Rachel Dolezal is a shameless opportunist. She is unworthy of a minute of our attention. However, the reason Rachel Dolezal chose to pretend she was black is significant. As white woman, she sued Howard University for racial discrimination because she is white. She quickly learned that if you want to take advantage of racial discrimination, you have to be black. So she started representing herself as black. Incredibly, she even got appointed as the NAACP Chapter President for Washington State:
Over the years she has reported numerous complaints with the police of racially motivated harassment and intimidation, though the police have said that none have so far proved credible enough for charges to be brought.
She clearly wanted the power gained from charges of racism, whether unfounded or not.
Lesson learned. Would anyone know about Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown if they were white? Irresponsible leaders like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson have taught an entire generation of black kids the importance of considering themselves victims.
If you are a victim, failure is never your fault. Therefore you have no responsibility for taking the action necessary to succeed. If you’re caught committing a crime, it’s not your fault because you are black. If you get shot by police, it’s not your fault because you are black. If you flunk out of school, it’s not your fault because you are black. If you can’t seem to find a job, it’s not your fault, because you are black. If you don’t get that promotion it not’s your fault, because you are black. The problem is that when black children believe this, it makes it nearly impossible for them to succeed in life. Blaming Whitey may feel good, but it doesn’t do much to end racial discrimination.
If Tiger Woods believed this, he would never have become a great golfer. If Jackie Robinson believed this he would never have played in the Major Leagues. There have been many examples of black men and women succeeding because they refused to define themselves as victims. These people didn’t succeed because they sought special privileges based on the color of their skin. They would all be offended by even suggesting that. They succeeded by proving to the world that the color of their skin did not matter.
I have the privilege of listening to Margaret Thatcher give a speech to a small group in Los Angeles. When she was done, she opened the floor for questions. A young professional woman stood up and asked: “How did it feel to be the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain.” The room when silent as Margaret Thatcher just glared at her. The she said something I will never forget: “I was not the female Prime Minister of Great Britain; I was the Prime Minister of Great Britain.” The room exploded with applause. Margaret Thatcher didn’t succeed because she was female; it was because she proved herself equal to the task.
Art Shell was the first black man to coach an NFL team. But the real success did not come when he was hired; it was when he was fired. When the Raiders fired Art Shell the black activists came out swinging. But soon the black assistant coaches in the league spoke up and told people like Jesse Jackson to shut up and go home. They pointed out that if NFL owners were afraid to fire a black coach, they would never hire a black coach in the first place.
The following article on ESPN explains why false cries of racial discrimination are not hurting white coaches, they are hurting black coaches:
http://espn.go.com/gen/blackhistory/football.html
Critics should know by now that unfounded rhetoric damages real efforts to improve minority hiring in sports. If people find it difficult to fire a minority, they will also make it difficult for minorities to get hired in the first place.
That is the real significance here. We will not have racial equality in this country until the day it no longer makes sense to “GO ON THE DOLEZAL.”
TDM