White NAACP Leader Who Passed As Black

[NotUrsula]

If she identifies with being black, that's fine; if she had been saying that all along there would have been no issue. She could easily have said that "I admire and enjoy black culture" ... "I feel kinship with the AA experience and I am more comfortable in that culture than anywhere else", anything like that.

That's unfortunately not what she did. She deliberately set up a trail of "evidence" of her African-American biological heritage, which was all false. She committed what as an academic she should know is a cardinal sin: she faked data. (And may have done worse, actually. She appropriated incidents she had been told from the background of a friend, Albert Wilkerson, Jr., and used them to bolster her credentials for an appointment to the Spokane Police oversight board. She told the selection committee that her AA father had been was a police officer in Oakland, who had as a young man fled "the Deep South" after a dangerous altercation with a white police officer. These were material misrepresentations of her background qualifications for serving on the board. Very different from posting a FB photo of herself with the man and casually referring to him as her "dad".)

The thing here is that thanks to the existence of the "blackface" minstrel show tradition, there is in the US a very strong taboo against Caucasian people attempting to alter their appearance to give themselves AA physical characteristics, even if they are intending to flatter through imitation. A woman who reportedly identifies as black and spends so much time in the AA community HAD to know that, and had to know that those people would be gravely insulted by her "disguise", as her mother referred to it.

 

[Goofy'slady]

I've purposely sat back and not commented until now. I am a woman of color and I could give a rats patootie that this woman thinks she's black. I like to think that I am a super hero and in the eyes of my kids I am one! However, for those who feel like they have been duped by her then they have every right - we all feel differently about the situation. I do feel bad that she felt the need to disown her biological parents in order to live how she felt she was truly meant to live her life. I feel like there HAD to have been another way she could live her life without pretending they don't exist. They brought her into this world and I'm sure they would have loved her unconditionally (and probably still do) no matter what.

I grew up hearing the opposite of what this woman hear...I heard that I thought I was white because of fair skin, how I spoke and conducted myself. I don't simply identify myself as a black woman because that would be a lie. My parents are biracial themselves (each 1/2 black) so I identify myself as a woman of color but many see me as a black woman and that's fine. How I see myself is no ones concern but my own - I live my truth each and everyday and never have felt the need to lie about who I am whether it's embracing my Polynesian accessory, Native (Blackfoot Nation), English, and African to boot. I have instilled the same in my multiracial children as well. At the end of the day I am an American who happens to have tint to her skin and who has super hero tendencies!

 

[tvguy]

The debate in the social media world has been highly entertaining.
But I work in an industry where for 40 years "fudging" on one's background has been common.

Most importantly, an employer under the law HAS to accept what an employee says their race is

1. Q: What should an employer do if it believes that an employee is of a different race or ethnicity than the employee claims to be?
   
   A: The employer must accept the employee’s self-identification by race and by ethnicity. Self-identification is a basic principle underlying these changes to the EEO-1 report. See 70 Fed. Reg. 71296.
   

http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1/qanda-implementation.cfm

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The debate in the social media world has been highly entertaining.
But I work in an industry where for 40 years "fudging" on one's background has been common.

Most importantly, an employer under the law HAS to accept what an employee says their race is

1. Q: What should an employer do if it believes that an employee is of a different race or ethnicity than the employee claims to be?
   
   A: The employer must accept the employee’s self-identification by race and by ethnicity. Self-identification is a basic principle underlying these changes to the EEO-1 report. See 70 Fed. Reg. 71296.

http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1/qanda-implementation.cfm

They must accept it? Fair enough.

What is the law regarding fabricating relatives and an upbringing as part of one's job such as in teaching a class?

 

[Mizzoufan]

They talked to her 13 year son tonight on the news. Is that her actual kid? I'd heard she was trying to pass her brothers off as her kids.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

How are we supposed to tell fact from fiction?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...hite-subordinates-tried-kill-three-times.html

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

They talked to her 13 year son tonight on the news. Is that her actual kid? I'd heard she was trying to pass her brothers off as her kids.

She was. Where did this 13yo come from?

 

[lizabu]

They talked to her 13 year son tonight on the news. Is that her actual kid? I'd heard she was trying to pass her brothers off as her kids.

I've heard bits and pieces on tv and I understand her parents adopted a number of black boys. Somehow she ended up raising the youngest as her son. I believe he is an adult now. I think the 13 year old may be her bio child.

 

[Buzz-Light-Beer]

She should be allowed to be what ever race she wants to be. She should have also been upfront right from the beginning of what her past was as a white person so people would know that part of her life, but she hid that fact from most everyone which I think is what she did wrong in this situation. I think if she came out and stated she was White growing up, but did not identify with that race and want to live as a Black person everything would have been received much better than it is now.

 

[tvguy]

They must accept it? Fair enough.

What is the law regarding fabricating relatives and an upbringing as part of one's job such as in teaching a class?

I have no idea. Although I suspect her upbringing and and relatives may be no issue as long as the material she is expected to teach on the syllabus is taught. Lord knows many of the text books that we have used over the decades have later been proven wrong about what certain people did.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I have no idea. Although I suspect her upbringing and and relatives may be no issue as long as the material she is expected to teach on the syllabus is taught. Lord knows many of the text books that we have used over the decades have later been proven wrong about what certain people did.

Also--why it must be legally accepted, it doesn't mean it has to be socially accepted. I am a bit shocked that there is a law. But I could see it as an extension of anti-discrimatory practices. If it were permitted, it could be extremely problematic. But the rest of her lies would not be off limits.

The problem with the material is that students unlikely signed up to hear tall tales. If part of the syllabus was to hear about her personal story and how her race left her impacted by prejudice and she talks about herself as though she was always this color--that's a problem.

In the media, if you published/aired falsehoods, you have to correct them. They don't get to stand.

As more research is done in history, information is corrected.

This is what is happening to Rachel.

 

[tvguy]

Also--why it must be legally accepted, it doesn't mean it has to be socially accepted. I am a bit shocked that there is a law. But I could see it as an extension of anti-discrimatory practices. If it were permitted, it could be extremely problematic. But the rest of her lies would not be off limits.

The problem with the material is that students unlikely signed up to hear tall tales. If part of the syllabus was to hear about her personal story and how her race left her impacted by prejudice and she talks about herself as though she was always this color--that's a problem.

In the media, if you published/aired falsehoods, you have to correct them. They don't get to stand.

As more research is done in history, information is corrected.

This is what is happening to Rachel.

I can't say I disagree. Laws change as society changes. Look at marijuana. Same sex marriage. Smoking. Cell phone usage while driving.

And I believe the argument for the law was, allowing a person's claimed race to be challenged could allow discrimination to take place.

 

[barkley]

The debate in the social media world has been highly entertaining.
But I work in an industry where for 40 years "fudging" on one's background has been common.

Most importantly, an employer under the law HAS to accept what an employee says their race is

1. Q: What should an employer do if it believes that an employee is of a different race or ethnicity than the employee claims to be?
   
   A: The employer must accept the employee’s self-identification by race and by ethnicity. Self-identification is a basic principle underlying these changes to the EEO-1 report. See 70 Fed. Reg. 71296.

http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1/qanda-implementation.cfm[URL='http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1/qanda-implementation.cfm[/QUOTE'][/QUOTE[/URL]]


Spokane County is currently looking to see if the misinformation she put on her application for the Ombudsman Panel has any legal consequences, and I'm not familiar with Washington state employment laws but I will say that when I applied for/was employed by government entities in California every application had wording of (or similar) right above the signature of the applicant reading-

"I CERTIFY that the statements made by me in this application are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and are made in good faith. I understand and agree misstatements/omission of material fact will cause forfeiture of my rights to employment".

Spokane County will make a decision at some point, the university doesn't need to-she was a quarter to quarter contracted instructor. the quarter ended last Thursday, her contract like everyone elses in that classification ended last Friday-and they've already taken her off the website as an instructor.

 

[cabanafrau]

I could care less what she chooses to identify herself as. I will say I saw her on television this morning and she's simply not a credible person in my eyes -- about anything. I listened to her for two or three minutes and during that time she openly told several lies, by her own admission. Whatever she identifies herself as she'll be a liar in my eyes.

 

[rajak73]

They talked to her 13 year son tonight on the news. Is that her actual kid? I'd heard she was trying to pass her brothers off as her kids.

Maybe she just identified with some kid off the street and thought it was her kid and everyone must accept that. Would that be called transfamily?

 

[gwynne]

I could care less what she chooses to identify herself as. I will say I saw her on television this morning and she's simply not a credible person in my eyes -- about anything. I listened to her for two or three minutes and during that time she openly told several lies, by her own admission. Whatever she identifies herself as she'll be a liar in my eyes.

I agree. I watched her bizarre explanation of her "teepee" birth yesterday. She dances around, smiles, justifies, and then changes the subject. I wish she'd just flat out say she doesn't identify with honesty.

 

[cabanafrau]

I agree. I watched her bizarre explanation of her "teepee" birth yesterday. She dances around, smiles, justifies, and then changes the subject. I wish she'd just flat out say she doesn't identify with honesty.

IMO the lies undercut the validity of her belief. How much could she believe in the idea that she identifies as black if she supports it with lies? It's insulting to anyone she interacts with.

 

[fly girl]

I wish she'd just flat out say she doesn't identify with honesty.

BINGO!!

 

[MickeySP]

She should be allowed to be what ever race she wants to be. She should have also been upfront right from the beginning of what her past was as a white person so people would know that part of her life, but she hid that fact from most everyone which I think is what she did wrong in this situation. I think if she came out and stated she was White growing up, but did not identify with that race and want to live as a Black person everything would have been received much better than it is now.

She can say she of any race she wants but the facts are facts you cannot change your race in the real world. She can say she's anyting she wants but she isn't. No more than an elephant can be a duck. You can look anyway you want but you cannot change you "real" ethnicity.


I think she has been identified as a liar & a cheat & putting on black face(tanning) and dyeing your hair does not make you black.

 

[JanaDee]

Now she is claiming she is bisexual.