OMAHA, Neb. ― Omaha residents have raised concerns about a visit from Rachel Dolezal, who resigned as president of an NAACP chapter in Washington last year after it was revealed that she is White.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska Medical Center professor Dr. Renaisa S. Anthony’s decision to bring her to Omaha to talk about race on Wednesday sparked a backlash on social media.
Anthony said she organized an invitation-only dinner with Dolezal for 25 people, including faculty, students and people from the community, as part of the university’s series of events called “Race-Inclusion-Diversity & Equity.”
Anthony welcomed the controversy, saying that she sought a “polarizing national figure” to attract people’s attention and start a conversation.
“Isn’t it great?” Anthony said Wednesday. “It’s time that we talk about race, inclusion, diversity and equity, starting in my own backyard.”
Anthony said that minorities are under-represented among the medical center’s students and faculty, and that the city and state have disparities in health among various races.