Down in Florida a man named Ja Du is making waves for identifying both as transracial and transgender.
Born a white male named Adam, Ja Du says his real identity is that of a transgender Filipino woman. In the process of a formal name change, Ja Du also rolls around Tampa in a bright purple rickshaw. Different news outlets have used different pronouns to signify Ja Du’s gender.
“I’d watch the History Channel, sometimes for hours, you know, whenever it came to that, and you know, nothing else intrigued me more but things about Filipino culture,” Ja Du explained to local Tampa news outlet WTSP, later adding, “Whenever I’m around the music, around the food, I feel like I’m in my own skin.”
Like Rachel Dolezal, Ja Du’s transracialism is not sitting well with the Left, which was predictably dismissive of the concept.
On the other hand, WTSP spoke to one local psychologist who largely validated Ja Du’s identity. “If someone feels that they feel at home with a certain religion, a certain race, a certain culture, I think that, if that’s who they really feel inside, life is about finding out who you are,” said Dr. Stacey Scheckner. “The more knowledge you have of yourself, the happier you can be.”
One of the more amusing headlines to come out of the news was published by The Daily Dot, which was careful to assert “Ja Du’s ‘transracial’ identity isn’t real — but being transgender definitely is.” Progressives have been fairly consistent in rejecting the validity of transracial identities, while embracing the validity of transgender ones. But why?
Both Dolezal and Ja Du’s arguments in favor of their new racial identities were pretty bad. Dolezal’s was at least a little better than enjoying the music and food. That’s why Ja Du is especially well-positioned to explore the incoherence of beliefs about the malleability of race and gender.
Back in January, at least one progressive writer recognized that Dolezal poses a legitimate question that proponents of transgenderism need to answer. “If the Rachel Dolezal moment, laughable and ridiculous as it was, should have taught us anything – it’s that we actually do need to refine our categories and thinking about the ways race and gender identity function,” Rutgers professor Brittney Cooper wrote. “Why is it that our gender identity is what we say it is, is what we feel it to be, while our race is structurally determined, and not simply a matter of our own choices?”
The Ja Du moment presents some serious questions to those trying to redefine gender. But will they grapple with any of them?
