WASHINGTON 鈥� Rachel Dolezal鈥檚 resignation as president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP on Monday was the result of a lack of truthfulness, not about her race, a former NAACP national president told 草莓传媒 on Monday.
鈥淚t had nothing, quite frankly, to do with her being a white president of an NAACP chapter,鈥� said Kweisi Mfume, also a former Maryland member of Congress.
鈥淭he organization has white presidents across the nation; it was formed by whites, Republicans, women, and people involved in the labor movement. So it was a very diverse beginning, and it鈥檚 tried to retain as much as it can some sense semblance of that diversity.
鈥淭his had more, I think, to do with whether or not she was being as forthcoming as the organization wanted her to be.鈥�
Mfume said the NAACP 鈥渃learly remained on the high road鈥� since the accusations surfaced that Dolezal lied about her race.
鈥淭hey did not impugn her character; they did not rescind her membership. They simply said, 鈥楾ell us what the facts are, so that we might be able to react.鈥欌��
While cautioning that he doesn鈥檛 have firsthand knowledge of the situation, he said he believes that 鈥渋n the absence of that, there was some sort of internal decision, either jointly or individually, for her to step aside.鈥�
Asked about the discrepancy between Dolezal鈥檚 self-identification and the biology of her parents, including the use of the term 鈥渢ransracial,鈥� Mfume said that such categories are always fluid.
鈥淲e live in a world where terms and definitions change almost yearly, and so I don鈥檛 want to say that somebody doesn鈥檛 have the right to feel like they are transracial,鈥� he said. 鈥淔eeling it and being it are two different things, usually, and so that鈥檚 where the disconnect lies. But if she identifies more with African-American culture, and African-American communities and history, that鈥檚 one thing. I don鈥檛 know that to be the case; I just know that that is what she has said.鈥�
That distance between feeling and being, and the assumption that one can decide for oneself when one has transcended it, has caused problems, Mfume says.
鈥淭here are some people who are offended not so much because she is white, but because she has implied that she understands what they鈥檙e going through, or that she feels their pain. Even though she hasn鈥檛 said that directly, that鈥檚 been the underlying assumption.鈥�
Ultimately, he says, the lesson is, 鈥淚t鈥檚 always best to be as truthful as you can be 鈥� when you鈥檙e in a position of trust.鈥�
