Talib Kweli & Azealia Banks Criticize Rachel Dolezal

BYTrevor Smith14.5K Views
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Talib Kweli and Azealia Banks each share their thoughts on the Rachel Dolezal situation, taking very different approaches, but touching on many of the same points.

Rachel Dolezal, the Spokane, Washington NAACP President who was exposed as a white woman pretending to be black, has been the hot topic over the last week. We've already heard Killer Mike's thoughts on the matter, but recently, both Azealia Banks and Talib Kweli weighed in on the issue. Banks did so in a lively Twitter barrage, while Kweli penned a piece for Rolling Stone. While the delivery couldn't be any more different, the two rappers hit many of the same points.

"Working with [the NAACP] doesn't prove you're not an asshole," wrote Kweli. "They're the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and we don't even call ourselves colored people anymore. I saw NAACP people in Ferguson when I was down there, but I also saw that they were down with Donald Sterling. Anyone can start an NAACP chapter. So I don't think that's the best judge of her character."

Talib refused to see Dolezal as an ally. "When you lie; when you're saying your adopted brother is your son; when you're suing Howard one year for saying you're too white, then saying people hung nooses at your door the next year – that's crossing the line. You're not a friend or an ally to the movement. You're an enemy. Maybe you're not as dangerous an enemy as killer cops, but you're not down with us at all."

Meanwhile, Azealia's thoughts began with giddy disbelief, before taking Dolezal to task; "why must one become a caricature of a black person to associate themselves with blackness/black institutions?"

Read her tweets below. Do you agree with Kweli and Banks?

Talib Kweli & Azealia Banks Criticize Rachel Dolezal
About The Author
<b>Features &amp; News Writer</b> <!--BR--> Trevor is a music writer currently based in Montreal. Follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/trevsmith_" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a>.
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