Category: Passing

  • Why Rachel Dolezal Needed To Construct Her Own Black Narrative BuzzFeed 2015-06-13 Adam Serwer, BuzzFeed News National Editor In order to pass as black, Dolezal took advantage of the black community’s long tradition of inclusion regardless of skin tone. In 1895, when Justice Henry Billings Brown ruled that Louisiana’s law segregating train cars was constitutional,…

  • What the 1920s Tell Us About Dolezal and Racial Illogic The Chronicle of Higher Education 2015-06-19 Carla Kaplan, Stanton W. and Elisabeth K. Davis Distinguished Professor of American Literature Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts Carla Kaplan is author of Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance (Harper, 2013). What does it mean…

  • The problems with Rachel Dolezal and the social construction of race Nerding Out with Dorian Warren MSNBC 2015-06-17 Dorian Warren, Host and Associate Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs Columbia University, New York, New York Christina Greer, Assistant Professor of Political Science Fordham University, The Jesuit University of New York Allyson Hobbs,…

  • Emil Guillermo: Rachel Dolezal, Dylann Roof, and Father’s Day Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund 2015-06-20 Emil Guillermo Rachel Dolezal nearly wrecked everyone’s Father’s Day. You don’t often see a daughter outed so publicly by her white father for passing as an African American, but I guess post-racial filial love isn’t necessarily unconditional. I…

  • Last night, while I was in the midst of making a video on the Rachel Dolezal situation, the news broke of this horrific racist killing in Charleston South Carolina. After much deliberation we have decided to release the video as scheduled, and I believe its core message is still relevant to the moment.

  • Rachel Dolezal’s Story Sparks Questions About ‘How People Experience Race’ All Things Considered National Public Radio 2015-06-16 Audie Cornish, Host Khadijah White, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Allyson Hobbs, Assistant Professor of History Stanford University NPR’s Audie Cornish talks with Rutgers University professor Khadijah White and…

  • As Rachel Dolezal Breaks Silence, a Roundtable Discussion on Race, Appropriation and Identity Democracy Now: A Daily Independent Global News Hour Wednesday, 2015-06-17 Amy Goodman, Host and Executive Producer Juan González, Co-Host Stacey Patton, Senior Enterprise Reporter The Chronicle of Higher Education Lacey Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer Truth Aid (also Producer/director of the documentary film…

  • Prof. Khanna widely consulted in Dolezal controversy UVM Department of Sociology University of Vermont 2015-06-17 Prof. Nikki Khanna, an expert in shifting racial identities and the social construction of race, has been widely sought after by the media in the wake of the controversy about Rachel Dolezal. Some of the media outlets where she was…

  • Rachel Dolezal’s Unintended Gift to America The New York Times 2015-06-17 Allyson Hobbs, Assistant Professor of History Stanford University Allyson Hobbs is the author of “A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life.” In James Baldwin’s 1968 novel “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone,” a child points to his light-skinned…

  • Cultural Appropriation Metro Morning CBC Toronto 2015-06-16 Matt Galloway, Host The controversial head of the Spokane, Washington branch of the N.A.A.C.P., Rachel Dolezal, has stepped down from her post. Matt Galloway spoke with Rema Tavares, she is the founder of Mixed in Canada. Listen to the interview (00:07:21) here.