BY BILL JUNEAU
A few days ago, a respected black professor at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., Jessica A. Krug, posted on social media that she had been living a lie and that she was not Black, but White.
Her students at the university, faculty members and associates were dumbfounded at her admission. Members of the faculty were "shocked and appalled" and called upon her to resign from her position as an associate professor. Failing that, the department will recommend rescinding her tenure, according to a statement released by the university.
Dr. Krug's confession that she was living a 20-year long charade, brought back memories of five years ago of Rachel Dolezal who was riding high as a NAACP leader in Seattle when her parents appeared and said that Rachel was their all-white daughter and that she was living a fantasy.
Professor Krug, 38, with a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin, was an author and a respected scholar of black history. Around campus, she was revered as a successful WOC (woman of color), and mothers sought to steer their daughters to the paths taken by Dr. Krug.
But there was another side to Dr. Krug, and in that role she used the name of Jess LaBombalera. That Krug was an activist and was said to have spoken out against police brutality at a New York rally in June. "If this city is for us, the New York Police department can't stay," she shouted. As recorded on YouTube, her speech was laced with use of the "F" word.
But whether it was Prof. Krug or Ms. LaBombalera, she was admired and had her fans. At the university she taught various courses in Black history.
Krug had been born of two white parents who were Jewish. She was reared with her brother in their home in Kansas City, Mo. After high school, she earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Kansas and then went on for her doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
She may well have continued to live her arranged life as a Black woman, but her deceit apparently haunted her. Her sister-in-law however challenged that explanation believing that Jessica's lie had been discovered by others.
"I have eschewed my life experience as a white Jewish child in suburban Kansas City under various assumed identities within a Blackness that I had no right to claim," she wrote. " For the better part of my adult life, every move I’ve made, every relationship I’ve formed, has been rooted in ....lies."
Krug said also in her post that that she’s been battling “unaddressed mental health demons” for most of her life and began assuming a false identity as a child.
Rachel Dolezal was 39 when her parents announced that Rachel was their white daughter, part Swedish, part Czech and part German. She earned a bachelors degree and later a master of fine arts from Howard University, a predominantly Black school where she assumed the persona of a Black woman.
Ms. Dolezal is the author of the book, "In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World." In CNN and other interviews, she said that she believes that she has been misunderstood. Yes, she is a civil rights leader, she argues, but never identified herself as African American. "I've identified as Black.... and Black is a culture, a philosophy, a political and social view," she asserted.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Dr. Krug. Dolezal actually changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo, which is said to have the meaning of "Gift of God" in west Africa territory. The new name was designed to recapture her standing in the Black community, but there were reports that she was having difficulty finding a job.
Many white persons and black persons are probably shaking their heads over the peculiar conduct of these well educated women, who aspire to recreate themselves as racially Black. Too many of both races, I fear, look upon them as a pair of kooks.
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