race

Rachel Dolezal Now Supporting Herself As Hairstylist Specializing in Braids and Weaves

Photo: 247PAPS.TV/Corbis

The preposterous story of Rachel Dolezal, the white NAACP leader accused of pretending to be black, dominated the media for a week or so before it was eclipsed by bigger, more pressing national news. Now, Dolezal is back, sharing her story with Vanity Fair — and yeah, she still identifies as black, and she’s not sorry about that.

“I just feel like I didn’t mislead anybody; I didn’t deceive anybody,” she told Vanity Fair contributor Allison Samuels. “If people feel misled or deceived, then sorry that they feel that way, but I believe that’s more due to their definition and construct of race in their own minds than it is to my integrity or honesty, because I wouldn’t say I’m African American, but I would say I’m black, and there’s a difference in those terms.”

Since stepping down from the NAACP, Dolezal, Vanity Fair reports, has fallen back on another skill to make money to support herself: doing black people’s hair. Dolezal said she currently has about three appointments a week for braids and weaves.

Dolezal told Vanity Fair that she believes if she had come forward herself instead of being exposed by her parents, people would be more understanding about her identity.

“If I would have known this was going to happen, I could have said, ‘O.K., so this is the case,’” she said. “‘This is who I am, and I’m black and this is why.’”

Rachel Dolezal: I’m Black, Not African-American