Monday, June 15, 2015

RACHEL DOLEZAL IS NO LONGER A NAACP PRESIDENT - IS EVERYONE HAPPY NOW

Blog by +Wanda Dorn 

RACHEL DOLEZAL IS NO LONGER A NAACP PRESIDENT - I ASK "IS EVERYONE HAPPY NOW"

Rachel Dolezal, a White woman who identified as African American for over ten years, presented the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP a letter of resignation, accompanied by  this statement "It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley”.

I am truly confused about what the hullabaloo is about?  Because a person chooses to be Black instead of White is not like Bruce Jenner pretending to be a woman, yet many would defend Bruce Jenner, but the same people are angry because someone else defends a person who pretends (in her personal life) to be of a different ethnicity.  

Wanda Dorn
Chief Facilitator
Adorn Studios
Before I remind everyone about the history of the NAACP, I will share my vast experience with members of my family and friends who are White.   I refer to my family as the "rainbow coalition".   I have had the occasion, when I first become friends with a White individual, I have to remind them I do not like them because they are White, nor do I want them to be Black, so it is not necessary that they pretend to be Black.  

It is often when an individual of another ethnic group find themselves in close working or personal relationships with Blacks, it is interesting to note that they will overdo taking on a Black persona, perhaps to fit in, or perhaps because being Black is so beautiful (smile)!

I found that White women who date or marry Black men more often adopt a Black persona, I believe hoping to be more accepted in his family and circle of friends.  I have discussed this subject time and time again in my "Personal Development" classes and my "Diversity Etiquette" seminars".  Believe me this is probably one of the most difficult subjects that I have to present because of the emotional and ideological views each member of the audience brings to the table.

A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON - REMINDER OF THE HISTORY OF THE NAACP

Some members of the NAACP Founding Committee

Lest we forget!


Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization.  Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, campaigning for equal opportunity and conducting voter mobilization.

The Founding group 

The NAACP was formed partly in response to the continuing horrific practice of lynching and the 1908 race riot in Springfield, the capital of Illinois and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. 




Appalled at the violence that was committed against blacks, a group of White liberals that included:
Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard, both the descendants of abolitionists, William English Walling and Dr. Henry Moscowitz issued a call for a meeting to discuss racial justice. Some 60 people, only seven of whom were African American (including W. E. B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell), signed the call, which was released on the centennial of Lincoln's birth.



Other early members included Joel and Arthur Spingarn, Josephine Ruffin, Mary Talbert, Inez Milholland, Jane Addams, Florence Kelley, Sophonisba Breckinridge, John Haynes Holmes, Mary McLeod Bethune, George Henry White, Charles Edward Russell, John Dewey, William Dean Howells, Lillian Wald, Charles Darrow, Lincoln Steffens, Ray Stannard Baker, Fanny Garrison Villard, and Walter Sachs.

Here we see dedicated Whites who worked diligently toward the civil rights cause - Lest we forget, many Whites died for the civil rights cause.  

In my "Diversity Etiquette" seminars, I share this factual truth "If it were not for some 'good White folks' (as older Black people might call them), we would still be in chains.  

I also ask the members of the seminars,"When was the last time you worked for or donated  to a cause you are passionate about?"  In this instance the NAACP.  I ask the same of those who are attacking Ms. Dolezal, especially Black individuals, "If you want to have an opinion about the work getting done the way you want it, what are you doing?"  I say to all of us, "Put your money and/or works where you mouth or opinions are."

I have read no where that Ms. Dolezal did anything to sabotage the works of the NAACP.  Quite the contrary.  She attended Howard, a historically Black college, where Charles Hamilton Houston who was founding President of the NAACP, also known as the "Moses of the Civil Rights Movement", was Dean of Howard at one time.  Ms Dolezal apparently worked closely with "Black Lives Matter" ...  and the list goes on.

I wish Ms. Dolezal the best and hope she will be able to keep her strength to do what she says she will do, and that is continue to fight for human rights.

Rachel Dolezal's Resignation Statement



Dear Executive Committee and NAACP Members,

It is a true honor to serve in the racial and social justice movement here in Spokane and across the nation. Many issues face us now that drive at the theme of urgency. Police brutality, biased curriculum in schools, economic disenfranchisement, health inequities, and a lack of pro-justice political representation are among the concerns at the forefront of the current administration of the Spokane NAACP. And yet, the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.

I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story. I am consistently committed to empowering marginalized voices and believe that many individuals have been heard in the last hours and days that would not otherwise have had a platform to weigh in on this important discussion. Additionally, I have always deferred to the state and national NAACP leadership and offer my sincere gratitude for their unwavering support of my leadership through this unexpected firestorm.

While challenging the construct of race is at the core of evolving human consciousness, we can NOT afford to lose sight of the five Game Changers (Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Health & Healthcare, Education, Economic Sustainability, and Voting Rights & Political Representation) that affect millions, often with a life or death outcome. The movement is larger than a moment in time or a single person's story, and I hope that everyone offers their robust support of the Journey for Justice campaign that the NAACP launches today!

I am delighted that so many organizations and individuals have supported and collaborated with the Spokane NAACP under my leadership to grow this branch into one of the healthiest in the nation in 5 short months. In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP.
It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley. It is my hope that by securing a beautiful office for the organization in the heart of downtown, bringing the local branch into financial compliance, catalyzing committees to do strategic work in the five Game Changer issues, launching community forums, putting the membership on a fast climb, and helping many individuals find the legal, financial and practical support needed to fight race-based discrimination, I have positioned the Spokane NAACP to buttress this transition.

Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It's about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum. It's about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #‎BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.

With much love and a commitment to always fight for what is right and good in this world,





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