Dr. Akinyele Umoja, professor and department chair of African-American Studies in Atlanta, is available to speak about matters of racial identity, politics and solidarity in the wake of the controversy over Rachel Dolezal and her racial identity.
Umoja is the author of "We Will Will Shoot Back: Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Struggle" (NYU Press, 2013), and teaches about African-American history, African-American social movements (especially Civil Rights and the Black Power Movement), African-American political thought, and traditional African and African-derived religions.
“The recent exposure of the ethnicity of Rachel Dolezal has become a phenomenon on mainstream and social media,” Umoja said. “America seems obsessed with this ‘gotcha’ moment on the former Spokane, Wash., NAACP president. The Dolezal case raises issues about race and ethnicity in the United States, the question of ‘passing,’ [as white] and the role of whites in the Black Freedom Struggle.”
The professor explained that most social scientists agree that race is not determined biologically, but by history and politics. Black people have formed an ethnicity, or nationality, in the U.S., due to a common African ancestry and experience building community in the face of enslavement, segregation and oppression.
In some cases, non-African descendants – even whites – are welcomed as members of the community, he said.
“[They are] welcomed not as guests, but as members of our community due to their principled relationships, respect for the experience and service to the group,” Umoja explained.”
However, these white individuals are transparent about their ancestry, and are honest with the groups they are in a relationship with, he said, unlike Dolezal.
“Historically, Blacks and whites have manipulated the color line to gain economic, political, or social advantage or to avoid incarceration or violence,” Umoja said. “Pundits asserted after the election of Barack Obama to the White House in 2008 that the U.S. has advanced to a ‘post-racial society.’
“Ms. Dolezal’s deception, and the reaction to it, demonstrates that the color line still exists,” he said. “If the U.S. was post-racial, she would not have to conceal her ancestry nor would mainstream society, or Black America, be concerned about how she represents herself.”
Socially-conscious whites for centuries have contributed to efforts in the struggle for African-American freedom, and that a white person decided to join and play a leading role in the NAACP isn’t new, the professor explained.
“Whites were abolitionists during the period of racial slavery, and activist Blacks and whites founded the NAACP in 1909,” Umoja said. “White allies of the desegregation movement were violently beaten and incarcerated along with their Black comrades during the 1961 Freedom Rides.
“Some radical white activists like the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee supported the Black Power movement for self-determination and reparations in the 1960s and 70s,” he further explained. “Anti-racist whites even sacrificed their lives during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.”
Solidarity continues today with some young white activists working with the Black Lives Matter movement, started in the wake of police shootings of unarmed Black men.
“Most of these relationships were based on principles, including transparency and mutual respect,” Umoja said. “The most unfortunate aspect of the Rachel Dolezal story is the violation of trust with those she has worked with and represented.
“On the other hand,” he continued, “she should be acknowledged for her choice to be an advocate for human rights.”
Umoja expressed concern that the fascination with the Rachel Dolezal story is consuming the news cycle, and social media interest, to the detriment to the greater story and efforts of fighting for Black lives in the United States.
“Outrage over the achievement gap, criminalization and mass incarceration of Black youth, and the too frequent killing of Black people by police officers and vigilantes should be considered at epidemic proportions,” the professor said. “While Ms. Dolezal’s deception is noteworthy, a national dialog and resolution to the more important questions that challenge Black humanity should receive the same passion and focus. We must keep our eyes on the prize!”
For a biography of Dr. Umoja and a list of his other publications, please visit the Georgia State Department of African-American Studies website at http://aas.gsu.edu/profile/akinyele-umoja/ .
RSS