Rachel Dolezal has finally admitted publicly — sort of — what everyone else learned months ago.
The disgraced former Spokane, WA, NAACP chapter president appeared on the TV talk show The Real on Monday. Dolezal received applause when she said, "I acknowledge that I was biologically born white to white parents, but I identify as Black." She also said that she has self-identified as Black since 2006, according to People. Since the scandal broke this summer, Dolezal has dodged questions about her background and history.
Show hosts Tamar Braxton, Loni Love, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Adrienne Baillon, and Jeannie Mai — all women of color — didn't let Dolezal claim an African-American identity just because "sometimes how we feel is more powerful than how we're born," as Dolezal put it, and the tension between her and them was palpable.
Dolezal may think she did nothing wrong by claiming a Black identity, but many people disagree with her. Writers and other racial-justice advocates are up against some powerful supporters — in an interview in Vanity Fair, Rihanna said we should thank Dolezal because "she legit changed people's perspective a bit and woke people up." She didn't explain what it is Dolezal woke us all up to.
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