If only she could still play the race card.
Organizers for the Baltimore Book Festival announced Tuesday they disinvited Rachel Dolezal, the controversial white woman who represented herself as African American for years, to this year’s event after receiving major public backlash.
Festival organizers released a statement on its Facebook page, citing reaction from attendees and authors as the reason for rescinding Dolezal’s invitation.
“A top priority of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts is to listen to our constituents, and after hearing from a cross-section of opinions on having Rachel Dolezal participate in this year’s festival, we had to consider how her appearance may affect both the audience and the other extraordinary authors we have planned for the Baltimore Book Festival,” the statement read.
“For that reason, we believe it is appropriate to remove Ms. Dolezal from the festival lineup,” the statement concluded.
Dolezal was initially invited to the September festival to read her autobiography, “In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.” Organizers initially defended their decision to have the controversial figure at the festival when it was first announced last week.
“The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts does not agree or disagree with the many authors that have appeared on the festival’s stages for more than 20 years, but we do provide a platform for relevant and multi-layered conversations,” they said in a statement posted last Thursday. The Baltimore Book Festival has hosted more than 3,000 writers in the past.