Rachel Dolezal is not an isolated incident. We repeat Rachel Dolezal is not an isolated incident. It seems for some white women, orange isn’t the new Black – passing for Black is. Racial justice activist Satchuel Cole is the latest in a string of white women to admit to lying about being Black.
A leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in Indianapolis, Cole made the confession in a post on Facebook under her account which lists her name as Satch Paige.
“Friends, I need to take accountability for my actions and the harm that I have done. My deception and lies have hurt those I care most about. I have taken up space as a Black person while knowing I am white. I have used Blackness when it was not mine to use,” Cole wrote.
She apologized for any harm she caused and pledged to “do the work” to make amends.
“I have asked for support and energy as a Black person. I have caused harm to the city, friends and the work that I held so dear. I will do the work to take responsibility for my actions and try to reduce the harm that I have already caused,” Cole added. “If there are ways to repair the harm, I will do the work that is required to do so. I will continue to seek the help necessary to heal myself. I am sorry for the harm I have caused. I am sorry for the hurt and betrayal. I will do what I can to show that I want to be a better person.”
Born Jennifer Lynn Benton, Cole changed her name in 2010 by combining the name of Negro League and Major League Baseball great Satchel Paige’s name with a Black friend of hers. Then she co-opted Blackness.
While there were some who questioned her true racial heritage over the years, Cole’s confession did not come by her own accord. She made it a day after BlackIndyLIVE.com did an in-depth expose on her family history, background and race, reported IndyStar.
In addition to her work with Black Lives Matter, Cole has been involved with activist groups like Indy SURJ, Indy Pride, DON’T SLEEP and others. She helped found the No Questions Asked Food Pantry and has been very vocal about police shootings of Black citizens in her city – even serving as the spokesperson for the family of Aaron Bailey – a Black man who was shot and killed by Indianapolis police in 2017 during a traffic stop.
Cole received immense backlash when news of her lies spread.
“Question: you’ve benefitted personally and professionally from Blackfishing. How will you pay reparations?” wrote a Facebook user identified as Jessica Louise.
“What’s also sad is you could have done all the same work and never had to lie to get it done. You just chose to,” wrote another Facebook user Kirei LynNenise, who also said Cole owed her for “ the money you took under the guise of being my “Black” “sister” and neighbor for years. (You were the first person in Indy to call me “Sis.” Don’t EVER again.) You took money out my pocket on a personal level when you knew where I was financially as a college student and I was just trying to look out for you. You should have been looking out for us for real.”
LynNenise also left her CashApp info and told Cole to let her know when she could send her money back
Black Facebook users also called out many of the white women who were coming to Cole’s defense under her post.
“All these white women, willing to center her and not the Black people that she actually hurt. Very telling. Very telling,” a user identified as Anastasia Allen commented.
“So white people are reporting people who are tell yall white people f**k off for literally gaslighting Black folks who were financially, emotionally abused by this f***ing white woman yall are something f***ing else like yall really think putting BLM just all the sudden stop yall from being sick f***ing bigots,” added Williams Teay, along with a screenshot of a post about Cole that had been removed by Facebook after being reported.
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Cole joins other white women like Dolezal, Jessica Krug, CV Vitolo-Haddad who co-opted Blackness to their benefit. Dina Okatomo is the director of the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society at Indiana University. She told IndyStar why the women’s actions are so harmful.
“The negative consequences and harm to the community are tremendous — a racial justice advocate who has portrayed herself as Black has taken up space, opportunity, voice, and attention from Black advocates and activists,” Okamoto explained. “Her fraudulent racial identity was used to build her career in activism for the Black community. Every person who has come into contact with this advocate did so with the understanding that she had lived and experienced her life as a Black woman, and she has broken that trust with the community.”
Others point to the history of racism and colorism in the United States being a motivating factor for some white women to pretend to be Black.
“Do white women who are conventionally “unattractive” by mainstream beauty standards choose to pass as a person of color because they have more social capital as a light skinned POC (because of colorism) than an unattractive white woman?” Amber Johnson asked on Facebook.
Whatever their reasons, these occurrences are being exposed more and more. Who would have ever thought passing in reverse would be a thing?
