In a series of utterly contentious appearances and statements that fall under an umbrella known simply as Rachel Dolezal occurring last month, one more item can be added to the resigned NAACP chapter president’s list of Wrong Things I Said. One could surmise that she has that list at her bedside and finds personal glory crossing an item off of it at the end of each interview she has with a major publication or news broadcast.
Perhaps you thought that you’d heard the last from Dolezal, but in a recent interview with Vanity Fair she describes the challenge of losing her esteemed role as president, her friends, her credibility and her source of income in one fell swoop following the interview in which her parents revealed that she had been born white.
In order to make ends meet, Dolezal is capitalizing on one of the skills she learned in college, though not in any classroom or lecture hall. She credits her college years for giving her the opportunity to learn and perfect the skills and techniques needed for maintaining natural, traditionally African American hairstyles such as braiding and weaves. Yes, you read that right.
It was these skills that have helped provide her cover over the years while she falsely claimed her identity as a Black woman, and the same skills are now providing her income as she faces the fallout of those lies.
According to Vanity Fair, Rachel Dolezal is taking this profession seriously, and is even building a steady clientele–she fulfills three hair appointments a week, so far.
While so many people continue to be blistered by her racially insensitive choice of words and self-identification as a Black woman, Dolezal still does not quite understand the uproar about her public ousting.
She chalks up the years of consistent lying publicly about her race as a big miscommunication between her and the media. If you think Dolezal is resigned to fading into obscurity with her braiding business, think again. She shared with Vanity Fair her desire to one day write a book to further explain her reason for identifying as Black:
“I would like to write a book just so that I can send [it to] everybody there as opposed to having to continue explaining,” she said to Vanity Fair. “After that comes out, then I’ll feel a little bit more free to reveal my life in the racial social-justice movement. I’m looking for the quickest way back to that, but I don’t feel like I am probably going to be able to re-enter that work with the type of leadership required to make change if I don’t have something like a published explanation.”
What does Black twitter think?
Since Vanity Fair’s interview went live, here are a few screenshots of what some tweeters had to say about the whole bizarre thing:
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
