Soon-to-be homeless Rachel Dolezal shunned by Progressives – MyNorthwest.com

KIRO Radio's Jason Rantz says Rachel Dolezal mostly brought the problems she faces on herself. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios, File)

Rachel Dolezal of Spokane is jobless and on the verge of homelessness (she claims). The reason is simple. At best, shes perceived as a fraud, and at worst, a mentally ill fraud. Would you hire her?

Let me talk through this story with you a bit. I find it fascinating that Progressives have mostly shunned her when, on paper, they should embrace her.

Related: Rachel Dolezal is everything thats wrong with political correctness

Dolezal is best-remembered as a white woman who pretended, for years, to be African-American. She appropriated a culture that she has no actual connection to and, once exposed, was rightfully derided. No longer is she the leader of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP.

In a feature with the Guardian, ahead of her books release, we learn shes not been able to overcome the adversity she created:

Today Dolezal is jobless, and feeding her family with food stamps. A friend helped her pay this months rent; next month she expects to be homeless. She has applied for more than 100 jobs, but no one will hire her, not even to stack supermarket shelves. She applied for a position at the university where she used to teach, and says she was interviewed by former colleagues who pretended to have no recollection of having met her. The only work she has been offered is reality TV, and porn. She has changed her name on all her legal documents, but is still recognized wherever she goes. People point at her and laugh.

It seems obvious why shes unemployed. She chose to lie about her identity and thus brought these problems on herself. Yet, part of me feels bad for her. Shes so deep into this scam, shes actually convinced herself shes black and shes a victim.

This is obviously an issue a lot of people want to say things about, Dolezal told the Guardian. And it needs to be talked about, so its kind of helpful to create a punching bag. Theres nobody saying, Well, thats racist if you say that about Rachel, or Thats sexist if you say that about Rachel. Theres no protected class for me. Im this generic, ambiguous scapegoat for white people to call me a race traitor and take out their hostility on. And Im a target for anger and pain about white people from the black community. Its like I am the worst of all these worlds.

Victimhood at its worse.

Youd think shed have more allies in the Progressive movement, but theyve overwhelmingly shunned her. Why? Why is gender fluid, but not race? Progressive activists seem reticent to answer that question, instead, focusing on the fraudulent nature of her claims so they dont have to take a hard stance. Again, the Guardian:

African American commentators called her a blackface, guilty of the worst extremes of cultural appropriation. She was mentally ill, and had cheated black people out of positions that were rightfully theirs. When Dolezal quoted the activist Dick Gregory to black talkshow host Loni Love White isnt a race, its a state of mind the host exploded: No, let me tell you something. Im black. I cant be you, I cant reverse myself. Thats the difference. Twitter span with comic memes, and still burns with comments along the lines of: Why hasnt anybody beaten her up already?

I think a reason shes not accepted is that shes originally a white woman, making it easier for Progressives to view this story as an example of white privilege. Dolezal used her privilege as white women to infiltrate an oppressed community that shes essentially turned into props to use for her own benefit. Indeed, thats offensive and exploitative, no matter what her original intent.

But is this truly an example of privilege? She was caught and exposed (albeit slowly) and now shes jobless and claims to be on the verge of homelessness (though this could just be a way to gin up book sales). Where is the privilege to save her? She has a book coming out and she can profit off of it, but who is the audience? Presumably a white, Progressive audience. So if she makes significant money off her book, the Progressives who have rejected her case will be to blame.

Was she the beneficiary of white privilege? Maybe. But the greater question still should be answered by Progressives: is race fluid? And if it is, does white privilege truly exist? Both concepts racial fluidity and white privilege cant seem to coexist here. If a white person can be black, then they cant be the beneficiary of a privilege that only positively impacts a white person. If they dont lose that privilege while identifying as non-white, then the term white privilege should be changed to reflect the actual reason behind the privilege.

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Soon-to-be homeless Rachel Dolezal shunned by Progressives - MyNorthwest.com

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