Rachel Dolezal isn’t going to let anyone take her ‘blackness’ away from her. Because her being a white woman impersonating a black woman gets her more attention, praise, dates, etc. And why? Light-skinned privilege. Dolezal says as much in her interview with People magazine:

In the book, which will be released on March 28, the former Washington NAACP leader doesn’t walk back on her claims that she self-identifies as a black woman, saying that living her life as a black person made her life “infinitely better,” although it did make her feel more “distant and isolated” from white people as she started to embrace more elements of African-American culture.

Being ‘black’ has become so cheap these days that anyone with a deep tan can claim it will little to no opposition from blacks…BUT…only if you’re female. Dolezal is the perfect case study for the rampant colorism in the black community. I mean, think about it–she was a relative “vanilla” nobody in a sea of white women with whom she had to compete. Stay a little too long in the tanning bed and put on a long kinky wig and then you’re the light skinned ‘black’ trophy. Not only was she happily welcomed into the black family, she was elevated to one of the highest institutions representing black people in America.

I knew that I have many light-skinned black women who follow this blog, and I want you to know it’s not a dig at you. You were born the way you are, and you didn’t have a say on how light or dark you became, same as me. But to look at this example of a failed white woman becoming a celebrated black woman sort of proves what we’ve been saying about light-skinned privilege. Anyone with a spray-on and nappy wig and walk right in front of you and reap the benefits of minority status from our government and benefit from their light skin in her social and professional life amongst black people. But…if that’s okay with you…