Our flourishing national conversation about race gains additional fuel. Rachel Dolezal, the “black” president of an NAACP chapter is revealed to be white.

President Obama should weigh in. He is, after all, our explainer-in-chief when it comes to race. I’d also like to hear from Eric Holder. Or is he part of the “nation of cowards” when it comes to discussing race?

The story of a white “passing” as a black isn’t new. Mark Twain dealt with it in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson.

In Twain’s novel, Tom Driscoll had no say in becoming black. His one-sixteenth black nurse switched him with her son when the boys were in the cradle.

In these times, however, Twain would have no trouble imagining Rachel Dolezal. As one reads John’s account of her story, you almost think Twain wrote it.

Anyone who has observed what certain parents and their kids will claim to enhance their prospects for admission to the college of their choice won’t be surprised by Dolezal’s false claims about her race. Anyone who observed the rise of “wiggers” in the 1990s, when it is said that 70 to 75 percent of purchases of rap music were by whites, won’t be surprised that Dolezal strongly identified with blacks.

Take the opportunity to combine advantage with chic, throw in a disturbed, guilt-ridden personality, and you can understand Dolezal’s case.

The NAACP appears to be standing behind Dolezal. It’s not shocking, and not to be despised, that the organization will accept a white chapter president. What’s disappointing is that it will accept a liar. I guess race hustling has become an acceptable form of lying.

Christian Adams witnessed more than his share of race hustling when he served in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. He is not at all surprised by the Dolezal story. He writes:

If you are shocked by this story, don’t be. Dolezal had a sort of racial psychosis that you can see in lesser degrees all throughout modern America, particularly in the modern civil rights movement. At the Justice Department, I encountered a white Italian who racially identified as a Sioux. This person adopted the appearance of a native American and racially identified as Indian. Pictures of Sitting Bull adorned the office. If there was any Sioux blood, it was a tiny fraction. But identification with a racial minority group has its privileges, especially at the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ. This wasn’t the only example. So when I heard the outlandish story of Rachel Dolezal, it wasn’t so outlandish to me. The racial left is today built around racial division, race hatred, and racial guilt. It is full of people who see the world through an angry racial lens. The civil rights movement once held the moral high ground by treating people without regard to skin color. Now the civil rights movement exists to divide Americans by race. It is no accident that Rachel Dolezal would gravitate to an organization like the NAACP. But none of this should surprise us anymore, after all, a United States senator from Massachusetts did essentially the same thing. Race is the fuel that runs the modern progressive agenda. It’s 24-7 race. Race is the weapon for the great transformation, for plunking Section 8 housing in wealthy residential areas, for undermining law enforcement and for transforming election laws. It’s time that Americans start shaming those who would divide us.

As Chief Justice Roberts said, “it’s a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.” (Hat tip: John Fund).