There is another controversy over the veracity of representations of minority status in Washington. We previously discussed the controversy raised by the allegedly false claims of Senator Elizabeth Warren that she is a Native American. In this case, however, the accused is the head of a NAACP chapter and she is being accused of lying by her own mother. Worse yet, some have suggested that Rachel Dolezal, who is the head of the NAACP’s chapter in Spokane, planted hate mail at her office.
Dolezal has described her ethnicity as white, black, and American Indian in past papers and applications. However, her mother, Ruthanne, said that she is Czech, Swedish, and German, along with some “faint traces” of Native American heritage.
That has led to angry responses from different groups that she represented herself as a minority when she was selected for different positions. Dolezal has called the controversy a “multi-layered issue” and insisted “That question is not as easy as it seems. There’s a lot of complexities … and I don’t know that everyone would understand that.” She then added “We’re all from the African continent.” Many have interpreted that statement as a claim that, since mankind itself has been traced to Africa, everyone is an African to some degree. The definition is not sufficient for various groups. It raises, as did the Warren controversy, the basis for claiming minority status — a status that can give an edge in applications or hirings.
In addition, critics have raised suspicious racially motivated incidents reported by Dolezal while she was in Coeur d’Alene, including the discovery of a swastika on the Human Rights Education Institute’s door. Likewise, Spokane police records for February and March of this year showed that a hate mail package Dolezal reported receiving at the NAACP’s post office box did not bear a date stamp or barcode. Dolezal denies responsibility for those incidents.
The question is how to handle such cases in not only definition how to prove or what constitutes minority status or how to respond to allegedly false claims. If one receives payment for holding a position secured by assurance of minority status, can it be an actionable from of fraud or misrepresentation for the purposes of criminal or civil liability?
Source: Spokesman
It is too bad that the good Prof decided to post this about a woman who is not running for office, and who may or may not have lied on an official form subject to the penalty of perjury. She is holding an unpaid office and a volunteer, yet there is NO mention of Jeb Bush committing perjury on an official document when he claimed to be Hispanic on his voter registration form. Which do folks think is worse? A politician lying on an official form, or low level volunteer doing the same? Of course, we all know the answer to that one. If you are GOP, it doesn’t matter about lying under oath, screwing around on your wife, etc..
randyjet – the courts have held you claim anything on any form. Elizabeth Warren did it on a lot of forms, Jeb did it on one that did not make a difference.
Calvin on the internet
http://i.imgur.com/2FAgxrJ.jpg
Karen S
Honestly, I have no clue as to what is required to obtain one of these scholarships; I’m guessing that it’s the same amount of documentation that was demanded of this chameleon when she was hired for the array of positions she obtained under the guise of either being black or American Indian. Maybe the various tribes keep meticulous records, but would the mere checking of a box, on a law school application, get you approval for a scholarship? I have no idea. What standard is there?
This article reminds me of the movie, based on a true story, with Leonard DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can. The main character pretended to be a pilot, a doctor, etc., and was successful in passing himself off as these various professionals until he was eventually caught. This chick watched that movie one too many times.
“If one receives payment for holding a position secured by assurance of minority status …”
Are you saying that being a member of a minority is a requirement for a position in the NAACP? I don’t think that’s the case.
There are other issues with this case, however, such as basic honesty.
Karen, People w/ borderline personality will do anything to get attention. The woman who helped those 2 murderers escape prison is a classic borderline. Co-workers say she was always seeking attention and was manipulative. The thing is, people w/ borderline personality can also be manipulated, as those 2 convicts did so well. We can’t eliminate people like this faux black woman in our culture. But, we can eliminate special protected classes that they exploit.
John – thanks. I found the link. I’ve been reading (and posting) in order so I got behind. 🙂
Bam Bam – don’t they require any proof anymore of ancestry? If you were referring to a Native American scholarship, don’t they request tribal records? I suppose any other type of claimed minority status would not have proof, but tribes keep very detailed records because of exactly this kind of thing.
Karen – they don’t request tribal records the demand tribal records. 🙂
DBQ – just read the link. She used to teach a class entitled “The Black Woman’s Struggles.” She claimed to have had cervical cancer. She’s claimed to have been a victim multiple times for hate crimes like Swastikas on doors. She posted pictures of a black man and falsely claimed him as her father. She’s linked arms at rally and chanted “We Shall Overcome!” She claimed her father was violent to her, when she appears to have wanted no contact with her parents because they were obviously white. She posted a message about 12 Years a Slave about having to sit at the back of the theatre so that white people wouldn’t stare at her. She complained about the Whitopia in Idaho.
Apparently she disguised her appearance almost 10 years ago.
Since so many of her claims appear to be false, it casts everything she’s ever said in doubt, including her cancer diagnosis. Perhaps she really had cancer, but no one can take her word for it anymore without proof. If she did lie about that, too, and that’s a big “if” at this point, then that is really reprehensible, to lie about being a cancer survivor.
I’m not a psychiatrist, but I wonder if she has some sort of mental illness. We sometimes hear about people inventing whole new histories or personas, or pretending to have serious illnesses, in order to feel more interesting and important. They do it for attention.
Really sad, and insulting to the black community.
Karen. DBQ left us a link to the Daily Mail that will answer your questions.
If Bruce Jenner can publicly state that he/she is a woman, trapped inside the body of a man, just bursting to come out, is it so surprising that a woman, with no known American Indian or black heritage, could basically claim that she, too, is an American Indian or black, just trapped inside the insidious body of a Caucasian? Nothing surprises me anymore. With all the talk of gender reassignment, why not racial reassignment? You gotta know that this is coming. Bruce Jenner–sorry, Caitlin Jenner–isn’t considered mentally ill for alleging that he/she is not what he/she was born, so, applying those standards, this broad is whatever racial identity she chooses to identify herself with on any given day. A monthly perm, a weekly spray tan, and, voila, folks, she’s American Indian and black. Who are you to argue? How dare you?
bam bam:
“So, we know that her mother may not have been black, but what about her father? Not a word about him and his racial composition. Is he a mystery? Seems like it. Obama, considered to be out first black President, undeniably had a white mother and a black father, yet people have no problem considering him black. It’s all about definitions.”
As I understood it, her mother declared her daughter’s heritage to be European, which would include the paternal side.
“However, her mother, Ruthanne, said that she is Czech, Swedish, and German, along with some “faint traces” of Native American heritage.” I understood this to mean that the “she” referred to the daughter, and not the mother, and so the description would include both maternal and paternal lines.
randyjet:
“There is no requirement for a person to be African American since the NAACP was founded by mostly white folks.”
We do not know if the job was preferentially given to a minority. I assume that if there were multiple individuals applying for a position at the NAACP, minorities would be given preference.
Also, someone heading the NAACP who lied about being African American, and has a documented history of receiving career advancement/jobs based on that lie, will create serious ethical concerns.
Nick – have you seen Chris Rock’s documentary, “Good Hair” about the harsh chemicals women subject themselves to, and the weaves made from Indian women who shave their heads, just to look like they have a more European heritage. Both methods can cause balding. I think natural African American hair is beautiful, healthy, and brimming with vitality.
It’s so true that every group has its biases and intense pressure.
“Due to the gravity of this issue and how our very democracy hangs in the balance until we can get to the bottom of this skin tone problem, I hope we can depend on the Professor to continue to follow this deeply disturbing story and to post as many follow-up stories as are needed to get to the root of this evil.”
Cliffs Notes version: “This story does not gleefully bash conservatives, so I don’t like it. I’m going to make myself feel better by heading over to Panties for Plato,”
Oh Karen.
There’s no fooling you is there?
Wait. Wait. Where’s the segue into the bit about your health insurance premiums that are going to send you spiraling out of the middle class and force you to sell your horse?
Next post, perhaps.
Well Bam Bam’s kind of hit on it, The reverse discrimination of affirmative action. All those forms we fill out that ask us to indicate race or ethnicity. Racism by legislation. Not as deliberate as the old “Jim Crow” and “Separate But Equal” laws of the 20th Century, but racism still. Now this President is offering up a plan to re-engineer neighborhoods to achieve a socioeconomic balance. Another example of the racism of the reverse discrimination of affirmative action.
test
DBQ:
“This is the type of farce we have when people focus solely on skin color and drops of blood instead of the character and abilities of the individual. I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. had a little something to say about this.”
I agree. Our society is increasingly hyper-focused on skin color, and our differences, which is divisive. People are now getting jobs or getting into college, or not, based on their skin color, which is anathema to justice.
And on another note, it’s completely awesome to listen to legal immigrants, who went through the tortuous legal immigration or work visa process, wax poetic about the tidal wave of illegal immigrants, shouting “suckers” as they skip the line and get all the benefits. It’s also awesome to see Californians keep voting for astronomically higher minimum wage, and then hire illegal aliens to do their home improvement, house cleaning, or landscaping.
bam bam
You gotta watch out for those women with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, They may call themselves humans, but they are all from Remulak. Very unsavory types.
What remedy can there be if her career was built on a lie, and her previous positions were stolen from someone else?
Of course, if we didn’t have Affirmative Action, and all college placement and jobs were awarded based on merit alone, and scholarships based on merit and financial need alone, focusing our efforts on improving education to even the playing field, then none of this would have happened.