Discussion for article #237456
Not surprised.
this isnt just because she lied about her race.
She (appears to have) sent herself faked racist hate mail and death threats. She lied about her basic biography (saying she was born in a tepee, hunted food with a bow and arrow, that she lived in S Africa.).
This woman has larger issues than race. #MuchracismByProxy
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Yeah, but she really doesn’t understand what she did was wrong, nor does she seem to get how much damage she’s caused to several groups of people.
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There’ve been a couple of articles explaining how someone like her operates- I don’t understand them other than this is a deeply disturbed woman. Though, I do agree with Janet Mock that we should be careful with what we call her because we don’t know her actual mental health.
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People keep going out of their way to “explain” this woman’s actions. As if there is any. But when she literally ran from that reporter in a panic when he asked her point blank about her parents, leaving her purse and car keys and hiding inside a nearby store, her own actions spoke for her. There was no ambiguity in her motives in that moment. Those are the actions of a liar and a scammer, not an honest person trying to head off an innocent misunderstanding. Not to mention, that a few years back her siblings were asked to lie for her if this ever came out. Her life as she knows it is now over for her, no matter what race she decides to “be”.
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It was nice of the NAACP to let her resign rather than firing her outright. I guess they figure she’s got enough (mostly self-manufactured) problems.
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A case of rachel discrimination?
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Probably the best thing she could do at this point, both for the NAACP and for herself. Not sure how voluntary this really was – I’m guessing that her colleagues probably would have forced this outcome eventually, as this whole situation was a harmful distraction to the organization’s important work – but nonetheless, it’s a good thing she and/or they didn’t let this drag on any further. If it was just a matter of her “identifying” as black despite her mostly European ancestry, I would find it odd but not necessarily an ethical problem – but her various confirmed lies (claiming a black colleague was her father, claiming she grew up in a teepee and had to bow-hunt animals for food, claiming she had lived in South Africa) and possible lies (the questionable claims of hate crimes against her), her credibility, and by extension that of her employer, were going to continue to be called into question. A sad episode, especially given that she apparently has done some fine work, but an unavoidable outcome given her misdeeds.
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As a woman of color, I’m not exactly sure what to do with this situation. While there are definite questions regarding her mental state (reasoning), It’s hard for me to be upset with someone who used this tactic in order to good for the people she desired to be a part of so badly. I don’t believe that color is or should be a prerequisite to advancing the civil rights of anyone/everyone.
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They were probably afraid that if they fired her, she would file a wrongful termination suit.
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I agree race or color shouldn’t be a prerequisite for advancing civil rights for everyone, which is exactly why her reason for misrepresenting who she is seems like it must be personal to her. Frankly I think it looks like a version of Munchhausen syndrome – not that there’s any similarity between the false claims, but that she used false claims to get attention that she apparently didn’t think she could get otherwise.
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Late last night on Twitter I also noticed someone did a comparison to one of her paintings showing it to be almost a total copy of a famous slave ship painting from the 1800s.
I think this woman is still in complete denial of what she’s doing and how it is completely offensive to so many POC (and especially WOC). I agree she has larger issues than just pretending to be black and lying about it for a decade.
She’s not only a distraction, she’s spent 10 years appropriating space that could have been occupied by black women academics, scholars, activists and educators - while simultaneously denying other POC access to the space as well. She also has put herself on record questioning the “blackness” of other scholars and POC. That is the WORST kind of white privilege. (and before people start talking about how white people can head NAACP chapters - I’m aware of that. They are merely one of her many vessels of appropriation here)
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And still, Rachel has yet to acknowledge the basic facts that brought her resignation about–she is not Black, her parents are White, and she has made untruthful statements concerning her racial and/or ethnic heritage. No expression of remorse for the charade, no explanation for her deceptive behavior. The NAACP will move on without her distraction, and this will be forgotten soon enough.
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I agree. But she could have done all of that as a white ally without lying to anyone as well. And also without trying to deny other white allies access to the space to share and hopefully educate (which she did with Tim Jacob Wise, and he reported on over the weekend, claiming they were not entitled to the space; it’s that kind of hubris in this situation that shocks me).
I applaud the work, but I have serious questions regarding her approach. Her credibility in many other areas as information continues to surface is now also in question.
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Guess you haven’t read about the white Tennessee State Senator who wanted to join the Black Caucus. He said he just wanted to help.
Believe me, they did not want his “help.”
One of his more famous ideas (actually got on The Daily Show) was to dock welfare checks if the children in the family got bad grades.
His name is Stacey Campfield and I thought I was stuck with him forever. He was voted out last primary and of course the new Repub sailed to victory. Don’t know if he’s any better 'cause I’m afraid to look.
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Oh well, maybe she can move on to opening up a local beauty shop instead.
So now we can add forgery to her list of accomplishments. I’d love to see a link.
You are generous. Here is another woman’s take:
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