptance will really determine how society views individuals who choose to veer off the identity they were born with.