I've been closely following the story of the NAACP leader (Rachel Dolezal) who has persistently claimed to be biracial, even claiming a black man as her father, but is actually white and was outed by her very white parents.
It's a bit fascinating to me. I have two white friends who grew up in all-black schools and they were threatened with rape and assault every single day in the halls between classes. Both of them had biracial relationships and biracial children later on in life. And on the flip side, I have a black friend who would persistently talk about "white privileges" and how much easier it is being white... until this person found out their great-great grandmother was white and, later had a biracial child of their own.
Race is a fascinating topic to me. I can understand a bit of how this Rachel must feel, having 4 adopted black siblings.
Because I was adopted into a white family, I've always felt 110% white on the inside. But the outside tells a different story, and when I was in my teens, I would have done whatever it took--surgery, dyed hair, contact lenses--to look white--just as this woman has done everything she can to her appearance to look black. I'm not sure if I could have gone so far as to actually tell people that I WAS biologically white, nor would I have wanted to try to represent white people. And I most certainly could NEVER pass myself off as Asian in any way, shape, or form. I know nothing about the culture and because of its attitudes towards adoptees like myself, despise many aspects of traditional Asian thinking.
I can certainly understand a bit of how this Rachel Dolezal must feel, because I've felt that way all my life--in-between, with no way of fully fitting in to either side, but yet longing to fully fit into something. But I couldn't claim to be Asian. And I can't claim to be white. When I was in high school I wrote a poem about "The Puzzle Piece That Never Fits." I tore it up one day in a fit of anger because I couldn't understand why God made me this very strange type of "half-breed" that didn't even have fully "real" halves.
The bottom line is, I'm sure this woman was looking for the same thing--a place to feel as if she fully fit in. I feel a little heartbroken for her, though I think what she did (lying about her race and misrepresenting herself) was totally wrong. I'm definitely putting her on my prayer list. I hope she finds her place.
I might not be able to fully define who or what I am, but, I'm thankful that God has kept me truthful about it.