Author: Steven

  • Rachel Dolezal’s ‘Passing’ Isn’t So Unusual The New York Times Magazine 2015-06-15 Daniel J. Sharfstein, Professor of Law Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennesee Daniel J. Sharfstein is the author of “The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America.” Why do we care so much about Rachel Dolezal, the head of the Spokane, Wash., chapter…

  • Join in the #LittleWhiteLie Twitter Chat with Filmmaker @laceyschwartz & More! #LittleWhiteLie, @lwlfilm 2015-06-16, 20:00 EDT (2015-06-17, 00:00Z) An online discussion on Race, Identity and “Little White Lies” Lacey Schwartz, Filmmaker (Little White Lie) Brooklyn, New York Yaba Blay, Author and Professor (1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race Collier Meyerson, Race & Politics Reporter…

  • Before Rachel Dolezal, there was Walter White The Christian Science Monitor 2015-06-15 Randy Dotinga The man known as ‘Mr. NAACP’ was blonde, blue-eyed and 5/32nd black, all of which provoked an outcry similar to that over contemporary NAACP official Rachel Dolezal. Walter White, known as “Mr. NAACP,” didn’t look black. He had blue eyes and…

  • Whatever else we might say about it, let’s not forget this: Rachel Dolezal’s story is a decidedly American one. Here, I refer not only to story of Dolezal’s racial passing, but also to how Dolezal’s story triggers and reveals America’s racial fascinations. Whatever Dolezal’s motives or ethics, our scrutiny of Dolezal’s race echoes a long…

  • Rachel Dolezal and the ‘politics of passing’ Melissa Harris-Perry 2015-06-13 Melissa Harris-Perry talks with Allyson Hobbs, the woman who literally wrote the book about passing as another race in America, about the Rachel Dolezal story and how people have responded. Watch the interview (00:07:43) here.

  • ‘Are you African-American?’ All In With Chris Hayes MSNBC 2015-06-12 Chris Hayes, Host Lacey Schwartz, a film-maker who grew up in a white family then discovered that her biological father was black, shares her unique perspective on Rachel Dolezal, the head of the Spokane NAACP whose estranged parents claim is misrepresenting herself as black. Watch…

  • Passing in reverse: What does an NAACP leader’s case say about race? The Washington Post 2015-06-12 Krissah Thompson, Staff Writer Passing in this country has usually operated in one direction: black skin passing for white, marginalization traded for privilege, the burden of the minority cast off. Until now. Enter Rachel Dolezal, 37, the head of…

  • Whites pass for black to gain empathy, experts say in wake of Dolezal case USA Today 2015-06-13 Melanie Eversley, Breaking News Reporter In history and in many black American families, there’s talk of black people passing for white, especially during the days of Jim Crow laws or slavery when it benefited them or even saved…

  • The Story of a White Woman Who Turned Herself Black and Went to Live and Work in Harlem and Mississippi Delta.

  • NAACP Statement On Rachel Dolezal National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 2015-06-12 Baltimore, MD – For 106 years, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has held a long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds. NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal…