The story of Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president who just resigned from her position due to a controversy on her ethnicity, has reached national news and inspired white parents who raised black kids to come out. The white parents' reactions about Dolezal's controversy were unlikely favorable to her.
Two parents in different instances shared their experiences of raising kids with color and how it didn't changed their race.
Calvin Hennick, a dad of two, shared his perspective about Dolezal's controversy. Henrick admitted to have married a woman from Haiti, lived in Harlem for a year, speak a little Creole, taught middle school in South Bronx and even played basketball with his black teenage neighbors. Despite his association to blacks, Hennick never turned black but remained white, Yahoo Parenting has learned.
Hennick stressed that one's race does not come from one's children but from something that's passed on from parents. He said, "Our parents pass their heritage on to us. It doesn't work the other way around."
He added that no matte how sincere Dolezal is, in some ways, she is taking advantage of genuinely black women by taking their jobs or crowding out their voice. Hennick asked Dolezal to quit with her pretensions saying, "Come on, white lady, knock it off already."
In a separate report from Yahoo Parenting, Deb Kennedy, another mom who raised kids of color, said that her decision to rear black children has not changed her identity.
Kennedy said, "Raising kids of color, I'm still a white woman and I know that. My kids' identity does not change my reality." Kennedy shared that it is important for kids to know the truth, so when they are all grown up they can trust themselves.
Kennedy does not agree with Dolezal's position about being a parent. In a report from Today News, Dolezal started to identify herself as black when she received the custody of her black brother, Izaiah, who is like a son to her now.
Dolezal said, "He said, 'You're my real mom.' And he's in high school, and for that to be something that is plausible, I certainly can't be seen as white and be Izaiah's mom."
For Kennedy, being a parent means being the person who is always available for one's children and be with them everyday, as well as become the person they can call to. Kennedy does not need to share the same color or race with her kids to be their mother. She is contented that her children know she is always there for them.
According to a report from Today News, the controversy about Dolezal's race started when her claims of being a hate crime victim by whites was questioned. The issue grew worse when her Caucassian parents revealed themselves and identified her as their biological daughter, whom they lost contact with for years.
