What I want to ask Rachel

The racial climate in the U.S. has been intense. With public outcry over police brutality against African Americans, racism captured across social media by prominent individuals and organizations alike, things have really taken a turn when news was released of the Rachel Dolezal scandal.

For those who don't know, Rachel Dolezal, a NAACP leader, who claimed to be of African American descent was outed by her very Caucasian parents as lying about her race. 

While black twitter had a hilarious field day with the #AskRachel social storm, many people have come to defend Rachel's ability, even her right to claim the African American identity.  

I would like to remind the latter group that not too long ago, it used to be considered a crime to "pass" or pretend to be a different race. These laws were created by the dominant culture so Blacks (whose mothers were most likely raped by white men resulting in African Americans of fairer shades, light colored eyes, and straight hair) would pretend to be white. In doing so, they did so to escape oppression (not because it was the cool thing to do).

It used to be considered a crime for blacks to pretend to be white. 

Now, because we are in this permissive cultural climate, people want to defend Rachel for, at the root of this whole discussion, is a LIE. She lied about her ethnicity, she lied about her experiences, she lied about her family and forced them to lie. Her whole life, from the moment she decided to pretend until now, has been nothing but a intricate web of lies. 

Now let's just clear the trash out now before we dive into the deeper issue: 

First: I don't have a problem with a white woman leading the NAACP. As long as she was leading with integrity, which, facts say Rachel did not. The fact that she built a fortress of lies on top of lies shows that she simply doesn't posses the character trait of integrity. And THAT is why she shouldn't lead anything, let alone the NAACP.

Which brings me to my second point: There is no such thing as TransRacial. Period. For those who are trying to make transracial a thing, don't. You don't just get to wake up and decide you want to be Black. You don't get to steal the identity of one of the most oppressed groups since founding of this country for your own good. You don't get to get the benefits of being black without having to endure the burdens of being black. No, it's not transracial. 

We have a term already coined for what has happened. It's called Cultural Appropriation. What you, Rachel, have done is the essence of it. You literally stole elements of a culture that you don't identify with to use for your own personal benefit. 

So my question to Rachel is this: What is wrong with being white? Nothing. Just like there is nothing wrong with being born black, or any other ethnicity for that matter. 

In fact, you as a white woman could have made a very powerful statement. You could have stood with us in the fight, showing solidarity amongst people. Your voice would have carried into circles and spheres where black voices couldn't. 

That is if you truly wanted to help the black culture (and to be honest, I simply doubt your ability to be honest right now).

You don't have to identify with a race to be able to help them. That's called being a human being. 

So why, Rachel, did you feel you had to steal a culture? Why, Rachel, did you have to lie?