Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
BALTIMORE — (WMAL) Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP chapter president who became embroiled in scandal after claiming she was black when she in fact was white, will be speaking at the Baltimore Book Festival this September.
Dolezal, who considers herself to be “transracial,” and “identifies as black” will be promoting her new book, “In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.”
The decision to have Dolezal speak is particularly newsworthy as Baltimore has a very high African-American population – 63% in the last census.
In addition, several high profile incidents such as the widely-reported death of Freddie Gray while in police custody have stoked racial tensions in the city.
The webpage listing Dolezal’s appearance does not make note of the many controversies surrounding her, nor does her bio.
Instead, what is written is a laundry list of qualifications in such fields as “the contemporary Black diaspora,” “Black women in visual culture,” and touting her “serving as an advisor for [North Idaho College and Eastern Washington University’s] Black Student Union.”
It will remain to be seen how the public and residents of Baltimore will respond to Dolezal’s appearance, but with racial tensions high around the city and country, it will certainly be a story to watch.
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