Story highlights Rachel Dolezal, who is biologically white, passed as a black woman as a leader at NAACP

Camille Gear Rich: We should not indict her for her choice to link herself to the black community

Camille Gear Rich is professor of law and sociology at USC Gould School of Law. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) When it comes to identity, America takes one step forward and two steps back.

On Monday, Rachel Dolezal, the head of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, resigned in shame because she had posed as a black woman even though she is biologically white.

The outing of Dolezal seems ironic given the recent public embrace of Caitlyn Jenner, the transgender woman formerly known as Bruce Jenner. Jenner seems to have ushered in an era of greater tolerance about the constructed nature of identity. After all, when a transgender woman is elevated to the cover of Vanity Fair, it's as though we have reached a tipping point. We can accept the idea that one's social identity can be radically transformed if it doesn't match with what one feels in the heart.

The stark difference in Dolezal's treatment forces us to ask what's the difference between claiming a gender identity versus a racial identity? Why is it that we celebrate Bruce Jenner's gender change and frown upon Rachel Dolezal's racial change?

Camille Gear Rich

Dolezal is disturbing for many people because she marks a cultural fault line. Like it or not, we have entered into an era of elective race -- a time when people expect that one has a right and dignity to claim the identity of one's choice.

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