Dolezal: ‘I Was Socially Conditioned’ To Reject My Black Race as a Child

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

HARRIS-PERRY: "I've heard a lot of people ask you the question, are you African-American or Caucasian. I'm not going to ask it that way. Are you black?" 
DOLEZAL: "Yes." 
HARRIS-PERRY: "What do you mean when you say that? What does it men to you to assume the identity of blackness?" 
DOLEZAL: "Well, it means several things. First of all, it means that I have really gone there with the experience in terms of being a mother of two black sons and really owning what it means to experience and live black blackness. And so that's one aspect. Another aspect would be that I, from a very young age, felt I don't know if it's spiritual, visceral, just very instinctual connection with black is beautiful. You know, just the black experience. And wanting to celebrate that. And I didn't know how to articulate that has a young child, kindergarten, you don't have words for what's going on, but certainly, that was shut down. I was socially conditioned to not own that, and to be limited to whatever biological identity was thrust upon me, and narrated to me. And so I kind of felt pretty awkward a lot of times with that. And I remember when I chose to adopt my younger siblings, and I knowing some of the resistance to just my independent spirit and creative ways that I wanted to express myself, I was -- I felt like who is going to be the link for the kids in coming to the family?"