There's a whole lot of conversation going on about the revelation that Rachel Dolezal, the president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Wash., is seemingly a white woman who has been living as a black woman for many years. There's so much to unpack here — What made her do it? Didn't anyone suspect it? What's up with that hair? — but there's one thread in particular that's got us thinking. Here it is:
So. We’re (obviously) following the #RachelDolezal story... 1/4
— Vaxton P. Hartnabrig. (@GeeDee215) June 12, 2015
And we keep seeing, “If Caitlyn Jenner is ‘allowed to be transgender,’ why can’t #RachelDolezal ‘be transracial’”? 2/4
— Vaxton P. Hartnabrig. (@GeeDee215) June 12, 2015
We here at @NPRCodeSwitch feel in our bones that race and gender operate differently along these lines... 3/4 #RachelDolezal
— Vaxton P. Hartnabrig. (@GeeDee215) June 12, 2015
But we’re having a reaaally hard time articulating why. Help us work this out? 4/4 #RachelDolezal
— Vaxton P. Hartnabrig. (@GeeDee215) June 12, 2015
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