(CNN)What would be the problems inherent with someone misrepresenting their race, even if that person spent a career advocating for the race that he or she falsely claimed to be?
And at what point can a person ever legitimately choose to belong to a race with which they have no apparent genetic connection?
Social media exploded with reaction Thursday and Friday to allegations that Rachel Dolezal, the head of a NAACP chapter in Washington state, is Caucasian but has been misidentifying herself as at least part African-American.
Dolezal, whose biography says she attended the historically black Howard University, also teaches African-American studies at Eastern Washington University and serves on Spokane's independent citizen police ombudsman commission. CNN's attempts to reach her for comment have been unsuccessful.
Here's a sampling of the reactions that made #RachelDolezal and #transracial trending Twitter topics Thursday morning:
And at what point can a person ever legitimately choose to belong to a race with which they have no apparent genetic connection?
Social media exploded with reaction Thursday and Friday to allegations that Rachel Dolezal, the head of a NAACP chapter in Washington state, is Caucasian but has been misidentifying herself as at least part African-American.
Dolezal, whose biography says she attended the historically black Howard University, also teaches African-American studies at Eastern Washington University and serves on Spokane's independent citizen police ombudsman commission. CNN's attempts to reach her for comment have been unsuccessful.
Here's a sampling of the reactions that made #RachelDolezal and #transracial trending Twitter topics Thursday morning:
![[Image: _83587171_dolezal3.png]](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/media/images/83587000/png/_83587171_dolezal3.png)