Dolezal Revisited

what gets ignored in trans narratives

The infamous Rachel Dolezal, who identifies as a W2B trans (white to black transracial) and has recently changed her legal name to “Nkechi Diallo,” is making headlines once again for getting fired by the Catalina Foothills Unified School District. Shockingly, her most recent cancellation has nothing to do with her chronic disregard for the social stigma against cultural appropriation. Rather, the former elementary school teacher was fired for posting photos of herself wearing lingerie on OnlyFans.

Surely, an educator of small children displaying their goods on a virtual meat market should give us pause. And I find it hard to fathom why any parent would want their child to be schooled by a hasbeen microcelebrity known for her eccentric escapades. But as eccentric as she may be, the public’s ritualistic chastisement of Dolezal and her transracial ilk deserve further examination. In a culture that seems blind to its own cognitive dissonance of being pro-all things trans except for race, figures like Dolezal have the potential to shed a revelatory light on our perplexing moment.