Forums:
...if you're delusional.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/31/who-owns-your-identity-kwa...
So many "gems" in this article...
Identity "Oven Mitt":
Not all identities fit their bearers like a glove; sometimes we’re talking oven mitts.
I would say surreal world:
In the real world, the German model Martina Adam has announced that she has transitioned to black (with the help of melanin-promoting hormones and various filler injections) and, citing a baptismal ceremony she underwent in Kenya, is to be called Malaika Kubwa.
Up for grabs?
Dolezal now says she identifies as black, but not as African American. That’s a bid, though; it doesn’t count if there are no takers. That identity is contested, then, doesn’t mean it’s up for grabs. We don’t own our words; other people get a say.
Useful compromise?
White people are entitled to ask that they not be assumed to be bigots or blamed for the racism of other whites. They can choose to distance themselves from the privileges of whiteness by refusing them when they see them – and by learning to see them more often. Black people can recognise that, since the system of racial identities is made by all of us, it’s absurd to blame individual white people for the privileges they experience. Privilege is not something an individual is guilty of. But, when it’s unjust, it is something you ought to help undo.