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Rachel Dolezal

Tinkerman

Tinkerman

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Have any of you been following the story out of Seattle (?) where the woman born white, claims to be black? She has been a civil rights leader and a vocal proponent of black civil rights. But now she is being investigated for ethics violations.

The news this morning said, "Rachel Dolezal, the embattled former NAACP leader whose white parents say she misrepresented her identity by masquerading as a black woman for years, told the “Today” show on Tuesday that, despite the criticisms, she identifies as black."

I was wondering what the rest of you might think with regard to our beliefs in reincarnation. My thoughts right away were that she was probably a black person in many previous lives and is manifesting them in this way. She seems earnest in her belief.

I find it ironic that we cheer for Bruce Jenner's identity, yet the trend in this story is condemnation... well, at least in the media.

Anybody else wonder about this?

Tman
 
I was going to suggest the same thing, that she was probably black in her last incarnation and maybe others. She lives in Spokane, not Seattle. I think Bruce Jenner was probably female in his last life. I would tell anyone who wants to "transition" to have a past life regression first before they start down that road.
 
I certainly identify as both female and Chinese and that's completely due to my last life. I had some serious emotional issues throughout most of my life and clung to my gender identification as a sort of crutch until I started doing past life research. The reason I clung to it is that in a sea of uncertainty, it was the only thing that felt real. I even had severe monthly period like pain, as did my past life.


But through my research, I realized that I chose to be here and that my parents also chose to have me and that there was this whole interdependent web of life planning that had occurred and when I realized that, it all just up and left. The period like pains, the wanting and longing.. everything and I can honestly say that I am better off for it. I'm a very objective person though and I wouldn't fault anyone for becoming trapped, let's say, in the expression of a past life.


I believe in the inherent good of all people and if there is negativity around someone like Bruce, I believe that a majority of it is borne from frustration with the media; in constantly selling guilt, sensationalism, racism etc. Many people, I would wager, feel that it is a personal matter and none of their business really. Although there are a few extreme people out there, on both sides of the issue.


But in the case of Rachel, she has essentially lied to people and that's an issue unto itself, past life or not.
 
There are identifiable differences within the brain of people who are transgender; I can link the study if anyone is interested. Whether this is a biological difference that was cuased by past life connections, I do not know. I think it would be interesting to explore past lives and transgenderism.


However, with this story about the woman who thinks she was black, there is no such biological signifier since race is a social construct (for the most part, there are differences in genetics in haplogroups, etc). I do think she probably identifies strongly this way due to past lives, but I do not know.


I also still very much identify as a German man due to past life connections.
 
I had a similar thought when I heard about her. She isn't the first person to identify strongly with a culture she wasn't born into (this time.)


Clarence King, the subject of the book Passing Strange chose to live a double life, as the white person he was born and as an African-American.


Mezz Mezzrow, born white, called himself "a voluntary Negro." According to him, his early goal in life was to be a black musician. It's fun to imagine people's reactions while they asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.LOL


Lawrence of Arabia assimilated almost completely into Arab culture.


Charles "Hindoo" Stuart was apparently much more comfortable in India than his native England.


It seems likely that other, non-famous, people successfully blend into their adopted culture and are never "outed".


Thinking about it, I wonder why society seems to react so harshly, with mockery and even anger, to what seems to be a fairly common human condition.
 
I'm so glad there's a thread on Rachel Dolezal. I immediately thought about reincarnation when I heard about her case. She's most certainly not alone when it comes to whites identifying with another race.


There's "Iron Eyes Cody," the guy who so movingly portrayed the Native American in this iconic commercial against littering:

, who felt so strongly about Native Americans he recorded an entire album devoted to them (Bitter Tears).
I first started remembering bits of past lives around puberty, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think the fact that I could remember past lives as a male helped me get through what may have otherwise been a very confusing time. I totally agree with you, argonne1918, people who are thinking of going down a road of "transitioning" would benefit a great deal from a past life regression, because even if they don't remember it, there's a reason they chose to live the life they are currently living.
 
I wonder how she would have been welcomed if the disparity between white and black wasn't so intense. And by that I mean there's a lot of ostracizing for trying to "act" either black or white, by members of the other race.
 
It is very interesting to read about other people, some famous, with similar traits. Makes me believe it all the more. Johnny Cash was an interesting case... I'd never thought of it like that, but it makes sense. Are there any others out there?


Tman
 
Wow I just read an article on iron eyes cody.. that is an interesting parallel!!


I guess big media / social networking wasn't around back then and these issues weren't as volatile as they are now.


Tinkerman, I'd like to know of others as well. This has gotten interesting.
 
Want to see how common this is? Google "pretends to be Native American." The number of names that come up for just that search is amazing. I suspect similar results for other ethnicities, but don't have time to do a thorough job of this right now. And that's only the people someone became aware of and outed. There are probably many more who have peaceful lives in cultures that have accepted them.
 
I think a lot of the trouble with Rachel is that a lot of african americans think she adopted only the "good parts" of the culture and not the "negative parts." Hence the backlash. I feel that she was mostly likely african american in a past life and its overlapping her current life, for some reason.


As for Iron Eyes Cody, he lived his life as NA, married a NA women, the whole deal. Walked his talk. Adopted the culture, completely, good parts and bad parts. Past life influence? Probably.
 
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