On Rachel Dolezal and being "trans-racial".

[Candi Formaldehyde]

I'm sure you've already heard of the scandal surrounding Rachel Dolezal, the head of a NAACP group who masqueraded herself as African American when in reality she was born to Caucasian parents. I've heard the term "trans-racial" being thrown around. Apparently that's when you identify as belonging to a race that is not your own. It's also being compared to being transgender.

I don't think this exists. Rachel Dolezal did not "transition" to another race. Just because someone wakes up one day feeling black doesn't mean they suddenly become that. Yes, you can get a tan and style your hair and saying that you are black, but that does not change your ancestry or history.

I want your opinions. Can you be trans-racial? And how does that compare to being transgender?

[Maro]

Honestly I think it's a crock of ... well you know.. just made up by her and others because she got caught masquerading in black face for decades on end =v=;


it's definitely no where close to the same as transgender >.<;


and that's my only thoughts on that.

[Hero]

People now a days invent the dumbest things to become popular. Such thing doesn't exist just like those weird furry things people associate with like "Nitekin" or "Plantkin". Sounds like those weird terms tend to originate from Tumblr.

[Candi Formaldehyde]

On another note, I don't think this should be that big of an issue as the media is making it out to be. After all, the mission for the NAACP is to educate on African American studies. She was trying to benefit her community and meant no harm.

Also - what are nitekin and plantkin?

[Hocus Pocus]

We are all a part of the human race. I don't feel like we should break ourselves down into groups based on our skin pigment. I've never heard of that before, but I feel like she should have just been honest. Maybe she related to black people more so. (ie. she had more black friends)

[Candi Formaldehyde]

I've heard of people pretending to belong to another race for advantages ("affirmative action" and reparations), but this is a different situation.

Just because you associate with members of a race doesn't mean you share their background and heritage.

[Diana]

I've seen a little about this lady, not too much. Do you have some links to articles or anything about it you could add to the first post for those of us not very up to date? I had no idea she was the head of a NAACP group! I was under the impression she was just some random girl on twitter or something. I don't really know what she was doing though. If it's the same lady, I think I heard she was making racial slurs?

My cultural anthropology class last winter affirmed what Hocus Pocus mentioned. We had a few lectures about how "race" is just a human construct, and all people are people, despite their skin pigments (whether or not they are treated accordingly) and etc. Ethnicity, however, is very different.
Just taking the words and what they (loosely) stand for, gender and race are pretty similar, whereas ethnicity and sex are more similar. The first group is all cultural composition, the second are physical states (which may or may not have actual medical complications, being a bit more important for correctness. But note: its nobody's business but your doctors, at that point).
I have what is taken as a mildly unpopular opinion (due to inability to explain it fully) that gender is just a cultural expression, not a physical deterrent or anything of the sort, because of what I've been exposed to and had to go through (which may or may not be unique to me). I am a girl, but I do and have interests in things boys typically do. I don't call myself trans-gender (going for the definition that refers more to gender representation, versus sex changed or anything else), or call myself a boy, but I very much identify more with boys.
I think it is very possible for people to do the same with race. That's partly how people decide to move across the world, right? They identify more with, or enjoy a certain culture more than the one they were in. Then, there's also people who were adopted by parents of different culture than themselves. They'll grow up being the same as their parents even though their ethnicity may be completely different. That does not make them horrible people though.

With "trans-racial", as you described, it's more of an imitation game, right? Some cultures are flattered by people of other cultures trying to copy them, as long as the imitators are being respectful. And that's the real key. Respect.

Now, with that in mind, there's no way to say "trans-racial" is not okay but "trans-gender" is; but, like with many other "politically correct" topics right now, there's a double standard.

[Hero]

Race is a human construct, let's be honest here....you can't go "B-b-but we're all humans!" yes we are, but we're all different. Race, like "Black", "White", "Yellow" was created to identify and classify the different types of humans. Imagine someone saying "Someone stole my phone!" and they're asked "Who was it?" and they reply "Oh, a human!" doesn't make help at all, with races it narrowed things down for it to be easier to identify people.

Just like different types of dogs we also have our human classifications. Human classification weren't meant to be bad at all, its just with the human nature we all know bad things came out from it. We got crazy people that think the whites are superior and shit, Nazis, KKK ect.

Now with this new "transracial" term? I honestly think its silly and dumb.

[MonkeyGirl18]

A person can say "Oh, I'm black." when they're white, but that doesn't mean they'd be trans-racial.
But also calling a black guy her father when he wasn't is also really ridiculous.

The whole thing is stupid. It's one thing to call yourself black and to lie that a black man was your father just to get people to believe you're black.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

From photos I have seen and what I have read, she had been raised with foster siblings that were black, her husband is black and her kids are black skinned. Being in a biracial marriage it probably helped her kids from being teased or questioned for her to appear more black.Sometimes it is easier to people to relate to one culture then another or to take up the cause for those they feel are being mistreated, or if you are marrying into a different culture take on that culture. I could see her wanting a better life and opportunities for her children. Now, are people being racist or prejudice because she isn't black? Would they have treated her the same if she was trying to fight for a cause she believed in but came across as Caucasian? Was she intentionally trying to deceive people?Does she have African blood in her ancestry somewhere? Lineages of people are so intertwined that it is possible. Would that make it better, more understandable, acceptable? I don't know about Dolezal's issue enough and media tends to put a slant on things. Did she classify herself as black under the ethnic questions? Did she lie to get her job? Did she take it to the extreme? I don't think she under went any surgery or hormones to distort her appearance, it appears to be cosmetic- hair style,colored hair, tan. Has she said she is trans racial? Is the question that she lied and deceived or that people were fooled and have to accept the fact that you can relate to others that aren't of your "race"?


As far as appearing to be something you are not, I think that has been going on for centuries. But then so have people's wrong assumptions. Once I would have said an apple is an apple, a plum a plum, no matter what name you give it but with gene splicing now you never know what you can get. Is a Pluot a plum or an apricot? Is someone born of an Asian and a Caucasian parent Asian or white? Are they Asian if the Father's name is Asian and white if the Fathers name is white? Does it depend on what race they look more like? If they have a black and a white parent, but have blonde hair and blue eyes are they still considered black? If you have a sixteenth of a percent or less of a native American/first nations blood are you that ethniticity and entitled to special rights? If I had royalty in my lineage ten generations ago am I still of "royal" blood?

Being female there are times I feel I would have better advantages if I was a man. Being raised with many brothers I can definately relate to "boy" activities and hang out building stuff but I also like to bake and do crafts which are considered "girl" stuff. I prefer yard work to house work. Sadly, I think a manly female though is more acceptable then a womanly male. But a lot of that is our society. Having an ethnic last name then what my appearance is has had people surprised when they meet me. Did anyone ever watch the Sienfeld re run where Jerry's phone line is crossed and everyone takes the advice from and is excited to meet the helpful woman who has a Chinese last name and then they are disappointed when they meet her and find out she isn't Chinese? Is Rachel Dolezal's case a little like that?

[Ryvvi]

I think a lot of the anger about the situation is less that she identified more with black culture but that she lied about it. Like instead of just immersing herself in helping people out and fighting for equality instead she decided to make herself out as black, including apparently (i cant find the source) telling people about how she had "been born in a teepee and hunted for food"
As well as she lied on her admissions for the historically black college that she attended, about her race, so idk, i dont think she did the right thing by anyone

especially with her job, talking about black experiences i think its worse because she may identify with being black but she never truly had black experiences.

[Candi Formaldehyde]

Diana: Here is an article for you:

http://gothamist.com/2015/06/14/nyu_pro ... pokane.php

Sex addresses differences in biological makeup, like sex organs and chromosomes. Gender means characteristics that society decides are masculine or feminine. They are ideas of how "men" or "women" should behave, dress, or what they take interest in. Not all people fit neatly into the categories of strictly masculine or strictly feminine. The way I understand transgender is not conforming to the ways that were assigned to their sex.

Now, race is something you are born with. Your natural skin color, hair color, bone structure, etc. are all components of race. It doesn't matter where you were born or what upbringing you had. Race is unalterable. Ethnicity on the other hand can be changed or adopted. You can change your customs, beliefs, traditions, etc. to match with the ethnic group you identify with.

The situation at hand is about race, not ethnicity.

Lemon Cheesecake: You have a lot of strong arguments. Rachel Dolezal has openly described herself as trans-racial. I think that some people might be offended because she held a position in which she represented people she made believe she was "one of them". I personally disagree with this; I'm just trying to put a different perspective on this. If her only intention was to benefit her community, I believe it shouldn't matter what race she comes from. But her lie was unnecessary.

Ryvvi: I haven't heard the details about being born in a tee-pee. Apparently she asked her family to lie for her and not to "blow her cover" (mentioned in the article).
The last thing you said was a point of mine - just because you get a tan and crimp your hair doesn't mean that suddenly your ancestors were chained and brought to this country.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

ah, I did not realize that she had been intentionally lying and deceiving people. How convenient to try to cover/excuse her lie by declaring that she is transracial and trying to turn the focus of the situation in a different light like she couldn't help herself so that it should be excusable. But in reality it is not. It is still deceit. Has she apologized yet for her deception?

[Maro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMmlfxwyFaQ

This is a good video to watch on the whole transracial transgender comparison n such.

[Axiom]

I want to start by saying that I do not condone Rachel Dolezal's actions. To me, it seems less likely that she actually identifies as black and more likely that she wanted people to believe she was of African descent. A transgender person wants to be treated as their chosen gender, but they probably wouldn't lie about their birth gender. Dolezal lied about her parents' race, which implies that she cared about people believing she was born a black person more than her own personal identification of her race. Maybe she really does identify as black, but that's not really relevant after she lied about her descent.

That's all I have to say on Dolezal, but I am very interested in the more general discussion of the concept of trans-racial.

As a person who falls into the transgender category themselves (agender to be more specific), I consider gender to be a social construct distinguishing people based on physical characteristics (genitalia and other sex-based differences). And in all its history, the distinction of gender has primarily been used for the oppression of women. Diana has highlighted the difference between sex and gender already. Sex only refers to physical characteristics, but gender is your own sense of identification with masculine stereotypes, feminine stereotypes, both, or neither.

This can be easily compared to race. Race is a social construct meant to distinguish people based on physical characteristics (skin color for the most part), and it has primarily been used to oppress people of non-white races. These physical characteristics are determined by your ancestry, but race as a construct also encompasses many non-physical traits. Sex is to ancestry as gender is to race or ethnic group. Just as a person may fit the stereotypes for a gender other than their biological sex, a person may fit the stereotypes for an ethnic group that differs from their biological ancestry. As far as I am concerned, there is no reason that person could not consider themselves to be trans-racial.

As Diana said, I feel like this is an unpopular opinion. One thing I have noticed is that the transgender community (or at least the people I know) seem very resistant to the concept of trans-racial. I'm very prepared to be wrong about this; I just really want to know why I'm wrong first. Why aren't race and gender comparable?