Raquel Saraswati denies allegations that she lied about her race

Raquel Saraswati, the former chief equity, inclusion, and culture officer of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), who earlier this year faced accusations from her former colleagues that she was pretending to be a person of color, recently issued a news release in which she rebuts the allegations that had become public.

As a queer, Muslim woman, Saraswati was prominent in Philadelphia’s activist communities, providing mentorship to other queer Muslims in the community, organizing protests in response to racist violence and receiving awards and distinguished positions for her work. But in February, Saraswati’s image was called into question when her AFSC colleagues dug into her past and anonymously published that Saraswati was of German and Italian descent, and that she changed her name to sound more diverse. Subsequently, Saraswati’s biological mother, Carol Perone told the Intercept, “I’m as white as the driven snow and so is she.”

“We are each the experts on our own lives. Anonymous, troubled, or unscrupulous individuals are not,” Saraswati said in her news release. “Sadly, this extends to some biological and non-biological family members, including my own mother.”

“We are each the experts on our own lives.”

As part of her rebuttal of the allegations, Saraswati presented information about her dermatologist’s classification of her skin tone:

“I classify [Saraswati’s] skin type as Fitzpatrick Skin Type 4, meaning she has light brown/olive skin color,” Jayne Bird, Saraswati’s dermatologist since 2018, said in the news release. “Based on this genetic testing, and my observations of Raquel as a patient, it is clearly established that she is skin type 4 and skin of color.”

Saraswati also said she has undergone three DNA tests, which found that she is of mixed heritage, with the largest portion of her genetics (40%) coming back North African.

But experts warn that genetic testing can be misleading, pointing to a key question raised by Saraswati’s story: Who can claim to be a person of color?

According to race experts, the science raises more questions than provides answers. For one, sociologists repeatedly assert that race is a concept invented by humans that’s not based in science.

“We know from the study of genetics and evolutionary biology that there is tremendous variation of skin tone within most racial groups, and there is overlap,” said Wendy Roth, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in how genetic ancestry testing influences racial and ethnic identity. “There are a lot of people who are socially considered white who have light brown or olive skin.”

Having a dermatologist interpret the genetic ancestry test results is also a red flag, Roth said, because dermatologists have no expertise in genetic testing.

“It’s a little bit like asking a sociology professor to verify and confirm your cancer screening.”

“It’s a little bit like asking a sociology professor to verify and confirm your cancer screening,” she explained. “It would be a geneticist who would be an expert. A dermatologist is not looking at the kind of genetic material that’s relevant for these kinds of tests.”

The genetic ancestry testing results themselves can be quite misleading too, experts warned. Results are determined by comparing a person’s genetic code to an overall population database — so if Saraswati were to get the tests done by a large company, such as 23andme, they would yield significantly different results than if she were to get tested by a private practitioner.

Saraswati’s spokesperson said she conducted her DNA tests with three of the most reputable DNA companies on the market, but would not provide the names of the companies “for privacy reasons.”

“To say that somebody’s ancestry is 40% North African is misleading,” Roth said, explaining that the process doesn’t account for the cross-migration that frequently happens across the world, and especially in formerly colonized areas.

“It’s not that the person or their ancestry is 40% North African,” Roth said. “This test result is saying that 40% of the genetic markers we looked at [out of millions and millions on the genetic code] are more often associated with the North African population group than they are with other groups — but that marker still may be found in other groups in varying frequencies.”

At the heart of the allegations and rebuttal is the complicated question: What defines a person of color?

“What [Saraswati is] trying to do very clearly is to suggest that there are these kinds of objective scientific measures, whether her skin color or her DNA, that proves that she’s a person of color. But neither of those things prove that,” said Ann Morning, a sociology professor at New York University.

Because race is a social construct, Morning said, there’s no bedrock truth or biological way to prove whether someone is a person of color. So then what does?

“We’re left with, what are the social conventions around who should be considered a person of color?” Morning said. “And I think it’s pretty clear from what we know of [Saraswati’s] background and history, that she didn’t grow up in a way where she would have identified or been identified as a person of color.”

When asked what her cultural upbringing was and where her family members are from, Saraswati responded by email that she “was raised on false and inconsistent narratives regarding my biology and [I] had to find that truth on my own.”

But what stuck out to Morning in Saraswati’s news release was her affirmation that it is her “God-given right to pursue, embrace and celebrate the truth of my personhood” — a completely different narrative from the science Saraswati initially relied on, instead saying that she should have the right to decide who she is.

“Race has always been such a central organizing principle in our society.”

Morning classified this mentality as “transracial.”

“They’re making claims that they somehow have this internal sense of identity that is genuinely that of a person of color,” Morning said.

When white people claim non-white identities, Morning said, it does two things: it leads to a historical resentment of people of color feeling their accomplishments are yet again being appropriated, and it takes away opportunities from people of color. And the history of race in the United States serves as the unavoidable backdrop to these issues.

“Race has always been such a central organizing principle in our society,” she said. “It was a matter of life and death, it was the difference between freedom and enslavement.”

Saraswati rose to positions of power within influential Philadelphia institutions. She had served as chair of the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs, won a “RAD girl of the year” award in 2019, and more recently was appointed to her former DEI officer role within AFSC (which she resigned from in March).

She positioned herself as a mentor to many, and people saw her home as a safe space to convene. They confided in her about personal issues ranging from sexuality to spirituality.

“I think people are still dealing with the material impact of what she did.”

Soon after the allegations about Saraswati’s race and history spread, members of the communities Saraswati had said she was part of were rattled.

“I think people are still dealing with the material impact of what she did,” said Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, a former friend of Saraswati’s and a Philly-based writer and organizer. “She’s always going to have that archive of people’s stories. That really makes them vulnerable.”

To Muhammad, Saraswati’s news release furthered the harm felt in the community she was once a part of.

To respond with the arguments she did was the worst, and whitest, way to double down on an issue like this, they said. “Instead of doing what the community wants you to do to be accountable, you resort to using the systems and people in positions of power to protect you.”

Still, Saraswati asserted in her news release that she is “deeply committed to my work in service to marginalized communities and to ensuring safe and truly inclusive workplaces for everyone.”