“The idea that one has long held of a person is apt to stop one’s eyes and ears.”

–Marcel Proust

I’m a little offended that the same hypocrites; who seemed to be in some sort of rabies-induced competition, knocking over their children and their elders lest they be last to leap up and applaud Bruce Jenner – who only had stuff added, nothing snipped – simply because, all of a sudden, he decided that his name is “Caitlyn”, can’t cut Rachel Dolezal some slack.

Dolezal, who thanks to some brilliant and savvy self-marketing and promotion, we all know is the white woman who, for years, has been passing herself off as Black. And while this phenomenon in and of itself is probably causing Wallace Thurman to spin in his grave, Dolezal, like Jenner, like a lot of us… hell, like nearly all of us, wasn’t completely satisfied with the way in which she was rendered at birth.

What most amazes me is that it’s been Black people, traditionally not only the most inclusive, but also known for almost shaming others into Blackness; i.e. Haitians, Jamaicans. Dominicans, Africans, that have given Dolezal the hardest time.

This, I simply don’t understand at all. We’re the alleged minority, the one-drop-rule group, the color that covers everything.

Meanwhile, also on the Black front, we may be picking up another oddball to come off our bench just in case Belafonte ever falters. Tom Jones, long thought be be solely a Welsh crooner, by, apparently those without eyes to see his nappy ass hair, is going in for DNA testing to determine whether or not he is, in fact a N— ot so fast.

We know that as a human species, we’re all from Africa; some more directly than others. That said, it could be some long dormant recessive gene that causes the occurrence of Tom Jones’ Angela Davis-inspired ‘do. If that’s the case, would we be disappointed to lose out on what would have surely been another great musical pick-up for the team (personally, I’m still waiting for the Carly Simon “Welcome Home” party)?

And would Tom Jones automatically then become Black? Not only have we looked at him as a white man for his entire life, but he’s also looked at himself that way. Does reality change perception, or is it the other way around?

One of the best scenes in the 1946 movie Pinky, is when Pinky, who’s been passing for white up north, moves back home down south. She runs into a southern white man who, initially believing the pretty lady to be white like him, is courteous to the point of being deferential. The minute one of his buddies straightens him out, not only does the white man become rude, but he starts talking to Pinky like he might wanna fuck her, which of course, her being a Black female and all, she’d be totally with.

But this white man had met Pinky only seconds before, an even iller scene is when Pinky decides to break the news to her white fiancé.

Which brings me back to Dolezal: Rachel not only sees herself as a Black woman but she’s been so successful passing herself off that she’d actually been appointed head of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP. She’s been at this hustle a long time.

How crazy is it then to tear her down when we rush to our feet for Caitlyn?

You’d think we’d be happy for the help.