Justice

15 Provocative Twitter Reactions to Rachel Dolezal's Today Show Interview

June 16th 2015

The Internet responded provocatively to former NAACP president Rachel Dolezal's Tuesday interview with TODAY show host Matt Lauer, who questioned Dolezal about recent claims that she's been pretending to be Black for many years. Dolezal came under fire last week after her parents, Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal, told media outlets that their daughter is actually white and has been misrepresenting her identity as a Black woman.

When Dolezal told Lauer she identifies as Black, he pulled up a picture from her childhood in which she has blond hair, pale skin, and freckles, asking whether that young girl is white or Black.

"Visibly, she would be identified as white by people who see her," Dolezal said. "In that picture, during that time, [I was not identifying as a Black woman]."

Dolezal did, however, state that her identification as a Black person goes all the way back to age five, when she used to draw herself with a brown crayon instead of a peach one. 

On going viral late last week, Dolezal said that "the timing of it was a shock" and that "I did feel that at some point I would need to address the complexity of my identity."

Here's how Twitter reacted to her full interview:

Another gem from Rebecca Carroll:

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