Why She Did It

"Why did she do it?"  It's a question that Liberals continue to try and wrap their minds around as they consider the Rachel Dolezal situation.  The now-former head of the Spokane NAACP chapter spend years pretending to be a black woman, when in fact she was white.  Much was written over the weekend on sites like Salon.com and other left-leaning sites about Dolezal and how her story should be "handled"--and if the Left should now champion the cause of "trans-racial people".  But no one could come up with a good answer because they were all framing the debate with "Why would someone give up all of the 'advantages' that come with being white to live life as a 'disadvantaged' black woman?"

I see three reasons why Rachel Dolezal was able to falsely claim African-American status and find so much success doing it:

1--She is a pathological liar and she is delusional.  It is clear that Dolezal is in need of some serious mental health treatment.  She was not raised in a Montana teepee.  She did not use a bow and arrow to hunt for her food as a child.  She was not whipped by her parents while living in South Africa.  Her adopted brother is not her son.  The random black guy who took a picture with her at one of her events is not her father.  The threatening notes sent to her NAACP office did not come from "white supremacy groups in the area".  The woman has become so wrapped up in her fantasy world of lies that she no longer knows were reality begins and ends.

2--She has a victim complex.  Believe it or not, some people actually revel in being perceived as a victim of some injustice or unfair break.  It's why we have the stories of people pretending to have terminal cancer to scam donors and charitable groups.  Rachel Dolezal was a "victim" her whole life.  I already mentioned the fake parental abuse story.  Now the Smoking Gun website has discovered that she sued Howard University while attending classes there claiming to be the victim of "white discrimination"--along with bias based on gender, pregnancy and "family responsibility".  All she needed to do was claim to be a lesbian and she would have hit the "victim grand slam".  She has claimed to have been date raped by a mentor "whose wealth made it impossible to accuse him" and abused by her ex-husband (who was never criminally charged either).  The claims of finding a noose in her yard and the fake threatening letters only added to the pattern of "victimization" that made Dolezal a "sympathetic figure" in her community.

And finally number 3--and the issue that Liberals don't want to confront head on--Rachel Dolezal merely took advantage of the system that is now in place.  Let's start with that Masters Degree from Howard--what used to be called a "traditional black college".  Would her "Africana Art" been considered as "stunning" if she was a white woman studying at the University of Montana?  (There are now insinuations that she "plagiarized" that as well.)  Her career track certainly benefitted too.  Eastern Washington University and North Idaho College are no doubt both under tremendous pressure to "increase the diversity" of their faculty.  So to have an "acclaimed African American artist" willing to teach at their schools was no doubt seen as a "Godsend" for them.  Would a white person with the same "expertise" in the field been accepted for the position?  The same goes for the NAACP--who was likely starved for members and leaders in that part of the country.  Spokane officials admit, Dolezal was on their Citizens Police Review Commission strictly because she applied as a "person of color".

So why did she do it?  Because she could--and so many people were willing to "help" her along the way.