March 16, 2023 - 4:00pm
This week, Vianne Timmons, the president of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, announced that she was taking a leave of absence after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation raised doubts over her purported indigenous ancestry.
Timmons, whose claims of Native American heritage are redolent of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s long-time but ultimately disproven assertion of a similar background, is but the latest in a long line of racial identity fraudsters, of whom there seem to be more being exposed on a daily basis. Prior to Timmons’s admission that she “sincerely regrets any hurt or confusion” from her outright deception, Raquel Saraswati — a self-proclaimed “Muslim progressive activist” and equity, inclusion, and culture officer for the Quaker nonprofit American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) — was outed as Rachel Seidel, a white woman of Western European descent.
Saraswati, whose mother described her as being “as white as the driven snow”, resigned from her role in response to the revelation. Her story, unlike Timmons’s or Warren’s more measured deceit, is one of the lifelong clout chaser who “identity-frauded” her way into a privileged field. Saraswati claimed to have converted to Islam as a student at a private high school in Troy, New York, after which she emerged in the 2000s looking noticeably different from her adolescent self. To fit the part, she now boasts visibly bronzed skin, darker and thicker eyebrows, and an ever-present head covering (early in her racial transition, she previously described herself as a “Catholic Latina” with Arab ancestry).
Both Timmons and Saraswati clearly saw value in escaping their whiteness, and seem to have been done so for some kind of career advancement. Saraswati’s deception led her into the DEI space, a lucrative career path for which organisations created over 100,000 positions in June 2020 alone. Timmons, meanwhile, earned the presitigious position of university president.
Given the mercenary nature of Saraswati’s conversion — she was on national TV shows as soon as she could get there — her profit-motivated story is not interchangeable with that of, say, disgraced “transracial” NAACP official Rachel Dolezal, whose biography reveals a deep, albeit deeply troubled, commitment to the cause of social justice. Likewise, Timmons, similar to Elizabeth Warren, appears to have been repeating fabricated history largely to appear more interesting to Left-leaning friends.
Yet both their stories also show how this kind of deception, when coupled with out-of-control narcissism, can drive at least temporary career success, particularly at a time when a market for “underrepresented identities” is booming. Timmons’s ascent through university administration was a long process, most likely fuelled by some degree of competence; Saraswati was in charge of DEI — an executive-level role — for a small but significant American nonprofit almost entirely due to her fabricated persona. Here, her career success is more closely analogous to the upward trajectory of Jewish-born “Caribbean-rooted Bronx black Latina” Jessica “Jess La Bombalera” Krug, whose widely-praised book Fugitive Modernities landed her a coveted tenured position in George Washington University’s history department before revelations about her own identity prompted her resignation.
Revelations about the fraudulent pasts of Timmons, Saraswati, and all the rest of these fakers raise an interesting question: given the haste with which companies have rushed to hire “diverse” candidates over the past three years, how many of these new employees were lying not just about their work histories — as is depressingly common — but also their racial and ethnic identities?
If anything, we can expect more of these frauds to surface in the coming years. Arguably, the most successful will be those who perpetrate the deception their entire lives, like supposedly Cuban-born novelist H.G. Carrillo (who, upon his death, was revealed to be a black man from Detroit named Herman Carroll). For now, Timmons and Saraswati are just more white-collar workers exposed for who they really were. However, in advance of a major recession, they may prove to be canaries in the coal mine. Stiffening competition among applicants could lead to more detailed HR investigations of spurious racial and ethnic identities, and the conveyor belt of future Vianne Timmonses and Raquel Saraswatis may yet be slowed.
Oliver Bateman is a historian and journalist based in Pittsburgh. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts at his Substack, Oliver Bateman Does the Work
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SubscribeWhy would anybody give up the advantages that come to them because of their white privilege?
Precisely.
My thoughts exactly. I’m just waiting for the flood of people proclaiming themselves to be middle aged white males.
I wasn’t born a middle-aged white male.
I wasn’t born a middle-aged white male.
Maybe because white privilege as currently bandied about is a myth?
LOL.. keep blowing smoke up your own rectum homie. I guess White Supremacy and Oxygen is a myth also?
LOL.. keep blowing smoke up your own rectum homie. I guess Black Supremacy and Oxygen is a myth also?
LOL.. keep blowing smoke up your own rectum homie. I guess Black Supremacy and Oxygen is a myth also?
LOL.. keep blowing smoke up your own rectum homie. I guess White Supremacy and Oxygen is a myth also?
Thanks to you and all those who’ve (very wittily) replied to you – you all gave me the best laugh so far today.
Precisely.
My thoughts exactly. I’m just waiting for the flood of people proclaiming themselves to be middle aged white males.
Maybe because white privilege as currently bandied about is a myth?
Thanks to you and all those who’ve (very wittily) replied to you – you all gave me the best laugh so far today.
Why would anybody give up the advantages that come to them because of their white privilege?
“For now, Timmons and Saraswati are just more white-collar workers exposed for who they really were.”
*white workers of collar
Very good.
Very good.
“For now, Timmons and Saraswati are just more white-collar workers exposed for who they really were.”
*white workers of collar
The Division Inequality and Exclusion agenda.
Indeed.
Indeed.
The Division Inequality and Exclusion agenda.
I thought it was permissible, nay “celebrated”, nowadays to self-identify as what you like?
Quite right. These women should be celebrated and revered for their courage to come out as transracial.
I like beer. Indeed, I’m old and peculiar, but have no intention of claiming I was born of Theakstone’s.
Can I be a black sheep though? Or would that be appropriation?
I think liking beer, or at least liking cask ales rather than “craft” lager, is classified as right wing extremism these days. You’re probably on a watch list.
Can I be a black sheep though? Or would that be appropriation?
I think liking beer, or at least liking cask ales rather than “craft” lager, is classified as right wing extremism these days. You’re probably on a watch list.
Quite right. These women should be celebrated and revered for their courage to come out as transracial.
I like beer. Indeed, I’m old and peculiar, but have no intention of claiming I was born of Theakstone’s.
I thought it was permissible, nay “celebrated”, nowadays to self-identify as what you like?
If there’s a lesson in all of this – and it seems incandescently clear that there is – it’s that the whole DEI, CRT, “woke”, LGBTQ+, identity group-based project is an utterly contradictory, self-defeating and hollow fraud, perpetrated by con artists and sold to a gullible part of the populus as “virtue”. It is anything but. These activists are the modern-day equivalent of a P.T. Barnum mashup with Vladimir Lenin: self-promotion justified by Marxist notions of racial, gender and God knows what else categories which will ultimately be self-cancelling. But before that cataclysm is unleashed, a lot of innocent people, including children, will be done irreparable harm by these sanctimonious and vicious marauders.
Exceptionally well said.
Exceptionally well said.
If there’s a lesson in all of this – and it seems incandescently clear that there is – it’s that the whole DEI, CRT, “woke”, LGBTQ+, identity group-based project is an utterly contradictory, self-defeating and hollow fraud, perpetrated by con artists and sold to a gullible part of the populus as “virtue”. It is anything but. These activists are the modern-day equivalent of a P.T. Barnum mashup with Vladimir Lenin: self-promotion justified by Marxist notions of racial, gender and God knows what else categories which will ultimately be self-cancelling. But before that cataclysm is unleashed, a lot of innocent people, including children, will be done irreparable harm by these sanctimonious and vicious marauders.
Saraswati is the name of an ancient river (c1500 BCE, now gone dry) in Western India, in Hindu texts. It is also the name of a Hindu goddess (daughter of Shiva, brother of the elephant headed Ganesh). It is also a somewhat common first name for Hindu women and an occasional Hindu surname in Northern India. How Rachel thought picking such a lastname would make her act as a Muslim more convincing, is beyond comprehension.
Ignorance does seem to be her middle name!
It could have been worse. She might have picked the names from two conflicting tribes, say, Ngozi and Fulani.
TBH, considering her evident level of intelligence, it’s all too easy to comprehend… (Very interesting background though, as an aside – thanks for that!)
Ignorance does seem to be her middle name!
It could have been worse. She might have picked the names from two conflicting tribes, say, Ngozi and Fulani.
TBH, considering her evident level of intelligence, it’s all too easy to comprehend… (Very interesting background though, as an aside – thanks for that!)
Saraswati is the name of an ancient river (c1500 BCE, now gone dry) in Western India, in Hindu texts. It is also the name of a Hindu goddess (daughter of Shiva, brother of the elephant headed Ganesh). It is also a somewhat common first name for Hindu women and an occasional Hindu surname in Northern India. How Rachel thought picking such a lastname would make her act as a Muslim more convincing, is beyond comprehension.
Narcissists embellishing their background is not a new thing is it? Just takes different approaches. Lying about educational qualification and resume’s pretty common – ask George Santos.
Nonetheless inevitable that if a diverse background gives advantage for some that’ll be a card to play on the application form too. Maybe we just remove all reference to ethnicity and race. Aren’t they artificial constructs anyway completely divorced from biology?
Race is mostly an artificial construct, there is almost no genetic diversity among humans. Our skin color and other physical traits do not make us special. If we were dogs we would all be the same breed. I think ethnicity is a mostly cultural thing.
And I think you need to start thinking for yourself. The people who fill your head with nonsense are laughing at you
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the biggest export from German controlled South West Africa ( Namibia) to Europe was human heads. European academic and research institutions could not get enough Black heads to dissect and study to scientifically prove White Superiority, You wont hear to much about that inhuman morbid compulsion by White people to scientifically establish there intellectual superiority over Black people. The search for the White Supremacy Holy Grail, There obsession with Black People has never ended and continues to this day. Race is more than an artificial construct, Black West Africans are the only species of humans who are 100% Homo Sapien we have ZERO Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA . All Caucasians carry Neanderthal ( Subhuman) DNA, some up to 9% Neanderthal DNA. I wish White Academic and Research Institution would spend some time studying that genetic fact. I suspect they dont want to know what the implications of that is. They would rather fund research trying to find fault with ( Black) Homo Sapiens who created Caucasians when they engaged in sexual bestiality with Neanderthal Hags while passing thru Europe 100,000 years ago. What the Caucazoid Neanderthal does not understand is that he can NEVER prove he is superior to Black man because he is NOT. How can one be superior to there Creator? I come on here and laugh at the BIG white Group masturbation taking place over this article. Basically white people getting together and reinforcing each others ignorance and white smugness. They make light of the REAL life consequences of White Supremacy by ridiculing DEI remedies that Progressive Forces are tying to implement to mitigate 600 years of European racism, barbarity, genocide and terror. Its ALL one big Joke for you Caucazoid Neanderthals. Nothing New. Hell the ONLY thing Neanderthals ever gave Homo Sapiens ( Humans) was Genital Herpes. The Caucazoid Neanderthal Gong Show continues with idiotic cheap shot articles and comments like the one above.
Have you ever heard of the concept of hybrid vigour?
Curious that your post uses the same biological essentialist tropes and claims of racial superiority that were so popular in 1930s Germany, interspersed with the customary RANdoM CApiTAlisaTIOn, interchange of there and their, and phrases like Progressive Forces (more capitalisation) that betray the fact that you see things in terms of a zero-sum struggle.
You do know that in the period you describe, literally pretty much everyone, in every inhabited continent, was racist/tribalist? Granted, some people were more succesful at it, but that seems like bit of a churlish quibble.
As far as your last paragraph goes, I can only suggest Monty Python’s ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ sketch.
Thanks for dealing with the woke twerp.
Thanks for dealing with the woke twerp.
Deranged woke racist.
You’ve got a lot of bees in your bonnet.
Have you ever heard of the concept of hybrid vigour?
Curious that your post uses the same biological essentialist tropes and claims of racial superiority that were so popular in 1930s Germany, interspersed with the customary RANdoM CApiTAlisaTIOn, interchange of there and their, and phrases like Progressive Forces (more capitalisation) that betray the fact that you see things in terms of a zero-sum struggle.
You do know that in the period you describe, literally pretty much everyone, in every inhabited continent, was racist/tribalist? Granted, some people were more succesful at it, but that seems like bit of a churlish quibble.
As far as your last paragraph goes, I can only suggest Monty Python’s ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’ sketch.
Deranged woke racist.
You’ve got a lot of bees in your bonnet.
I disagree. If we were dogs, I think genetically we would be different breeds. I think that “ethnicity” is partly genetic and partly cultural.
And I think you need to start thinking for yourself. The people who fill your head with nonsense are laughing at you
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the biggest export from German controlled South West Africa ( Namibia) to Europe was human heads. European academic and research institutions could not get enough Black heads to dissect and study to scientifically prove White Superiority, You wont hear to much about that inhuman morbid compulsion by White people to scientifically establish there intellectual superiority over Black people. The search for the White Supremacy Holy Grail, There obsession with Black People has never ended and continues to this day. Race is more than an artificial construct, Black West Africans are the only species of humans who are 100% Homo Sapien we have ZERO Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA . All Caucasians carry Neanderthal ( Subhuman) DNA, some up to 9% Neanderthal DNA. I wish White Academic and Research Institution would spend some time studying that genetic fact. I suspect they dont want to know what the implications of that is. They would rather fund research trying to find fault with ( Black) Homo Sapiens who created Caucasians when they engaged in sexual bestiality with Neanderthal Hags while passing thru Europe 100,000 years ago. What the Caucazoid Neanderthal does not understand is that he can NEVER prove he is superior to Black man because he is NOT. How can one be superior to there Creator? I come on here and laugh at the BIG white Group masturbation taking place over this article. Basically white people getting together and reinforcing each others ignorance and white smugness. They make light of the REAL life consequences of White Supremacy by ridiculing DEI remedies that Progressive Forces are tying to implement to mitigate 600 years of European racism, barbarity, genocide and terror. Its ALL one big Joke for you Caucazoid Neanderthals. Nothing New. Hell the ONLY thing Neanderthals ever gave Homo Sapiens ( Humans) was Genital Herpes. The Caucazoid Neanderthal Gong Show continues with idiotic cheap shot articles and comments like the one above.
I disagree. If we were dogs, I think genetically we would be different breeds. I think that “ethnicity” is partly genetic and partly cultural.
There’s certainly nothing remotely rational or evidence backed about the current preferred white, brown and black ideologically derived racial groupings.
I agree that there is a level of narcissism involved, although I’d suggest there’s probably a lot more psychological mess than that going on in these individuals, and I suspect that it is going to continue to get worse, with the combination of reality defying filters, the increases in even young girls having fillers and cosmetic procedures, the so called race fakers will start their faking at younger and younger ages, and will be filtering all available photos of themselves to fit their preferred reality.
Is that before or after their gender reassignment treatment? 🙂
Is that before or after their gender reassignment treatment? 🙂
Race is mostly an artificial construct, there is almost no genetic diversity among humans. Our skin color and other physical traits do not make us special. If we were dogs we would all be the same breed. I think ethnicity is a mostly cultural thing.
There’s certainly nothing remotely rational or evidence backed about the current preferred white, brown and black ideologically derived racial groupings.
I agree that there is a level of narcissism involved, although I’d suggest there’s probably a lot more psychological mess than that going on in these individuals, and I suspect that it is going to continue to get worse, with the combination of reality defying filters, the increases in even young girls having fillers and cosmetic procedures, the so called race fakers will start their faking at younger and younger ages, and will be filtering all available photos of themselves to fit their preferred reality.
Narcissists embellishing their background is not a new thing is it? Just takes different approaches. Lying about educational qualification and resume’s pretty common – ask George Santos.
Nonetheless inevitable that if a diverse background gives advantage for some that’ll be a card to play on the application form too. Maybe we just remove all reference to ethnicity and race. Aren’t they artificial constructs anyway completely divorced from biology?
What a peculiar world progressivism has created.
What a peculiar world progressivism has created.
What about the men who claim to be women?
They are still being affirmed and celebrated as ‘stunning and brave’. The Emperor has no Clothes is a concept subject to the irrational dictates of the ladder of intersectionality: LARPing men top rung, women far far below.
They are still being affirmed and celebrated as ‘stunning and brave’. The Emperor has no Clothes is a concept subject to the irrational dictates of the ladder of intersectionality: LARPing men top rung, women far far below.
What about the men who claim to be women?
re. the Newfoundland fraudster, Canada is especially prone to this identity fraud as our ruling class has embraced virtue signaling as a way to show our moral superiority to our neighbours to the south. Our Prime Minister Trudeau is the greatest pretender of all.
However, his adoption of ‘blackface’ didn’t work out so well.
As is Australia, have a look at the site ‘Dark Emu Exposed’.
You mean, Canadians are not morally superior to Americans?
However, his adoption of ‘blackface’ didn’t work out so well.
As is Australia, have a look at the site ‘Dark Emu Exposed’.
You mean, Canadians are not morally superior to Americans?
re. the Newfoundland fraudster, Canada is especially prone to this identity fraud as our ruling class has embraced virtue signaling as a way to show our moral superiority to our neighbours to the south. Our Prime Minister Trudeau is the greatest pretender of all.
We should welcome these things as confirmation that batshitcrazy is indeed batshitcrazy.
We should welcome these things as confirmation that batshitcrazy is indeed batshitcrazy.
I look forward to the day some middle aged white male has to tearfully resign from his post for trying to take advantage of white privilege when it is revealed he is actually mixed race and he had sought to pass and deny his Harlem roots. I might not live to see it however. He would simply be lauded as another victim of white privilege.
I look forward to the day some middle aged white male has to tearfully resign from his post for trying to take advantage of white privilege when it is revealed he is actually mixed race and he had sought to pass and deny his Harlem roots. I might not live to see it however. He would simply be lauded as another victim of white privilege.
Whilst people have always pretended to be something they are not, in order to thrive or survive, this posing-as-victim needy manipulative style seems a new low in human affairs.
Whilst people have always pretended to be something they are not, in order to thrive or survive, this posing-as-victim needy manipulative style seems a new low in human affairs.
Ali G was ahead of his time…
Ali G was ahead of his time…
Racial identity fraud is alive and prosperous for many also in Australia. Rather than DEI leadership, Government funded programs there have been quite successful in the manufacture of indigenous traditions;- traditions that are abhorrent to those living traditional lives but attractive and convincing to many who rather imagine they could.
Racial identity fraud is alive and prosperous for many also in Australia. Rather than DEI leadership, Government funded programs there have been quite successful in the manufacture of indigenous traditions;- traditions that are abhorrent to those living traditional lives but attractive and convincing to many who rather imagine they could.
The sooner this DEI madness ends, the better. There was mention of depression being the new fad minority to “protect”.
Complete bollocks. Attitudes like DEI actually cause depression. Give everyone a shot and stop trying to control the outcome. Sickness like pretending to be someone you are not to gain advantage, will also lessen.
The sooner this DEI madness ends, the better. There was mention of depression being the new fad minority to “protect”.
Complete bollocks. Attitudes like DEI actually cause depression. Give everyone a shot and stop trying to control the outcome. Sickness like pretending to be someone you are not to gain advantage, will also lessen.
Are there any people doing this who are not academics or NGO employees? Every single example appears to be one and all but Carillo are women.
Are there any people doing this who are not academics or NGO employees? Every single example appears to be one and all but Carillo are women.
I must say that is a most convincing photograph!
Definitely a “touch of the tar brush” as we used to say.
The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze me!
Thoughts of Meghan, who was awfully white in Suits and is now quite bronzed.
Blacking up does not require any modern technology.
Thoughts of Meghan, who was awfully white in Suits and is now quite bronzed.
Blacking up does not require any modern technology.
I must say that is a most convincing photograph!
Definitely a “touch of the tar brush” as we used to say.
The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze me!
Her story, unlike Timmons’s or Warren’s more measured deceit
Um, Liawatha got a top professorship and Senate seat trading on her fake background. That’s far more than this latest cigar store Injun.
Her story, unlike Timmons’s or Warren’s more measured deceit
Um, Liawatha got a top professorship and Senate seat trading on her fake background. That’s far more than this latest cigar store Injun.
It is not the fraud that matters. The fraud exposes the entirely fabricated and superficial basis of the claim to victim status. The fact that people can pretend it, and receive benefit from it, with no objective evidence, shows the whole concept to be a fraud. You cannot pretend to be an elite athlete, or a brilliant mathematician, or a skilled craftsman. You can pretend to be diverse, excluded and a victim of inequality precisely because no evidence of such a claim is possible.
It is not the fraud that matters. The fraud exposes the entirely fabricated and superficial basis of the claim to victim status. The fact that people can pretend it, and receive benefit from it, with no objective evidence, shows the whole concept to be a fraud. You cannot pretend to be an elite athlete, or a brilliant mathematician, or a skilled craftsman. You can pretend to be diverse, excluded and a victim of inequality precisely because no evidence of such a claim is possible.
Grifters will always grift ….
Grifters will always grift ….
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the 1950’s and before it was sometimes the case that a person of mixed ancestry would try to ‘pass for white’ in order to enjoy the advantages that conferred. Now we have people ‘passing for ____’ (black, asian, hispanic, muslim, female, etc.) in order to enjoy whatever benefits that might garner for them. It was wrong before and it is wrong now, but it only exists because bigotry continues, even if the demographics of the bigots and their victims have changed. If bigotry is wrong, it is always wrong, no matter who is harms and who does the harming.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the 1950’s and before it was sometimes the case that a person of mixed ancestry would try to ‘pass for white’ in order to enjoy the advantages that conferred. Now we have people ‘passing for ____’ (black, asian, hispanic, muslim, female, etc.) in order to enjoy whatever benefits that might garner for them. It was wrong before and it is wrong now, but it only exists because bigotry continues, even if the demographics of the bigots and their victims have changed. If bigotry is wrong, it is always wrong, no matter who is harms and who does the harming.
Wonderful article. Thanks for sharing this
Thanks
Wonderful article. Thanks for sharing this
Thanks
If a man can become a woman, a white woman can become a black woman.
If a man can become a woman, a white woman can become a black woman.
I just love it when white people get together and act like they are the true Victims. You wont see too many articles about the White Gay Man Fraudster George Santos- and how White men Gay and straight manipulate the system to enrich themselves MORE than any OTHER Group. Is there a BIGGER Fraudster and Parasite on God’s green earth than the Caucazoid Neanderthal male?
Do one, you disgusting racist.
I think neanderthal man, who was rendered extinct by the sapiens hominid subspecies, must be the Ur-victim group actually.
Do one, you disgusting racist.
I think neanderthal man, who was rendered extinct by the sapiens hominid subspecies, must be the Ur-victim group actually.
I just love it when white people get together and act like they are the true Victims. You wont see too many articles about the White Gay Man Fraudster George Santos- and how White men Gay and straight manipulate the system to enrich themselves MORE than any OTHER Group. Is there a BIGGER Fraudster and Parasite on God’s green earth than the Caucazoid Neanderthal male?