In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Rachel Dolezal says she’s now making a living by doing braids and weaves “about three times a week.”
The former Spokane, Washington NAACP branch president tells writer Allison Samuels that the last check she received from the organization was for $1800 back in June. Her main source of income at the moment are the hair appoitnments.
Of course, we can’t assume that all Dolezal’s customers are Black women ( she doesn’t say that), but before she was outed, Dolezal was known to give history lessons on Black hair, and has previously described herself as an “ethnic hairstylist” who “falls back” on doing hair when she wants to make extra money.
Gurl!
but on a lighter #RachelDolezal note… those braids! those braids! those braids! #rocking #poeticjusticewhitewomanstyle
— Sherri Shepherd (@SherriEShepherd) June 12, 2015In her VF interview, Dolezal continues to call herself a Black woman and feels like she didn’t mislead anyone. “I didn’t deceive anybody,” she said. “If people feel misled or deceived, then sorry that they feel that way, but I believe that’s more due to their definition and construct of race in their own minds than it is to my integrity or honesty, because I wouldn’t say I’m African-American, but I would say I’m Black, and there’s a difference in those terms.”
Even with that said, Rachel still can’t relate to the hair texture experiences of women of African descent. Does that matter to you? Does a hairstylist have to know everything about your #GrowingUpBlack hair experience in order to do your hair? Or are you satisfied knowing that they’re a good hairstylist, no matter their ethnicity?
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