In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Rachel Dolezal says she “didn’t deceive anybody” and continues to insist on her black identity over a month after she was abruptly outed as being a Caucasian who was passing as black.
“I wouldn’t say I’m African American, but I would say I’m black, and there’s a difference in those terms,” Dolezal said in the interview.
The author of the piece, Allison Samuels (who is black), acknowledged that this defense seemed “peculiar” to her.
“If there is a difference between being black and being African American, it’s one that escapes the vast majority of people I know,” she writes. (RELATED: Why CAN’T Rachel Dolezal Be Black?)
Throughout the piece, Dolezal describes her abrupt outing, which led to her resignation as head of the Spokane NAACP, as a big misunderstanding that can be overcome if she has time to explain herself.
“I just feel like I didn’t mislead anybody; I didn’t deceive anybody,” she said. “If people feel misled or deceived, then sorry that they feel that way, but I believe that’s more due to their definition and construct of race in their own minds than it is to my integrity or honesty.” (RELATED: Activist: Rachel Dolezal Said That White People Can’t Talk About Racism)
Dolezal sheds further light on her racial identification process, saying she has felt an affinity with blackness from the beginning and that she overcame an identity crisis years ago. At this point, it would be impossible for her to go back to being white.
“It’s not a costume,” she said. “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. It’s not something that I can put on and take off anymore … I’m not confused about that any longer. I think the world might be — but I’m not.”
The interview doesn’t touch upon the other dimension of the Dolezal story, one of which is that she may have fabricated hate crimes against herself in a bid for attention. (RELATED: Dolezal’s Son Made A Hilarious Fake Hate Crime Complaint)
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