Rihanna & 11 Other People Defending Rachel Dolezal

1 of 13

❯

❮

Perhaps you saw your timeline go nuclear Tuesday morning when Rihanna told Vanity Fair she viewed ousted NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal as “a bit of a hero.”

The woman who was born white yet self-identified as black with the help of some spray tan and synthetic hair products earned yet another pass. Hit the jump to see Rihanna and 11 other people defending Rachel Dolezal as she attempted to pass like she was back in Reconstruction times.

—
Photo: Twitter

Photo: WENN

Dave Chappelle

While we were all expecting some Clayton Bigsby level ether, Dave said he’d leave Dolezal alone citing an expected overabundance of jokes about her and the nuance needed to discuss the overall construct of racism.

photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com

Keri Hilson

Perpetual social media punching bag Keri Hilson got mercilessly dragged for saying Dolezal did more for the black community than some members do for themselves. She halfway walked the statements back by pointing towards Dolezal’s “efforts” and “intention,” but the digital wig snatching continued.

photo: Kyle Blair/WENN.com

Whoopi Goldberg

It definitely seemed Whoopi ignored the whole part about Dolezal sending herself fake hate mail when she said, “If she wants to be black, she can be black” about the former NAACP president.

photo: FayesVision/WENN.com

D.L. Hughley

Comedian, author, and radio host D.L. Hughley took to Twitter and got rhetorical in the wake of the Dolezal scandal by asking, “What exactly did she do wrong? Why are people mad?” Mind you, this was after Dolezal resigned and it was brought to light she was born a white woman.

Boyce Watkins

The always-opinionated Watkins told The Wrap Dolezal “does more for the black community than 99 percent of the black people that I know.”

photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com

Cher

It sure seemed Cher missed the bigger picture when she tweeted, “I Don’t Know WHY She Chose Her PATH,But Who Doesn’t Want 2 have Blk COOL?” Boiling the experience of passing in 2015 down to a desire for black cool? Cher should have several seats on this issue.

photo: Phil Lewis/WENN.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The hall of fame center and prolific author arguably made some of the best points of anyone defending Dolezal. But like everyone else, he seemingly glossed over the cultural ramifications of a white woman masquerading as a black one in his essay for TIME magazine.

photo: PNP/WENN.com

Melissa Harris-Perry

Blame some misleading editing for teasing a hard-hitting interview with Dolezal but really delivering a line of softball questioning centered on the difficulty of biracial hair maintenance. Harris-Perry threw out the phrase “transracial” after her MSNBC interview, and #BlackTwitter was having none of it.

The NAACP

The same organization that gave Donald Sterling awards after he was publicly busted for his discriminatory housing practices released a statement saying, “One’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership.” What about lying about one’s racial identity? Oh, well. They’re for the advancement of “colored” people not “black” people.

Raven Symone

While The View contributor Raven Symone attempted to make the same argument Abdul-Jabbar did, she lacked the depth or nuance. It sounded like the type of basic, inflammatory rhetoric about skin and hair straightening you’d expect from someone who refers to Africa as a country instead of a continent.

Esther Dolezal

Not everyone in her family disowned her, as Dolezal’s adopted sister said she fully supported her blackface rocking sibling. Esther slammed “the system” and bemoaned the lack of progress after the Civil Rights Movement, because that’s the real issue here.

Rihanna

Tuesday brought the collective groans of millions not enlisted in the “Rihanna Navy,” when the pop star called Dolezal “a bit of a hero” and said she “changed people’s perspective a bit.”