You're white, but identify as black?

By the name of the title, I wonder if you can guess who I'm talking about. If you guessed Rachel Dolezal, you're absolutely correct. Rachel Dolezal is the woman who was exposed in 2015 as a white women pretending to be black. I read an article titled "Dolezal: "Race is a social construct" on cnn.com where she stated she believed that "race is a social construct". To some extent, I agree with her. I believe that race is something that society created, however does that mean I can go around identifying as a white woman? I don't think so. When I first heard about Rachel Dolezal, I was offended and I still am. I am offended because as a black woman, I can't rub the darkness of my skin off. I can't disguise myself as white when I want to participate in the privileges they obtain. Dolezel believed from a young age that she was meant to be black, she basically felt she was a part of the wrong race. This makes me think about the women and men of the black community who identify as transgender. I'm sorry, but "transracial" doesn't exist. This notion of "I'm living in the wrong ethnic group", isn't real. You cannot relate your feelings of "being in the wrong body" to the trans women and men who truly bare the pain of living in the wrong body. They do not compare. Transgender people don't lie about the conundrum of their physical identity. However, Rachel Dolezal has and continues to do so. There's a part in the article where she indeed finds a parallel between her "transracial" issues to Caitlyn "Bruce" Jenner being trans. Dolezal says "But for sure there is some similarity in terms of harmonizing the outer appearance with the inner feeling,". I'm sorry Rachel, there is no similarity at all. Someone is being deceptive of their identity and isn't transgender people. It's you. Your racial identification isn't authentic, trans men and women are completely authentic in their gender identification.

When white women appropriate black culture, there's always prestige, financial gain or both that come along. Dolezal became president of her local branch of the NAACP and became a professor of African-American studies. She could've probably achieved all of this without identifying as black, however if she didn't appropriate black culture in the midst, wouldn't she still be considered an "outsider"? Being black is more than just a "philosophy, a culture, a political and social view", like you so eloquently put it, Rachel Dolezal. However, you wouldn't know that because you're white. When you get pulled over by a cop, do you still pretend to be black? Do you turn off the black part of you and instantly become white again?

I can't take off my black exterior after a long day at work, Rachel. However, you can. Is it a bad thing that you've appropriated my culture and educated your communities? Absolutely not. You didn't have to pretend though. It would've spoke louder volumes if you continued to identify as a white woman, fighting for the equality of black people.

I do believe that being black is more than just a skin color. However, that doesn't mean I agree with someone choosing to identify as "black" just because they feel like it.