Why is Rachel Dolezal trending again? 15 more minutes of imfamy

Why is Rachel Dolezal Trending on Twitter?

Rachel Dolezal is back in the news today. The racially confused woman and former Spokane NAACP activist joined the “Today” show to discuss her new book and get ridiculed for her strange behaviour. She is trending on Twitter as people continue to mock her unbelievable racial identification.

During the Today show appearance, anchor Savannah Guthrie carefully asked the white woman who tried to pass herself off as as an African American regretted “some of the things that you said about yourself that have now been revealed to not be true” – pointing out the lies Rachel told people for years to advance her career in the African American community.

“Um, I’m not sure what you’re referring to with that, but definitely I don’t have any regrets about how I identify,” Dolezal said with a puzzled expression. “I’m still me, and nothing about that has changed.”

Except that the world knows about her secret life as being born a white woman.

“I guess I meant the fact that over the years, you had allowed people to believe that you were born black, which you now acknowledge you were born white but you clearly identify as a black person,” Guthrie pushed further. “Do you feel like, ‘I wish I had just been more upfront’?”

“Not necessarily,” Dolezal answered. “I do wish that I could have really owned, given myself permission to really name and own the me of me earlier in life. I mean, it took me almost 30 years to get there.”

Who is Rachel Dolezal?

Rachel Dolezal, 38 was born in Montana to white parents named Ruthanne and Larry Dolezal who were of Czech, Swedish, and German origin and did not have any African American family history. For years Rachel changed her hair and skin tone so she could pass herself off as black. Last year members of her family, reporters, and community leaders were outraged as the lies about her identity unraveled.

Rachel attended the historically black college, Howard University. She immersed herself into identifying as a black person and took extreme measures to fool people. The New York Post reported in an interview with her father,  She even adopted a lilt in her voice to sound like a Southern African-American woman. Her accent — and her undergraduate portfolio of African-American art — got her a full scholarship to earn a master’s in fine arts at the predominantly black Howard University.

“She didn’t pose as black; she just sounded black on the phone,” the dad explained. “The way we understood, eyes were popping and jaws were dropping because they couldn’t believe they had given a full scholarship to a white girl.”

In 2002 she unsuccessfully sued Howard University for discrimination based on “race, pregnancy, family responsibilities and gender, as well as retaliation.” Her lawsuit alleged that she was denied scholarship funds, a teaching assistant position and other opportunities. Poor Rachel just could not catch a break.

When questioned about her appearance in an interview with Vanity Fair, Rachel said, “It’s not a costume. I don’t know spiritually and metaphysically how this goes, but I do know that from my earliest memories I have awareness and connection with the black experience, and that’s never left me.

In 2014 Ms. Dolezal was elected president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP. She resigned in June of 2015 when people found out she was not actually the black woman she claimed to be. The same year she applied to be the chair of the Office of POlice Ombudsman Commission. She was appointed by the mayor as a way to improve racial relations and civil police oversight. This turned out to be a mistake as it was later found in an investigation into her behavior as chair of the commission concluded that she had acted improperly, violated government rules and abused her authority, and the report said the evidence and interviews confirmed workplace harassment allegations and “a pattern of misconduct” by Dolezal. She was asked to resign after news of her deception embarrassed the city of Spokane.

What is Rachel Dolezal doing now?

According to her interview with Today, Rachel claims she is writing a book on racial identity. She has no publisher or literary agent as no serious person would want to represent this unstable person. Taking advantage of the opportunity to promote this “book” she is writing, Rachel attempted to extend her 15 minutes of infamy by appearing on TV again.

Ms. Dolezal lost her sources of income as she was no longer able to to be a guest lecturer at the local university or represent the NAACP. With her notoriety and perception of being seriously confused, her career options were limited. She eventually found work as a part time hair dresser.  She claims to make a living for herself and her children by braiding and weaving hair three times a week. She hopes to make a fortune off her crazy behaviour with her upcoming self published book.

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