Why Did Richard Dawkins Tweet About Rachel Dolezal?
Some people did not recognize the reference. Here’s a quick refresher.
A tweet by the famous biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins on April 10, 2021 made headlines for its comparison between the identity claims of transgender people and those of Rachel Dolezal.
Because some people are not aware of the details of the 2015 scandal in which Dolezal was outed, and specifically the discourse that tried to make an analogy with transgender identity, I will revisit those details here as background information. Then, in my next article, I go on to discuss the controversy over Richard Dawkins’ comments.
The Dolezal Scandal in 2015
Rachel Dolezal is a white American woman who posed as Black. She attended Howard University, a historically Black institution, and sued the school in 2002, claiming it had discriminated against her for being white. Increasingly, she presented herself as Black, eventually becoming president of a local NAACP chapter. When she was outed by a journalist in 2015, she said: “I identify as Black.”
Dolezal’s choices were widely perceived by Black people as a betrayal and an exploitation. I’m not Black, so I’m not the best person to describe the feelings and reasons involved. Many…
