She identifies as black: identifying with is not the same as identifying as –
Insofar as we can tell from news reports so far, Rachel Dolezal got herself mired in a deep web of deception. She “identifies as black,” but has misrepresented a range of matters, including but not limited to her genetic ancestry. Further, she reportedly identified herself as white in a lawsuit against Howard University (perhaps that was just “for legal purposes”). Given that some African-Americans in the past tried to pass as white to evade racism, a white person trying to pass as black might, though expressed in the wrong way, suggest an experience of or desire for belonging in the African-American community. Conversely, especially where one’s employment is involved, it might be seen as exploiting them for personal gain or notoriety. At least at the moment, this seems to be the dominant public interpretation of her behavior.
In any case, her self-identification, whether intended disingenuously or not, raises an issue noteworthy apart from her (and most of what follows really is “apart from her”; articles do sometimes use sneaky lead-ins to get you to read them). There are genuine reasons why some people feel at home in some other cultural communities, especially when they have experienced grace, belonging and healing there.
Identifying “with” versus identity “as”
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