Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

After three years in the headlines, Rachel Dolezal finds herself wrapped in another complicated matter involving race.

Dolezal, who is most famously known for being exposed as a white woman after years of performing blackness, was recently accused of welfare fraud according to a report by KHQ-TV.

As the national narrative falsely suggests that Black people are the main abusers of government assistance, the recent findings surrounding Dolzeal serves as another glaring reminder that college-educated white Americans are actually the main beneficiaries of government assistance.

RELATED: Rachel Dolezal: From Having Her Wig Snatched To Doing Weaves

In the early 1980’s a government-run investigation headed by Regan officials uncovered thousands of instances of welfare fraud in predominantly Black communities. The cases, which represented a small fracture of the total number food stamp recipients, led to a narrative that Blacks are the main abusers of welfare, hence springing forth the pejorative term, “welfare queen.”

KHQ-TV uncovered that Dolezal is accused of stealing $8,847 in food and child care assistance dating back to August 2015. In the court documents obtained by the outlet, Dolezal, who formerly changed her name to “Nkechi Diallo,” is charged with first-degree theft by welfare fraud, second-degree perjury and false verification for public assistance.

The investigation discovered Dolezal only reported a $500 monthly income from child support payments after she stepped down from her post as the president of the Spokane NAACP chapter once it was revealed that she was indeed–a white woman.

The Washington Department of Social and Health launched an investigation into Dolezal’s income reports in March 2017, after Dolezal announced she was publishing a book and found bank statements showing she deposited nearly $84,000. Investigators believed the sum came from her book deal. Last year she also reported a change of circumstances, citing a one-time payment of $20,00 for “speaking and voice overs.”

If found guilty, she faces five years in prison and could pay $8,887 in fines, along with the cancellation of her SNAP (food assistance) benefits.

Dolezal is a prime example of how some working-class whites with college degrees manipulate government assistance to obtain the American Dream.

According to a 2017 study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, white people aged 18 to 64 who don’t hold a college degree account for the largest class of adults who were able to rise above the poverty line through government assistance. The report also stated that in 2014, 6.2 million working-age whites were lifted above the poverty line, compared to 2.8 million blacks and 2.4 million Hispanics.

So let’s get real clear about facts–we’ve been bamboozled for long enough.

SOURCE: KHQ-TV, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

DON’T MISS:

Rachel Dolezal Wasn’t The First: Six More Whites Who Passed For Black

Black Twitter Roasts Rachel Dolezal And Her New Netflix Documentary Trailer

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.