Pop Quiz (“race matters” edition)

Talk about a slow-news week! The tale of Rachel Dolezal has somehow become the biggest story in the USA since Bruce Caitlyn Jenner’s horrendous Vanity Fair photo shoot. Since our expertise is law, we wish to pose the following question to our readers: Did Ms Dolezal commit a legal wrong or even a moral wrong by claiming to be Black? If we are simply dealing with a moral issue here, isn’t it more immoral of us to criticize or judge her choice to self-identify as her preferred race? Bonus Questions: Given that almost all university “affirmative action” plans use race as a factor in deciding admissions, who enforces all the fraud and deception strategic gaming that goes on in the admissions process (e.g., applicants who claim to be Native American or Hispanic when they are not)? Also, while we’re on this subject, what about rampant university discrimination against Asians–would it be wrong to change one’s name to sound less Asian to avoid being discriminated against by universities? Additional Bonus Question: Why does the category of “race” still matter to so many people? What purpose do these culturally-constructed categories still serve? Should we consider abolishing these categories altogether?
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About F. E. Guerra-Pujol

When I’m not blogging, I am a business law professor at the University of Central Florida.
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