00:00If you haven't heard, and I'm sure you have, the name Rachel Dolezal in the news, on social media, at the water cooler, on the train, you name it, then you may have been under a massive rock.
00:13Rachel Dolezal was the president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, until this past Monday when she resigned amid allegations she lied about her racial identity.
00:23Dolezal's parents, who are white, publicly stated that Rachel is a white woman passing as a black.
00:28When asked in a recent interview by Today's Show's Matt Lauer if she was an African-American woman, Rachel's response was, I identify as black, which is very interesting.
00:37So, do we slay Rachel Dolezal because she identifies herself as black, and even though her racial identity is not grounded in biology or ancestry, her activism outweighs that, and her intentions appear genuine?
00:49Some supporters are even saying that she could be considered transracial.
00:53Or, do we shay Rachel because she is appropriating African-American culture and perpetuating fraudulent claims as it pertains to her identity?
01:01I know.
01:02Y'all have some opinions on this, so here we go.
01:05Let's go.
01:06Slade or Shade?
01:08Shade, Shade.
01:09Oh, Slade.
01:10Sean has always got to be the one.
01:11I've got to bring the controversy.
01:12Let's get it, Sean.
01:13Go.
01:13Okay, so here's the thing.
01:14The thing, this is such an interesting conversation.
01:17But, like, for me, Shade because she lied, right?
01:20Like, you should never lie about what's truthful to you, I guess.
01:25Or don't put news...
01:26Don't lie, right?
01:28But, for me, the conversation that was started about how race is a personal thing.
01:33Like, I really think that you call yourself black.
01:38We all have different black experiences.
01:40That's true.
01:41And how you identify as, you know, black or white or mixed or whatever, it's up to you.
01:47It's not up to anybody else.
01:48And after talking to so many people, they say that it's having the experience or having the understanding
01:55that a lot of other people who don't have, even black folks don't have, about being black.
02:00And this woman rides or dies for the cause.
02:03No, she doesn't.
02:04No, she doesn't.
02:05She rides or dies for her damn self.
02:07I'm so tired of us even giving this narcissist this attention.
02:11Also, Francesca, take it away.
02:12Yes, please.
02:12I mean, like, thank you.
02:14I'm like, ugh, Rachel trolled us all.
02:17Like, she is so full of herself, even down to the fact that she lied about getting racial threats.
02:24This is just about her wanting to be in the spotlight.
02:26I think that you can absolutely be a white ally who wants to help the cause,
02:30but a real ally realizes that they need to be the backup singer, not the lead.
02:34And Rachel Dolezal wants to make it all about her, down to the fact that she is speaking
02:39over black women and giving courses on the black woman's experience, when sadly, black
02:44women are not getting the opportunity to tell their own stories.
02:47And instead, now we have spent over a week, almost two weeks, celebrating this woman and
02:52putting her all over the television so that she can tell us about her tan and her terrible
02:56wigs.
02:57And instead of actually talking about real black issues and talking to real black people
03:01about their experiences.
03:03And absolutely, everyone can define their own experience as they wish.
03:07But for better or for worse, Rachel Dolezal has only spent eight years as a black woman.
03:13And that does not mean that she is black.
03:15Absolutely.
03:15Because our experiences are not just our hairstyles and our clothing.
03:19It's how the world sees us.
03:20And when she was a child, she was not seen as black.
03:23When she was a teenager, she was not seen as black.
03:25And her parents were not black.
03:26My parents are part of my experience.
03:29My grandparents, the neighborhood I live in, all of those things shape my blackness.
03:33And Rachel Dolezal, if she really wanted to be an ally, she would respect the fact that
03:37she will never be black as much as she says she wants to help us.
03:41And time will tell.
03:42When she gets the book deal and the reality show, we will...
03:43Which will I'll be boycotting.
03:45Yeah, I don't think...
03:45They're coming.
03:46I don't think many people are going to watch the reality.
03:47Especially for Essence.
03:48People will watch.
03:49And people will watch.
03:50And that's why we have to speak up.
03:52Because she trespassed on sacred ground.
03:54So it's not just hair.
03:55It's culture.
03:55It's identity.
03:56And it's like, as beautiful as you might put on a Native American headdress, it's still
04:00cultural.
04:01And I would shade you.
04:02Exactly.
04:03I would shade you.
04:03Right.
04:04A lot of people have been shaded for that.
04:06Because there's a large conversation on Native Americans.
04:08So we as black women have to speak up and protect our own identities as sacred ground.
04:12Oh, wait.
04:12You can't get some braids and all of a sudden you be a part of the experience.
04:16Absolutely.
04:17I'm like, fuck her chest.
04:17Seriously.
04:18I'm like, Francesca.
04:19I'm seething.
04:19I'm mad.
04:20But can we agree on the conversation?
04:23Yeah, I think it creates a positive conversation as to what is culture and what is black culture
04:27and what is the black experience.
04:29Because that's not something that can have such a myopic point of view because we're all
04:32shades and genres and so on and so forth.
04:36So I think it definitely opens up the conversation, which is what it's kind of...
04:40I think that's the best takeaway from this whole experience.
04:42Yeah, it is.
04:42Not necessarily the reality show.
04:43It's great to see black women speaking up.
04:45I'm loving the hashtag.
04:46We help ourselves to talk about so many black women throughout history who have stepped
04:50up and done so much great work.
04:51And so, like Francesca said, if she was a true ally, she would respect that sacred space
04:56and let us speak for ourselves.
04:58And let's also remember the people that actually are transracial, which are people that have
05:02been adopted by people outside of their ethnic background.
05:05And it's not just black and white.
05:06That's all ethnicities.
05:07Exactly.
05:07That's all ethnicities.
05:08And that kind of bothers me, too, that now we've co-opted, like, literally, like, white
05:12privilege in action.
05:12She's like, you know, I'm going to change what this word means.
05:14It means this now.
05:15No, it doesn't mean that.
05:16I understand.
05:16I'm going to speak for you.
05:17And I'm going to speak for you.
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