Die Geschichte der Rachel Dolezal (2018)

Die Geschichte der Rachel Dolezal: Directed by Laura Brownson. With Rachel Dolezal, Franklin Dolezal, Izaiah Dolezal, Esther Dolezal. Rachel Dolezal becomes a social phenomenon when she passes herself off as an African American and becomes the head of her local N.A.A.C.P. chapter.

“Iu0026#39;m from Belgium, so I never really experienced the scandal as Americans did. I can vaguely remember that it even made the newspapers here. I must have read this article years ago. When I opened Netflix I recognized Rachel. So I started watching.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis documentary was actually better than I thought it would be. The main focus is clearly on Rachel herself, and how this scandal affects her children, family and in general her whole social life. From the beginning you get the straight feeling that this story is not an easy one to tell. There is no black and white (get it!? 😉 ), with a big lie in between. This is obviously a woman who has been struggling with her identity for many years. You do start to feel she cannot be categorized as a liar. That would just be to simple. I think Rachel does believe that she never really lied. Perhaps she was just really creative with the u0026quot;truthu0026quot;, so she could continue being the person she loved the most. But when you ignore a certain part of you, it will come back to bite you. Thatu0026#39;s exactly what happened. Towards the end you do feel Rachel is pushing it. Her family is clearly crumbling, and trying to get away from her. I got the feeling she did see this happening, but just couldnu0026#39;t help herself. Her son was actually quite spot on: u0026quot;You canu0026#39;t tell my mom what to dou0026quot;. Clearly frustrated. This kid just wishing for life getting back to normal. Sheu0026#39;s like a dog being hit with a stick and coming back for more. All this for acceptance she will never get.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBeing an European I do watch at identity a bit different than most Americans do. And I do feel this woman was born a few decades to early. Whether you like it or not, weu0026#39;ve gone from a world to a little village in a few decades. Soon there will be no more u0026quot;raceu0026quot;. So identifying yourself with a certain culture will be a social choice. In that way I think the black community, understandably very hurt about the struggle they already had, made a big mistake here. Instead of demonizing this woman, they could have joined this idea. Making acceptance a universal thing. Not just related to the way you look and your skin color. Isnu0026#39;t this what they have been fighting for? Not being judged on the way you look, but who you are? Equal opportunities? Doesnu0026#39;t that go for a person, who is white but feels black? Or maybe it is just all very black and white. Who am I to say!?”