What Rachel Dolezal Teaches Us About Race
<p>Race is a social construction. We have heard that phrase over and over again to the point that it has become a bit hackneyed. When I teach my sociology students, I tell them, “Sociologists study what people do together: we create families, schools, economic systems.” All of these things are social constructions that are produced, reproduced, and even demolished because people together make it so.</p>
<p>And then Rachel Dolezal comes along.</p>
<p>She tells us race is a social construction therefore she is transracial and has decided to live and identify as a black woman. The media becomes fascinated by this white woman born to white parents who has decided of her own accord to spend time in black communities, wear black hairstyles, fight for black lives, and leave whiteness behind. She has even changed her name to Nkechinyere Amare Diallo, coopting West African names, including my own, in her quest for blackness.</p>
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