Did a prominent social activist just get outed by her mother for rocking “brown face”?
In a report published by The Intercept, a Muslim activist named Raquel Evita Saraswati, who has been identifying as a multi-ethnic woman with Latinx, South Asian and Arab lineage, has allegedly been wearing “brown face.” Saraswati is the Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Culture Officer at American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Religious Society of Friends founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world
Carol Peron, a woman who claims to be Saraswati’s mother, has stated that Saraswati is “simply white.” “I’m as white as the driven snow and so is she,” Perone said, before explaining that both she and her daughter are of British, German, and Italian descent.
During Peron’s conversation with The Intercept, she shared photos of Saraswati as a child. Per the outlet, the photos show Saraswati in her outh with a noticably lighter complexion. Perone explained to The Intercept that her daughter converted to Islam in highschool before making the decision to identify as a different ethnicity.
“I’m German and British, and her father was Calabrese Italian” Perone said. “She’s chosen to live a lie, and I find that very, very sad.”
Oskar Pierre Castro, a human resources professional who was part of the search committee for Sarawati’s position, said Sarawati presented herself as a “queer, Muslim, multiethnic woman.” “It really touched all the points,” Castro told The Intercept. “In my mind it was, ‘Great, a person of color, a queer person of color, who happens to be a Muslim, it’s a woman, all these things, and someone who seemed to get it,” he said. “I definitely feel conned. … I feel deceived.”
In a statement to The Intercept, the AFSC addressed the allegations against Saraswati.
“We are in receipt of the documentation alleging that our Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Culture Officer, Raquel Saraswati, has been misrepresenting her identity,” the organization stated. “AFSC has given Raquel the opportunity to address the allegations against her, and Raquel stands by her identity. Raquel also assures us that she remains loyal to AFSC’s mission, which we firmly believe.”
There is a history of white people adapting the ethnic idenities of marginalized groups they don’t belong to. The revelations of the true identities of public figures such as Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who for years posed as a Black woman and served as the president of an NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, and Jessica Krug, a white woman who posed as an Afro-Latina named Jess “La Bombalera” and who contributed to media outlets such as Essence and RaceBaitR have been a subject of much debate as it pertains to racial identity.
Ultimately, when these individuals are exposed, they have often already manipulated the system in a way that further subjugates the groups they claim to be a part of by stripping them of services, jobs, and funding designed specifically for members of those margnialized groups, and that’s unfortunate.
