The false equivalence between Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner

In the wake of the Rachel Dolezal scandal, some voices on the right are trying (predictably) to draw a false equivalence between Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner.  Why criticize Dolezal for assuming a black identity, they ask, if we praise Caitlyn Jenner for assuming a female one?

My answer: I criticize Dolezal for lying.  Dolezal lied repeatedly and Jenner didn’t. It’s that simple.

32 thoughts on “The false equivalence between Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner

  1. Dolezal lied repeatedly and Jenner didn’t. It’s that simple.

    But that doesn’t stop the likes of Harry Bannington from making propaganda of it.

  2. I have a related question about this issue. Can one’s “race-identity” be as central a part of one’s personality as one’s gender identification? That is, if, e.g., gender-related surgeries are considered non-elective, should stuff like skin-lightening or darkening? Does the fact that “race” is sort of a made up thing in the first place blow up analogies of that type?

    Also, I think the truth of the proposition that Dolezal lied repeatedly (i.e., tried to “pass” just as many blacks used to have to do for employment purposes) and Jenner never did (it would have been difficult for a celebrity of that type even to try), misses the most interesting issues here. Presumably, others HAVE tried to “pass” as male or female even if Jenner never did. Should such actions (where they’ve actually occurred) be considered morally equivalent, or are there important differences?

  3. I’m not at all sure how to look at this.

    Apparently she was raised with African-American adopted siblings. It seems possible that she is culturally African-American.

    We keep hearing that race is a social construct. That’s also consistent with the possibility that she senses that she is culturally African-American.

    It seems to me that whether she lied is not a question about her DNA; it is a question about her motives.

  4. Apparently she once claimed being discriminated against for being white.

    My problem with sex as a social construct is purely one of social utility. Women might wish to exclude men from their restrooms for safety. There is also the problem of competition in sports.

    Back in the 70s I worked in protective services. I found myself in an airport with two young girls, one of whom needed a diaper change. There were no changing stations in mens rooms, I did not want to take the older girl into the mens room. Nor leave her unattended.

  5. Frankly, I don’t see what the issue is. I could care less if she called herself Martian, as long as she was good at her job and her Martanness didn’t interfere with her ability to perform her job.

    Is it really any different than someone saying that they are Catholic even though they are pro-choice, use birth control and have been divorced?

  6. petrushka:
    Yes. It’s the same as putting a phoney degree on your resume.

    But nobody puts there race on a resume. In Canada, an employer can’t even ask the question.

  7. Acartia: But nobody puts there race on a resume. In Canada, an employer can’t even ask the question.

    Lucky you. In the States, there are implied quotas for everything.

    ETA: I don’t know Canadian history, but I’m going to assume you didn’t have a large slave population or a hundred years of Jim Crow.

  8. petrushka: Lucky you. In the States, there are implied quotas for everything.

    ETA: I don’t know Canadian history, but I’m going to assume you didn’t have a large slave population or a hundred years of Jim Crow.

    No, but we did have a large ex slave population, thanks to our neighbours to the south.

  9. Acartia: No, but we did have a large ex slave population, thanks to our neighbours to the south.

    Presumably they do not feel entitled to corrective action by your government.

    I am nearly 70, which is old, but not ancient. I was in college before Jim Crow laws were eliminated. I was in my thirties before schools were fully desegregated.

    I am referring to the legal status, not to the factual status. In some ways, life is more segregated than when it was the law. I am not smart enough to know exactly how that happened.

    My personal observation is that the communities I grew up in were segregated block by block. I went to an elementary school that was surrounded on all sides by black residences. I lived just a couple blocks from a black neighborhood, When the laws fell, these neighborhoods suddenly found themselves side by side with no official barriers. From my personal experience, the results have been far better than in cities having large ghettos. Not exactly heaven, but not hell either. This is the deep south and prime KKK country, but I see blue collar kids of various races playing together.

  10. Acartia,

    Frankly, I don’t see what the issue is. I could care less if she called herself Martian, as long as she was good at her job and her Martanness didn’t interfere with her ability to perform her job.

    You’re probably not aware of the extent of her lies. They go way beyond checking the box for ‘African-American’ on a job application.

    Rachel Dolezal’s Truth

    Report: Dolezal Said Father Was Black Officer From Oakland While Seeking Police Role

  11. An amusing aside:

    Dolezal’s parents are YECs, and her father actually worked for Creation Ministries International in South Africa.

    Dolezal apparently managed to lie about that, too. She claims to have lived with her family in South Africa, but her father reports that she never even visited them while they were there.

    Dolezal also claimed that her parents were so religious that they listed “Jesus Christ” as the witness on her birth certificate. That’s not true, either.

  12. Ok. She told some lies. She shouldn’t have, but then again most of us shouldn’t have told the ones we told either. Setting aside the fact that she lied…

    If she really self identifies as black, and believes herself to be that way, would it not be equivalent with C Jenner? Another way of asking it, is just to consider a case where the person wouldn’t have lied. They believe themselves to be “black on the inside” and therefore identify that way and check that box on the college application process. Seems pretty similar to me to the C Jenner. If gender identify is subjective why not racial identity?

  13. Jackson Knepp: Seems pretty similar to me to the C Jenner. If gender identify is subjective why not racial identity?

    For one thing, people whose skin color and features suggest African ancestry have actually been enslaved and discriminated against under the law, and have continued to face more subtle forms of discrimination.

    Affirmative Action is an attempt to redress the economic consequences of past discrimination. One can argue whether it is the best of all possible policies, but it does exist. It is a preference in education and hiring that is, in effect, a monetary compensation. Claiming such compensation with false credentials is stealing from people who actually qualify.

    Aside from that, race is bullshitt.

  14. petrushka: For one thing, people whose skin color and features suggest African ancestry have actually been enslaved and discriminated against under the law, and have continued to face more subtle forms of discrimination.

    Affirmative Action is an attempt to redress the economic consequences of past discrimination. One can argue whether it is the best of all possible policies, but it does exist. It is a preference in education and hiring that is, in effect, a monetary compensation. Claiming such compensation with false credentials is stealing from people who actually qualify.

    Aside from that, race is bullshitt.

    I see what your saying and agree with it. And profiting from a certain identity would lead one to perhaps rightfully doubt the integrity of that newly “claimed” identity. Though I think one could argue that women also were discriminated against, and maybe not enslaved, they certainly had economic odds to overcome. In any case, I think clearly C Jenner hasn’t made his moves for financial gain. Perhaps R Dolezal did – which would make her move different in substance as was noted.

    Theoretically though, if such a move weren’t to claim illegitimate financial advantage – Not sure what the difference would be.

  15. Jackson Knepp: Theoretically though, if such a move weren’t to claim illegitimate financial advantage – Not sure what the difference would be.

    She opposed the recent Exodus movie because White actors played Egyptians and Hebrews.

    Shark. Jumped.

    The remaining question is whether she is an oddity or a prototype. Will this change anything in the political landscape?

  16. Jackson Knepp,

    Setting aside the fact that she lied…

    If she really self identifies as black, and believes herself to be that way, would it not be equivalent with C Jenner?

    I think it’s fine for Dolezal to say she identifies as black and for Jenner to say she identifies as a woman, provided that they do it in an honest way. However, Dolezal has been a complete hypocrite and about as far from honest as it is possible to be, which blows the right’s claims of equivalence out of the water.

  17. In other news, Yao Goliath, the president of the local chapter of the NAASP (National Association for the Advancement of Short People) resigned today after reports surfaced that he is actually tall, and has spent the last 5 years walking on his knees. A spokesperson for the group, Dobby Baggins, said that despite published reports, Shaquille O’Neil was not on the short list of possible replacements. As to Goliath’s protests that he “has the heart of a little person, and shares their struggle”, Baggins dismissed them, saying he has no standing in the matter.

  18. Bruce Jenner was at least honest about his desires. Though the way he went about changing himself wasn’t dishonest, God sets limits on what humans can achieve for themselves. Going beyond these boundaries leads to difficulty.

    I can somewhat sympathize with Bruce because there are a few times I thought it would be so nice if I could be a girl and sing like this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0diDwHtATw

    But if God may you’d a guy, perhaps the best you can do is this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ZjOEk4-dI

  19. Sal,

    Though the way he [Jenner] went about changing himself wasn’t dishonest, God sets limits on what humans can achieve for themselves. Going beyond these boundaries leads to difficulty.

    Too bad your God isn’t better at matching brains with bodies.

  20. Too bad your God isn’t better at matching brains with bodies.

    My God could fix it, but instead he’s chosen instead to curse the world and subject it to unfulfilled desires (pursuit of futility).

    Too bad your God isn’t better at matching brains with bodies.

    Actually God is pretty excellent at showing people their needs and desires exceed their ability to satisfy them. Depends on what the Designer’s goals are. You are projecting your goals with the Designer’s. If the Designer’s goals were to remind people they aren’t God, I’d say He’s doing an excellent job.

    In any case, I’m sorry Bruce has an unfulfilled desires. I’m worried all the hormones and surgeries in the world won’t ever make him a complete woman. Being a woman means having been a teenage girl. He’ll never know that. I think he’ll find it won’t make him happy. Sorry it has to happen to such a nice guy.

    As far as the woman wanting to be black. That’s ok. Living a lie is not. So I suppose we agree on the OP….

  21. stcordova: My God could fix it, but instead he’s chosen instead to curse the world and subject it to unfulfilled desires(pursuit of futility).

    This view is based upon your literal interpretation of which religious texts?

    And if we ignore for now your claim about a cursed world, Christianity holds that God did fix it, in Jesus Christ.

    Are you waiting for some other fix?

  22. Genesis 3:14
    And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed…

    Genesis 3:17
    And unto Adam he said…cursed is the ground for thy sake

    Salvador 6:19:
    God could have fixed things but instead God chose to curse the world.

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