Why White Women Want to Be Black

"We have had a rash of fake black people — white women who have decided they’d rather be black. The latest is Jennifer Benton. Ten years ago, when she started passing herself off as black, she legally changed her name to Satchuel Paigelyn Cole, after Satchel Paige, the black ball player. Her high point as a black woman came in 2017, when she became the spokesman for the family of a black man killed by an Indianapolis cop. Until it was discovered she’s white, she was the vice president of an organization called Don’t Sleep.

Another fraud this month was CV Vitolo-Haddad. She was a doctoral student and teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It turns out she is Southern Italian, so the Haddad part may be just for show. She, too, is a “they,” not a “her.”

She was co-president of the Teaching Assistants Association at Madison, and she had just been offered a tenure-track job at Cal State Fresno. Cal State won’t touch her now, although it said in a statement: “The University will always uphold its core values of discovery, diversity and distinction.” I thank a fake black would be great for discovery and diversity.

The Teaching Assistants Association said it was “profoundly sorry for the harm” it caused, adding that the association is “infused with white supremacy and anti-Blackness.” The leaders will take anti-racism training, and “work towards healing as a group.” More healing.

Perhaps the most high-profile phony this month was Jessica Krug, a tenured professor at George Washington University in DC. She was actually a Jew from Kansas who graduated from a fancy private school but later claimed she was an “unrepentant and unreformed child of the hood,” that her parents were drug addicts, and that her mother was a prostitute. She skipped her mother’s funeral in 2013, for fear she might give the game away.

Professor Krug couldn’t decide if she was Algerian or Caribbean or Black Boricua – whatever that is – and people got suspicious. When she came clean, she said she was “the very epitome of violence, of thievery and appropriation.” She has resigned from her professorship, and says, “You should absolutely cancel me.” George Washington University sent email to all students, saying, “We hope that with this update, our community can begin to heal.” More healing. The message encouraged people who needed it to get help from campus mental health services.

In 2018, Miss Krug published a book about fugitive slaves. Now, everyone is saying it was awful, but last year it was a finalist for two top awards, the Harriet Tubman Prize and the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. ...

It sounds like these ladies are confused, but I understand why they wanted to be black. It gave them a better chance than being homely, unremarkable, white women. Black privilege beats white privilege any day. And there are great psychological benefits. White people are the villains of history while black people are heroes. White people prop up white supremacy, while black people fight for justice. Who wouldn’t rather be black? They give up nothing, they became two-fer diversity stars, they become morally superior, and it’s so much fun berating white people the way Jessica Krug did. ...

But these people reportedly sickened whole communities that have to “heal.” Heal from what? If a prof at George Washington were fired because he faked military service or plagiarized his thesis, would students take sick and need to “heal”? If a prof everyone thought was white turned out to be a light-skinned black who was “passing,” would students need therapy? No. But no one would try to pass as white. No one would give up the advantages of being black.

So, let’s summarize. White people are supposed to be swilling in privilege, but some find it’s better to be “oppressed.” Race is supposed to be a social construct – nothing to do with biology – but if a white lady tries to prove it, she’s a plague on the community. We are supposed to be living in a white supremacist country, but if you put up a sign on campus that says “It’s OK to be white,” you’re likely to be expelled.

Are you confused? No, you’re not confused. The country is."