Paper Example on Rachel Dolezal's Identity and Culture

Introduction

Rachel Dolezal a self-identified multicultural Black woman was discovered by one of the reporters in Spokane, Washington as a person who had no African ancestry. The information declared by the reporter made Rachel move from widely unknown to infamous. The shocking report was revealed in June 2015, many people did not believe the ideal identity of Rachel. During that time, Rachel's story about her identity trended online after the reporter posted the entire interview about her identity, which was accompanied by her youth picture provided by her parents. When the story about Rachel's identity went viral, she decided to resign from various positions both paid and volunteer because she had given misleading information regarding her identity. Many people had believed that Rachel was biologically African American. As a result, a national debate was set off by the international news to find more information concerning the ideal meaning of racial identity. Rachel had insisted that she was not African American, however, she had accepted to be culturally black. The sentiments by Rachel stirred a crucial debate around the social construction concerning race identity in the U.S. The objective of this paper is to examine about the Netflix show starring Rachel Dolezal regarding her identity and culture and using Staurt Hall's "Race, the Floating Signifier" to support the arguments.

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Lawrence Dolezal believed to have three origins, which included Swedish, German and Czech spent much of her time home-schooling while making self-portraits. Her parents adopted three African American children in 1990s as well as one Haitian child. Dolezal used to attend racial reconciliation programs, which later made her love the multiculturalism. One of the children that were adopted by Dolezal was Rachel, who was later given the surname as Dolezal. As examined by several scholars, co-cultural practices are based on diverse communication orientations.

Evidence from the studies reveals that there exist several cultural and social groups with different communicative settings. The rhetoric that pertains the true identity of Rachel Dolezal's culture and race can be affirmed by the mass-mediated texts, which emerged in 2015 after her interview with the reporter. Dolezal clearly understands the role she played in uniting different communities from various backgrounds. For instance, having three different origins, she understands how she managed to adopt Rachel. Research shows that Rachel knew her position in the African American communities since she served as an outsider in terms of the real cultural aspect.

According to Stuart Hall's assertion on the race and identity, it is believed that an individual's race is a floating signifier. In this regard, he urges that race is not based on biological or anthropological category and cannot be defined by a person's bone, hair or skin. This implies that an individual's racial identity is based on a discursive category and can be established by classifying the difference and reading one's body just like a text. Hall further suggests that race works as a language. The identity of a person based on race and culture can be interpreted differently depending on one's argument.

Hull denotes that racial characteristics are believed to be biologically traced, however, in such incidences, discursive systems can be established to locate the racial differences as well as the culture. The society usually focuses on social constructions to define an individual's cultural and racial belonging. Rachel Dolezal had hidden her racial identity by telling people that she was not an African American. In this case, she was able to define her identity based on her will. People had believed that she was not an Africa American, which implies that they were convinced to follow her words despite her being a black woman. As Hall put it, race cannot be deemed to be biologically based on one's skin, bone or hair.

Rachel Dolezal struggled to prove her true identity to the people. Her life remained to be unique in her identification as a Black woman. The online platforms brought in a lot of issues regarding her identity which resulted in several discrepancies. According to Rachel's story of identity, she faced an elaborate scheme of self-deception and denial in order to prove to the people about her true self. Having been brought up by white parents who also adopted other children from diverse racial identities, Rachel was able to learn more about the culture of African Americans, which gave her the basic knowledge to understand the cultural aspects of the Blacks.

There are several cases of deception that exists in Dolezal's rhetoric, which attempts to cover some truth about her true identity. For instance, it was stated that she lived a lifestyle that indicated to be a biologically White woman and used to identify herself as Black. A detailed analysis of her childhood activities revealed that she was lived in a teepee, struggled with making self-portraits, involved in hunting of food while living in South Africa and she was beaten by her parents using a baboon whip, because of the appearance of her skin. This illustrates the true identity of Dolezal.

While Stuart Hall emphasizes that essentializing issues related to race using the scientific facts significantly affected culture and nature, for instance, they are both operating metonymically. In the event of a person to prove or define his/her race, the cultural aspects lean on nature in order to justify the identity. The color of hair and gross physical differences of the peoples' skins have contributed to the spread of discursive issues related to one's identity.

The racial and cultural differences are viewed in terms of their visual nature to determine the identity. Hall asserts that racism is affected by the physical trap which makes individuals replace the complex cultural system with the symptom of appearance based on what is noticeable. In this regard, Rachel Dolezal was able to mislead individuals in defining her true identity based on both race and culture. Many people failed to believe the news when the reporter filed the true identity of Rachel based on the interview details and the pictures of her childhood which were given by her parents.

The best example of evaluating Hall's race as a floating signifier is based on the characters of the Black Americans, for instance, Rachel was able to transgress her racial norms, which portrayed her as a raceless individuals. She accepted to observe her true cultural identity while faking the race because of what people perceived. Stuart Hall made an important observation which needs to be emulated by everybody, especially those rejecting their true identity as well as adopting cultural practices that contradicts with their initial norms. Hall suggested that strategic essentialism is an important tool that would help the Whites to engage critically with the cultural aspects of the Blacks. This will also help to solve the complex rhetoric that surrounds the racial and cultural identity of Rachel.

The idea of Rachel Dolezal rejecting the identity of her race in an attempt to gain celebrity mileage implies that she was not willing to be described by people the way they wanted. She ensured that the true identity of her race remained secretive to her and the parents. Several studies reveal that race cannot be proved based on the skin color, this is similar to the observation made by Stuart Hall in an attempt to illustrate the facts surrounding a person's identity.

The propensity to categorize the human race into sub-groups requires profound cultural impulse that would be used to determine both intellectual and physical characteristics. A meaningful identity of a person's race and cultural practices can only be established on the disposition power. In relation to the case of Rachel's true identity, the available evidence revealed that she was not biologically African American. The quest for her racial and cultural identity remained one of the most shocking news among the people. The use of the co-cultural theoretical approach in examining the racial and cultural identity of Rachel Dolezal while utilizing Stuart Hall's ideas about race provides a comprehensive analysis of true identity.

In her past life encounters, Rachel underwent several forces of deception and denial based on different co-cultural practices as well as accommodation efforts. She was affected by the assimilation into the cultures of the Black communities because of her childhood background. For example, Rachel's involvement in African Studies as an instructor influenced her to perceive the cultural practices of the Black communities. This enabled her to trace all the human races and existence to the African continent, which made her claim the identity of African American. The tactic used by Rachel Dolezal could be linked to the idea of emphasizing commonalities with the aim of silencing her critics. The continuous use of nonassertive assimilation to establish the true identity of co-cultural practices in Rachel's story shows another aspect of tactical approach.

Apart from using the theoretical approach to analyze the rhetoric of Rachel's true identity, unfolding facts of race identity trigger insightful question concerning the classification, saliency as well as understanding the racial structure in the U.S. In most case, it presumed that invisible race is not intelligible. The story of Rachel shows that even the Whites can be Blacks, and this raises questions about the existence of a true White. Rachel Dolezal also implies that passing results in the creation of a category crisis, which eventually causes the destabilization of the grounds that defines overall racial identity. The story of Rachel Dolezal demonstrates the likely existence of social constructions of races that are not logical and natural.

The media can be involved in revealing complex stories by offering a simplistic explanation. However, the use of well-established theories of communication can help to provide compelling interpretation regarding current rhetorical scenarios to offer clarification to enable us to gain a better understanding in a nuanced way. The world today is influenced by rhetoric identities of race and culture, however, both social and cultural groups have significant roles to play in defining the true identities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The rhetoric that pertains the true identity of Rachel Dolezal's culture and race can be affirmed by the mass-mediated texts, which emerged in 2015 after her interview with the reporter. Dolezal clearly understands the role she played in uniting different communities from various backgrounds. For instance, having three different origins, she understands how she managed to adopt Rachel. Research shows that Rachel knew her position in the African American communities since she served as an outsider in terms of the real cultural aspect. Stuart Hall urges that race is not based on biological or anthropological category and cannot be defined by a person's bone, hair or skin. This implies that an individual's racial identity is based on a discursive category and can be established by classifying the difference and reading one's body just like a text.