To think Rachel Dolezal is an utter charlatan

[MercyMyJewels]

twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/846410886671732736

Apparently there is a thing called transracial now.

What next, transbeastial?

No ones going to explain this to me in simple terms how this differs from transgender then?

Nobody is doing anything like rejoicing in anything of the kind, Caryl]

More words to look up:

rejoice
women

Ignoring all the trans stuff - why did anyone think she was black in the first place? Looking at photos of this woman she looks quite clearly white - how did she get away with it?

The way to convince people of a stance is to put forward reasoned, substantiated, considered argument.

Calling people hateful and bigoted does not support intellectual debate.

No ones going to explain this to me in simple terms how this differs from transgender then

It would be interesting to know how 'trapped' she felt and the steps she took to resolve her issues.

Many transpeople go to extreme lengths to alter their body, drug taking off the internet and feel a massive hate for their body. It doesn't fit with the mental image. It's to do with how they are perceived. Self harm and suicidal thoughts.

I don't know how Rachel's idea of trans racial identity manifested itself and how it affected her.

I wonder if a black person said hey, I identify as white, whether they would hop into the experience of being white with all the privilege that comes with it.

Well - there's a history of it.

www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/10/07/354310370/a-chosen-exile-black-people-passing-in-white-america

Mate that doesn't remotely answer the question all you've done is describe body dysmorphia, I thought transgender wasn't a mental health problem

First they came for the definition of 'woman'...

All I can say is that being transsexual is real and it does manifest itself as a real thing with lots of associated issues.

I can't comment on Rachel because I am not inside her head and I don't know what she feels and how it manifests itself.

Ego
"Many transpeople go to extreme lengths to alter their body, drug taking off the internet and feel a massive hate for their body. "

I agree that many do but many also don't and simply say that they are a women, without drugs, surgery and on occasion, some even without shaving

You can't really argue they're different then can you?

I'd say that race is much more of a social construct than gender.

This isn't a thread about a trans person. There is no need for it to become yet another example of the transphobia on mn, plenty of those exist already.

Wrt RD, I am so confused by her. The reaction to her that sticks in my mind the most is a tweet back in 2015 by Amanda Seales, who said that "the bottom line is Rachel Dolezal did not have to appropriate black identity in order to support the black community".

I remember an old black and white film I saw as a kid where a black woman (most likely a white woman playing her role) was dating a white guy (everyone assumes she was white) and gets beaten to a pulp when found out. Even her boyfriend pitches in. Off topic but I still remember it 40 years on.

"I wonder if a black person said hey, I identify as white, whether they would hop into the experience of being white with all the privilege that comes with it."

-There was that old black and white film Imitation of Life. (You will be howling crying watching it)

She looked mixed race I would say Nancy, in the photos where she had a deep tan and Afro hair.

Many transpeople go to extreme lengths to alter their body, drug taking off the internet and feel a massive hate for their body. - Lots of people, such as Michael Jackson, undergo surgery that removes characteristics of their race. People bleach their skin, have rhinoplasty, chemically straighten their hair, lots of Asian people have surgery on their eyes etc.
I'm not saying that these are all examples of being transracial but they could be methods by which transracial people have/would use in order to fit into a race they feel they more closely identify with than their own.

I believe you've got it. Trans people are more likely to end up in situations where they resort to areas such as prostitution and the associated violence, drugs and mental health issues associated with such a lifestyle.

Glad you've acknowledged that.

I'm glad you're glad - I guess? I absolutely recognise that a segment of people who struggle with these issues are pushed into prostitution and suffer doubly due to this. These people should have support. Clearly, it is not there. I just don't believe that denying biology and throwing women under the bus is an acceptable way to provide that support. I also refuse to extrapolate those struggles to everyone identifying as trans.

nancy she doesn't look black black but can pass for not white black. Like me, I'm mixed race but almost universally called black even though I'm halve and half and relatively light skinned.

Also I went to school with another half and half mixed race girl and she's about the same darkness as dolezal and has lightish hair and hazel eyes. It happens.

I had a conversation with the dad of one of my ds friends about her recently. He is a black American living in Africa with his family and is deeply offended & angry by her behaviour, regards her as an opportunist and is astonished and embarrassed that she was able to get away with it for soo long.