Week 2: Rachel Dolezal To Nina Simone



Dear Nina Simone,

I wanted to write to you about this snippet of your interview that I watched on TV:


Interviewer: In terms of the civil rights movement, how far have we come?

Nina Simone: There aren’t any civil rights.

Interviewer: What do you mean?

Nina Simone: There is no reason to sing those songs. Nothing is happening. There’s no civil rights movement. Everybody’s gone.


I do not understand what you mean. In this new civil rights era, one even gets to choose their own race. I chose to be black. You see, all identity is now fluid. Yes, maybe you were boycotted for the songs you wrote that were “controversial.” And yes throughout your life you have faced continuous racism and violence for being black. But Nina, please know that I now understand how you feel. I chose to be black in order to understand your experience and to sympathize with you. I know your pain, Nina. But you exaggerate in this interview. America doesn’t feel like a prison without any rights to me. This is a beautiful, free country where one even has the privilege of choosing one’s race, Nina.

Best, with complete empathy,
Rachel Dolezal.

Comments

  1. Allyson HobbsApril 10, 2018 at 2:39 PM

    Very interesting post. Looking forward to discussing this in class!

    ReplyDelete

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