There’s a name you probably haven’t heard in a while and thought you might never hear again. (Or would “hoped” be a better word there?) Rachael Dolezal is, for better or worse, back in the news and she’s allegedly writing a new book on – what else – racial identity. One of the most famous white people to ever pretend to be black (though there are more than a few others) is looking to reset the clock on her fifteen minutes of fame, showing up this week on The Today Show with Savannah Guthrie. She was asked if she’s learned anything from her experiences and you’ll have to judge for yourself, but it really doesn’t sound like it to me. (IB Times)
While living in Spokane, Dolezal claimed a black man was her father and misled some community members about her background, they said last year. Although Dolezal indicated on the “Today” show she doesn’t regret how she has lived her life, she said that the issue of racial identity is “complex.”
“I do wish that I could have given myself permission to really name and own the me of me earlier in life. It took me almost 30 years to get there,” Dolezal said. “Certainly, I feel like it’s a complex issue. How do you just sum up a whole life of kind of coming into who you are in a sound bite? Those conversations? I feel like moving forward. I don’t have any regrets about that.”
The last year has been tough, Dolezal said, and she has had to relive her story many times. But she had a son this year and said she is happy with where she is, raising him and her two other children.
Here’s the video of the interview. It runs about six minutes, but I’ll still recommend hitting Play because it’s as hard to look away from as a really messy car wreck.
It’s clear from the interview that Dolezal either hasn’t learned much from her experience or is at least sticking to her guns in terms of her original tale. She’s asked if she has “any regrets” about some of the things she said, “which may have turned out not to be true.”
In response, she tells the interviewer that she’s, “not sure what you mean by that.” Without coming straight out and saying it, Dolezal reinforces her position that she never “lied” about anything and the world simply doesn’t understand her. In the video, you’ll note that Savannah Guthrie takes care to identify Dolezal as, “white by birth” which highlights just what a problem child Dolezal is for the SJW. The Hard Left goes to great pains to instruct us that those engaging in gender impersonation are actually the gender they identify as rather than what their chromosomal structure would indicate. But the idea that a white woman of Scandinavian heritage could identify as being black (or any other race I suppose) is offensive and completely out of the question. Guthrie is likely going to find herself in hot water this week for using the phrase, white by birth, as if there’s some other option.
Her other big news, as mentioned above, is that she’s working on a new book. What’s unclear is precisely who is going to publish it. Last year there were similar rumors, but major publishers all seemed to be in agreement that her credibility problems (to put it kindly) combined with a general lack of interest made a book deal unlikely. (The Wrap)
“It’s a fascinating story but it’s already gotten too much coverage,” a longtime literary agent told TheWrap.
Jennifer Robinson, VP of publicity for Gallery Books, agreed. “There’s a lot out there,” she said. “I don’t think people want to hear more from her.”
In addition to overexposure, insiders said Dolezal would face other challenges in trying to win over publishers, starting with her likability.
“There’s nothing sympathetic about her,” the agent said. In order for an author to land a memoir contract with a major publisher, this insider said, “You need to be able to root for the person. What is there for me to even identify with?”
Added Robinson, “I don’t know who the audience would be.”
I’ll leave you with the exit quote of the day from the would-be author: “Race didn’t create racism, but racism created race.”
I have absolutely zero idea what that’s supposed to mean, but this should be a literary masterpiece of epic proportions.
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