Great news: Racism no longer exists
Jun 15, 2015, 12:08 PM | Updated: 1:54 pm
Rachel Dolezal stars in a new Netflix documentary "The Rachel Divide" set to air in April. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review via AP)
(Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review via AP)
Good news everyone: the concept of racism no longer exists! And we all have Rachel Dolezal to thank for it because if you accept her as black (even though she’s white), I’m not sure racism can exist anymore (certainly not in how we’ve traditionally defined it). That’s a good thing, right? Racism is dead!
Related: 3 really embarrassing NAACP Facebook posts featuring Rachel Dolezal
There have been a number of “sensitive” discussions surrounding Dolezal’s purported scam, much of which have consisted of excusing her behavior, which otherwise would be deemed racist. But you can’t be racist if race doesn’t exist; if you get to choose which race you belong to.
Seattle’s Morning News host Dave Ross asks who, exactly, gets to define what race they are? The implication is that individuals get to define what race they are (so long as, presumably, Progressives are okay with it; Conservatives generally reject the notion that you can “present” however you want so this is a conversation of what Progressives will permit).
If race suddenly becomes fluid – that it is a “social construct” (a word that is overused; everything is a social construct if this is) – then racism can’t actually exist. A simple Dictionary.com definition of racism is:
[A] belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others.
There are no more inherent differences if you can self-identify. The biggest and most meaningful inherent differences between black and white people has to do with skin color. That’s usually what we look at when identifying someone of a different race, as it pertains to black and white people.
Related: Spokane NAACP president resigns in wake of race controversy
But, if a black person can be white and a white person can be black, then the single most obvious indicator no longer exists. Who is to say the “black” person walking down the street isn’t “white”? Can you be racist towards a white woman pretending to be black? If she gets pulled over, can she claim “driving while black?” If race is a “social construct” then you can’t hate it – it doesn’t actually exist!
Now, the truth in all this is pretty simple, actually. Rachel Dolezal isn’t black; she’s pretending to be. You don’t get to identify as black if you’re white. It’s the same way a short person can’t identify as 5’10” so they can claim they’re tall enough to ride a roller coaster. And yes, racism still exists. The problem is Progressives can’t properly explain why transgender people should be accepted, but Dolezal shouldn’t. Further complicating the issue — many of her supporters actually like the work she’s done for the black community.

