I’ve been struck by the reactions to Rachel Dolezal I’m coming across online. Just a few of them include things like

I think she is a narcissistic asshole.
She is a liar, a fraud.
She is raising important issues about the definition of race.
She is racing important issues about identity
She is the result of a messed up childhood.

I remember years ago when I worked for a large international bank. I hired a management consultant to help navigate the tricky waters. In one meeting, she suggested being aware of how people react to you, is, at least in part, a result of who they are, instead of who I am.

“Imagine yourself surrounded by a big silver ball”, she suggested. “What is coming at you is often a reflection of the others. Just let it reflect back.”

So, I thought about Rachel Dolezal. Is she a giant Rorschach test? Are the people calling her a “narcissistic asshole” really making a comment about themselves? What about those calling her a liar or fraud?

To me, I like exploring issues around identity or the definition of race and I see that aspect of her. I don’t tend to think of my childhood as being as messed up as it seems hers was, but I ran into my share of dysfunction during my childhood.

As I try to make sense of all of this, let me offer this poem:

For Rachel

“You’re not really black.
Your biological father was white.
You haven’t suffered like black people have.”

She put down her copy
of the National Committee of Negro Churchmen’s
“Black Power Statement”

“My Father is Black”, she replied
“His Son suffered more than any of us can imagine
so that we could be brothers and sisters.”