The topic of this week’s table talk was transracialism and its relation to transgenderism. Specifically, the talk was focused on Rachel Dolezal, a Caucasian woman in Spokane Washington who, a few years back, made the news by declaring that she “identified as black” and altering her appearance in an attempt to solidify this “identity”. The general consensus at the table seemed to be that transracialism was not necessarily a legitimate concept. This was for varying reasons but one of the main ones was that it ignores the culture and hardships endured by a race of people. A constant theme in the talk was identity, and what constitutes a person’s identity and what about it do they have control over. While gender, sexual orientation and other similar aspects are certainly qualities that are ever changing and evolving in us, identifying as and trying to mimic a certain race almost fetishizes and even stereotypes it. But, the world changes quite rapidly so its may be worth keeping an eye on how this too might change.

Last Monday we talked about trans-racialism with GRF Sam. The topic was come up because Rachel Dolezal, a while female who claimed to transracial to be an African American by changing her appearance, such as making herself very tan etc.

As an international student, I did know about transgender before, and I kind of feel the connection between transgender and trans-race. They both share the feature that some people would prefer to regard themselves as someone with different social identity “assigned” to them. However, just as Sam talked about, for trans-gender, we could say this is because male and female are biologically different, some people may prefer to have one other than the other, which is more objective. However, for trans-race, talking about the biological differences because of race is the original definition of racism. And it is hard to image that by only changing someone’s appearance can offer the intrinsic culture/social experiences related to a specific group. Personally, I can partly understand what Rachel Dolezal is trying to do, but I cannot agree that she can become an actual part of African American by her actions.

This past Monday, I was able to talk with Sam and some others about transracialism and transgenderism.  I had obviously heard of transgenderism because of Bruce Jenner (at the time) and other celebrities who felt trapped within their own bodies; however, I had never heard of the term transracialism up until this point.  Transracialism was championed by Rachel Dolezal, a member of the NAACP who claimed that she was African American when in reality was just caucasian.

Although I do not fully understand what it means to be transgender, I am willing to accept that people may feel trapped within the social constructs of gender and not be allowed to express who they think they really are.  However, it is very difficult for me to accept someone’s claim that he/she is transracial.  For example, Rachel Dolezal’s claim that she was black somewhat annoyed me because she thought that getting very tan and modifying her actions would connect her with African Americans and their culture.  We all agreed that her actions were somewhat ridiculous because making simple changes to your outward appearance doesn’t mean you know or have experienced everything that encompasses a specific group of people.  Also, since I am also caucasian, I am angered by the fact that she was more willing to create a connection to another group and not accept who she really is.  Each person has his/her own background and culture, and he/she should be willing to accept them and be prideful of them (while always attempting to fix any parts that are detrimental to other people).

A few years ago, Rachel Dolezal, former president of the NAACP, was exposed as a white woman after years of posing as an African-American woman. Nevertheless, it was revealed by her parents that she was really just a white woman that used blackface and changed her hair to appear African-American. This controversy sparked the debate of “transracialism” and if it was possible to identify as a race other than the one given at birth.

On Monday, I sat down with GRF Sam to talk about the idea of transracialism and how it compares to transgenderism. Many people at the table talk agreed that while many people may feel as if they resonate heavily with a particular culture, it is unnecessary to change appearance to mimic their cultural appearance. From what I understand, transgender individuals do not live comfortably in their born gender, so a change is necessary to enjoy life. Nobody naturally feels uncomfortable in his or her own race, even if a person may consider themselves to fit in with another culture.

Additionally, there have been many celebrities and individuals that I know that have come out as transgender and altered their lives accordingly. I have never heard of another individual besides Rachel Dolezal to consider him or herself transracial. I hear that there is a documentary about her family and life coming to Netflix, and I will enjoy watching it, even though I do not think her story makes any sense.

At this week’s table talk GRF Sam brought up the topic of someone assuming the race of one different than their own by their own context of what they believe this race looks or acts. This relates to the controversy of Rachael Dolezal, many years ago in which she as a white woman decided to appear and identify in what she idealized a black woman. In the articles we read and discussed, many talked about how the only way transracialism could be a concept is if it had the same constructs as gender. However, race has more of deeper and more sensitive undertone in society. This is due to many races/ethnicties being discriminated and going through experiences that others have not because of the color of their skin. Rachael Dolezal claims she meant no harm in her portrayal and life as a black woman, however, the reason people are mostly offended because she would never know what it actually meant to be a black woman. This is in terms of double jeopardy in the workplace, in which they may be paid less than other genders and races because they are who they are. As well as the perception of their personalities, in which they are seen as angry, aggressive, woman when in fact they are built to be strong because of what they go through. This is something Rachael Dolezal, did not understand and why she was scrutinized so badly.

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.

This week’s table talk was about ‘transracialism’ (if such a thing truly exists and is valid) with a particular focus on Rachel Dolezal. She was the white woman who passed herself off as black for years as a civil rights activist and leader of the NAACP before her parents outed her with her true racial identity. I remember hearing about the whole scandal on cable news a few years ago but I was not aware of the academic and social discourse surrounding the idea of transracialism. The debate at the table talk was about how this story relates to transgenderism, if at all. For example, Dolezal is quoted as saying, “I feel that I was born with the essential essence of who I am, whether it matches my anatomy and complexion or not […] whiteness has always felt foreign to me, for as long as I can remember. I didn’t choose to feel this way or be this way, I just am. What other choice is there than to be exactly who we are?” Removing all context and examining the content at its core, Dolezal’s justifications for her actions pretty strongly echo those for transgenderism. Yet Dolezal is met with anger, outrange, and skepticism whereas most progressive societies are supportive of transgenderism. So why the difference?

The most problematic thing about Dolezal is that her claim of blackness comes from a place of privilege with no experience with the history or culture associated with the struggles of racial minorities. She could have championed for equal rights without changing herself to fit what she thinks is representative of blackness such as changing her hair type and skin tone. Most people at the table talk believed what she did was wrong. At best, she’s just ignorant. At worst, she is appropriating black culture in a way that really is not so different from blackface.

Tonight, I attended GRF Sam’s Table Talk about transracialism and transgender identity. Like many others at the talk, I had chosen to attend because I was relatively familiar with the scandal caused several years ago by Rachel Dolezal coming out as “transracial,” but I had wanted to hear other people’s opinions. As the president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP, Dolezal had identified publicly as a black woman. She came under media fire after her parents announced that she was actually Caucasian by birth, and since then Dolezal has professed to considering herself black despite having almost entirely European heritage. This caused a sensation and a huge backlash, and after doing some more research on her, I am even more shocked: in her memoir, Dolezal goes as far as comparing her experiences to slavery.

In general, people at the table talk were in agreement that Dolezal was wrong in claiming a black identity, especially as a white women. One particularly questionable aspect of Dolezal’s behavior and the further controversies it raises is the fact that she comes from a position of power and privilege and, by choosing to alter her appearance in order to identify as a different race, she not only ignores the struggles that people of that group have faced but she also potentially objectifies and fetishizes their culture. To this effect, we discussed some of the questions of cultural appropriation that have resulted from this scandal. In terms of being transgender versus transracial, we discussed how both gender and race are, to an extent, social constructs, but gender potentially has more of a basis in biology than race and thus the concept of being transgender has more validity.

This weeks table talk made me consider the relation between transracialism and transgender community. Is there a connection between the way we perceive gender and race? Gender is a social construct and as a society we acknowledge that but can we consider race in the same way. As someone who is part of the LGBT community I wholeheartedly support transgender people however my approach to transracialism is different. I am very skeptical of the concept. I think this may be, unconsciously, the same source of bias that people have against trans-women relating to the idea of power and privilege. So the idea that a white woman would assume the identity of a black woman is in a sense stepping down on the social ladder because african-americans face a lot of discrimination that white people do not have to face. In a similar sense women are discriminated against and the idea that a man who is in a position of privilege would opt to become a woman which is a position that is lower on the social ladder does not make sense to transphobes. Trans-men face discrimination but far less than trans women which is an interesting concept  to consider. While I don’t really believe in transracialism I do believe in transgender people and can I believe one and not the other if they operate under the same principles? It’s an interesting topic to consider and I am glad I was able to engage in a conversation at this weeks table talk.