Jessica Krug

I’m old enough to remember when it was considered a noble goal for the United States to become a colorblind society. I’m also old enough to have forgotten when that goal of colorblindness became, you know, just another way to perpetuate systemic racism. I don’t know how we got here, but I’m afraid I might be one of those perpetuators who ‘doesn’t see color’. Because, if I’m being real, lots of people of color look white to me.These old-timey Perez eyes of mine may be onto something though. Five years after Rachel Dolezal shocked the world with the revelation of her whiteness, we’ve seen three back-to-back cases of white women pretending to be black go viral.

A university professor in Washington DC whose work focuses on Africa and the African diaspora apologized last week for ‘pretending’ to be black. In an emotionally raw, difficult-to-read blog post, Jessica Krug revealed she’s actually white and has been deceiving her friends and colleagues for years.  As I read the tortured words in her post, I became enraged. Her words brought back a torrent of memories from when I myself felt the need to keep my transracial status a closely guarded secret. Thankfully these days I feel comfortable enough to tell the world: my name is Godfrey Elfwick. I am wrongskin.