Rachel Anne Dolezal became infamous when, in 2015, while deep in her work as an activist for Black and civil rights, a local TV news crew interviewed her and asked: “Are you African American?” Rachel froze. Turned from the camera and walked away. At the same time, Rachel's parents, Larry and Ruth Dolezal, outed Rachel as being born biologically white. While Rachel acknowledged this was true, she doubled down on her chosen identity, which she describes “racially as human and culturally as Black.” In this episode of Homegoings we catch up with Rachel to hear what’s changed in her world since then, and what hasn’t. And challenge the idea of race as a social construct — can it be deconstructed?
This submission features part 1 of the Homegoings episode eRACEing Race: A conversation with Rachel Dolezal.
Homegoings is a podcast that features fearless conversations about race. Follow the series here.
