The concept interested me because I had heard much indirect explanation of this woman's claims of blackness but had never spent any time researching the real story. This documentary tells the real story, which I had heard in its entirety through all the second-hand reports: a white woman spent a large portion of her life pretending to be black, to the point of convincing herself that a choice to be so would make her actually so, and through her pretense actually rose to a position of social importance among civil rights groups. She does much complaining on camera about how much of a joke everyone treats her as, but even those who love her (friends and family) repeatedly iterate in veiled terms that it's all just an awkward ruse no one is benefiting from.
I was especially interested in the story because of a (former) friend of mine from college who had pulled the same stunt, dressing like, acting like, and even going so far as claiming black heritage. The documentary showed me the same socially confused and insecure fraud as I had already seen in my one time friend.
I can accept embracing a culture that isn't your own because its lifestyle and symbology appeal to your needs and tastes, and I personally find the entire concept of "cultural appropriation" to be an absurd hoax grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of how culture works, but the idea of "bi-riacial" identity not only works as a laughably poor excuse for this woman's obvious black-faced life, but it belies the reality of why racism is scientifically, and more importantly morally, false.
Review of The Rachel Divide
