The Rachel Divide
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''The Rachel Divide'' is a 2018 documentary about the controversial life of
Rachel Dolezal Nkechi Amare Diallo (born Rachel Anne Dolezal; November 12, 1977) is an American former college instructor and activist known for presenting herself as a black woman, while also being born to white parents. Dolezal was president of the NAACP cha ...
, also known as Nkechi Diallo, an American woman of
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
parentage who identifies as black, and was forced to resign as president of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
chapter in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
when her race and ancestry were exposed. The film was directed by Laura Brownson and distributed by
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
, originally airing on April 27, 2018.


Background

Dolezal's troubles in her professional life began when journalists in the Spokane, Washington area received tips from her brother, Joshua Dolezal, that she was hiding a secret. As her background was further investigated, her secret was revealed: Dolezal was born white, with blonde hair and blue eyes, not black as she claimed. President of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
(NAACP) chapter in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
from February 7, 2014 until June 15, 2015 when she resigned, Dolezal left amid suspicion she had lied about
hate crimes Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their Physical appearance#Physiological ...
that had been committed against her. Following these reports, Dolezal's parents, Ruthanne and Larry Dolezal, publicly stated that their daughter Dolezal was not black but a
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
woman passing for
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
. Consequently, Dolezal was dismissed from her position as an instructor in
Africana studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...
at
Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington, United States. It shares its satellite campus in Spokane, Washington with Washington State University. Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided in ...
and removed by the Spokane city council as chair of the police ombudsman commission over "a pattern of misconduct." A subsequent police investigation did not support Dolezal's hate crime allegations.


Plot

The documentary explores what led up to Dolezal's fall from being a respected university instructor and activist, the circumstances surrounding it, and the aftermath of the scandal. The film states that Joshua Dolezal was accused by his sister and another of the Dolezal siblings of sexual abuse when they were younger. The film further delves into Dolezal's upbringing by parents whom she claims were psychologically abusive and whom her sister Esther says were physically abusive. Esther is shown on camera as having a scar on her thigh that she says is the result of a beating from her parents with a glue gun stick. Esther also says while visiting South Africa they beat her with a baboon whip. Rachel Dolezal claims in on-camera interviews that her parents neglected to educate their adopted children about their racial heritage and this is what led her to researching black history and doing so in their stead. She implies that this research into another culture led to her ultimate transition to appropriating black culture, heritage and becoming, in her words, " transracial". The film also follows Dolezal and her two children, her biological son Franklin and her adopted son Izaiah (Izaiah was originally her adopted brother) and includes her pregnancy and early months in the life of her youngest son Langston, named after
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
. During the documentary, she is seen talking more than once about how she is forced to stay at home due to constant berating by the public.


Production staff

The documentary was written by Jeff Seymann Gilbert and the film's director, Laura Brownson. Brownson has worked as a producer and director for twenty years in various genre including narrative films, television movies and documentaries. Brownson stated that covering Dolezal was a particularly frustrating subject for her. She told Buzzfeed, "I felt for two years that Rachel sort of stayed Rachel, and there was a moment where I felt that I really needed to confront her with, ''This is what I'm seeing in the world, and this is what I think the world would like to see from you and to see you do, and to, perhaps, watch you change''. And you know, the harder I sort of pushed Rachel, the harder she pushed back. She does not change."


Reviews

The documentary received mixed reviews. 
Vogue Magazine ''Vogue'' (stylized in all caps), also known as American ''Vogue'', is a monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers style news, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. It is part of the global collectio ...
gave the filmmaker credit for "balanced treatment of her deeply problematic subject matter" while ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' noted the film's value is in its portrait of family dynamics. "Eventually, Brownson locates the real story: a primitive power game between mother and child, one that forecasts calamity. And it is in this mode that ''The Rachel Divide'' becomes a disturbing and enthralling drama of the American family, the pain of its truths and its fictions." Forbes Magazine gave a positive review, calling it "an excellent documentary: intimate, artful and most importantly, nuanced". Ben Kenigsberg of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' said the film "...goes no more than skin-deep". About the director and Dolezal, Kenigsberg stated, "Ms. Brownson hasn’t figured out how to construct a movie around a figure who essentially owes her fame to the obfuscation of her past. Anything Ms. Dolezal says has to be taken with such a large grain of salt that it’s not clear why it’s worth listening." After seeing the film at the
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
, Valerie Complex, African-American writer for ''
The Playlist ''The Playlist'' is a British children's entertainment and music series presented by guest presenters, produced by Strawberry Blond TV for CBBC and first aired on 22 April 2017 and ended on 12 March 2022. The first series was narrated by Sco ...
'', said, "There is something sick, twisted and insulting about America's fixation with Rachel Dolezal and the way her lies have given her a platform, albeit a negative one, that most Black people don't have." At the online film rating website,
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, ''The Rachel Divide'' received a 72% total aggregate score with 25 reviews and an average viewer rating of 5.6 out of 10.


See also

*
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
*
Identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...


References


External links

* official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rachel Divide, The 2018 films Documentary films about women in the United States Netflix original documentary films American documentary films Women in Washington (state) 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Transracial (identity) English-language documentary films