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There's a new alleged Rachel Dolzeal on the scene. The NY Post reports a Muslim progressive activist has been pretending to be a person of color for years allegedly fabricating her "Arab and Latin" heritage.
When speaking to Boston.com in 2004 about her forthcoming wedding, Raquel Evita Saraswati, 39, who was outed by The Intercept for pretending to be of Latin, South Asian, and Arab origin, said she wanted to do something to respect her Arab and Latin culture.
Saraswati is referred to in the article as "Raquel Evita Seidel," even though her real name is Rachel Elizabeth Seidel.
She is "white as driven snow," according to her mother Carole Perone, who debunks her claims about her ancestry.
“I call her Rachel. I don’t know why she’s doing what she’s doing,” Perone told the Intercept. “I’m as white as the driven snow and so is she.”
“I’m German and British, and her father was Calabrese Italian. She’s chosen to live a lie, and I find that very, very sad,” the mom said.
Saraswati serves as the American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) chief equity, inclusion, and culture officer. The AFSC is a progressive Quaker organization that combats "violence, inequality, and oppression."
The activist responded to the allegations with Tweets that were later deleted and her account made private, promising to answer questions about the "attack" on her.
People on social media couldn't help but compare Rachel to Rachel Dolezeal - the white woman who, for years, and lied about her ethnicity and even became a leader for the NAACP before being caught in 2015.