Late to this conversation (new poster here). But I had to post anyway because this woman just infuriates me.
Let me start off by saying that I am a pale, red haired, freckle faced young white woman. My mother is white and my bio dad (sperm donor as I refer to him as) is white. However, my bio dad disappeared when I was an infant. My mother met and married my technical step dad (he is daddy to me and will always be) when I was 2 years old. He is a black man. He adopted me legally and raised me as his own. I have two younger half siblings who are biracial. Growing up in the household made race a non issue for me, I did not realize my family was different than any other. My bio dad was never talked about and I was young enough when step dad came around that until I was 9 years old, I really thought step dad was my real dad. That is until 3rd grade when some mean hick on the playground told me "he can't be your dad! He's a N*****!" This was back in the rural part of NC in the mid 90's so, tolerance was not what it is today.
My reason for sharing this info with you all is to demonstrate that maybe more than typical people, I can relate to feeling a strong affinity to another culture than my own. I am also very passionate and active in civil rights issues, racism, black lives matter, etc., just like Rachel. I have marched for Trayvon, Eric, Michael and Freddie. I get her passion (if it is genuine and not just a mask she wears).
However, what I do not get and what I take issue with is her blatant privilege and appropriation and the (most likely) falsified reports of hate crimes committed against her. What she has done has allowed what I stand for as a white woman involved in the cause to become a joke. She has reduced my passion and my life's work to nothing but a punch line. Worst than that, she has made the very people that I am working to try and help and advance distrustful of people like me coming into their circles and trying to fight the good fight even more than they already were.
God forbid she had gotten to experience police brutality during one of her many traffic stops or God forbid she had been attacked by neo nazi's or whatever the hell it is in some dark alley way while leaving work- what then? All because of a costume? Ah, I bet she would just love it, actually, to further her victim role and martyr status.
I have seen my younger siblings get picked on and bullied for being biracial. They are bullied by the white kids for being black and bullied by the black kids for being white or "not black enough." I have had the devastating experience as a little girl of seeing my 6 foot 5 inch, 250 lb bear of a step dad try to hide his tears while driving us home because the restaurant we had been excited to try would not even acknowledge our blended family's presence, literally. To think that someone would "dress up" to try and live that and even worse, capitalize off of it is sick.
I will add that my step dad is in his mid 50's, a large black male, in the south no less, and said RD has supposedly experienced more blatant racism/hate crimes against her in 5 years than he has in the last 20 so, that should tell you something about the truthfulness or likely lack thereof her claims...
To think I almost started to feel bad about her having her name and face plastered everywhere with horrible comments about her under every article... I am so glad she opened her mouth this week, omitted even any hint of making an apology or admitting what she did was wrong and slapped me back into the reality that she is a self absorbed, self serving, lying
who deserves it all.
