Wow… So this really hits the spot. Food for thought and I fear it may be giving me indigestion. Excellent piece.
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I understand the superficial parallels but I don’t think that the two things are equivalent at all. Bring transgender is about honesty, being your real self and not hiding who you are. It is a relatively frequently observed phenomenon throughout all cultures, demonstrating that being trans (or indeed trans*) is part of the gamut of human experience. A bit like been being gay in that regard.
Rachel Dolezal by contrast is being dishonest about her true nature. There is no “transracial” tendency observed in humanity which tends to suggest that she’s something of a fantasist. To be blunt I find Dolezal’s commandeering of the language of the transgender community to describe her situation a pretty despicable attempt to link herself to us and our struggle for recognition. It’s not the same thing.
For an interesting comparison there’s a novella I read recently called “Passing” by Nella Larson, written in the 1920s about mixed race women trying to pass as white in order to access the privileges that went with being white. But they didn’t really believe themselves to be white or have an inner white soul. Because there’s no such thing as “transracialism”.
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Well said!
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I don’t know much about Rachel Dorez, but if she wants to present as black when she is white then no skin off my back. If that is what she identifies with then why should I say different.
Does it matter if I or someone else cannot fathom identifying as a ethicality other than the one we are born with? To argue that such a thing does not exist, because we cannot imagine being that way and see it as a fantasy makes us just like cisgenders who believe the same thing about gender.
When it comes down to it, its not about gender, ethicality etc… Its being the person we believe we are and identify with not what society or someone else tells us we are. To put down Rachel Dorez and say she is living a fantasy makes us hypocrites for dong the same thing cisgenders do to us.
So in the end, I might see Rachel Dorez as white, but because she identifies as being black then she is black to me. Just like I am female despite looking like a male and expect people to respect that.
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Aargh now I am confused again… My head hurts… Going to bed. 🙂
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By falsely impersonating a black woman she obtained a job as the head of the regional office of the NAACP. That is a job that cold have gone to a qualified and truthful black person.
Pat
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