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<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/27/diversity-exec- raquel-evita-saraswati-resigns-race/11359666002/>

Raquel Evita Saraswati, who claimed minority descent, outed by mom: 'White
as driven snow

Raquel Evita Saraswati was a name well-known to well-meaning people in Philadelphia.

She was a bronze-hued, Jersey-born spokesperson for Muslim and LGBTQ
causes in fashionable hijabs, an adviser and confidant to local
nonprofits. The National Organization for Women's Philadelphia chapter
named her a Woman of the Year. Nonprofit Rad Girls declared her �Rad Girl
of the Year.� She served on the city�s Mayor�s Commission on LGBT Affairs.

And until last week, she was the chief equity and inclusion officer for
the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-founded service
organization that supports social justice causes all over the country and world.

But that role came to an abrupt end, amid a blizzard of controversy.

According to allegations in an open letter circulated on Feb. 10 by a
�group of individuals who care deeply about AFSC,� Saraswati was living a
lie.

The meticulously footnoted letter accused her of �cultural vulturism,�
alleging that Saraswati, formerly known as Rachel or Raquel Seidel, misrepresented herself as having Arab, Latinx and South Asian heritage.

Saraswati had also served as a commentator about Muslim extremism for conservative news outlets including FOX News and Newsmax. She spoke about
the difficulties Muslim women face in a documentary by media company
Clarion Project, listed until 2020 as an anti-Muslim group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

After the social media and tabloid furor that followed, Saraswati will �separate� from AFSC, confirmed spokesperson Layne Mullett in an email to
USA TODAY Network.

�Raquel Saraswati, who is facing public allegations that she
misrepresented her background and past associations, has informed us of
her intention to separate from the organization,� Mullett wrote.

The AFSC supported Saraswati in leaving the organization, Mullett wrote, calling the decision �difficult� and �deeply personal.�

Raquel Saraswati's background called into question
Saraswati appears to have deleted or locked most social media and did not respond to a request for comment.

But the open letter, and subsequent reporting by nonprofit news site The Intercept, cited genealogical research and interviews with family members
to assert that Saraswati was of German, British and Calabrese Italian
heritage. The letter also documents early photographs in which Saraswati appears to have a lighter skin tone.

USA TODAY Network also contacted members of Saraswati�s immediate family,
who confirmed European heritage but otherwise declined to comment.

Saraswati�s case echoes other prominent examples of public figures accused
of misrepresenting their heritage. This includes New York Republican Rep. George Santos� false claims of being Jewish and a descendant of Holocaust survivors and former Spokane, Washington, NAACP chapter president Rachel Dolezal (now Nkechi Diallo), who claims African American identity.

In previous newspaper articles going back to the mid-2000s, Saraswati was identified as belonging to Arab and Latinx or South Asian heritage.

In a 2004 piece about LGBTQ weddings, the Boston Globe reported that
Saraswati, then known as Seidel, planned a wedding that respected her
�Arab and Latin traditions.� Two years later, an article in India New
England News, about Indian American couples, documented Saraswati�s
difficulty finding appropriate Indian decor.

Human resources professional Oskar Henry Castro, who participated in
ASFC's hiring committee for Saraswati, told The Intercept that Saraswati
had represented herself as �multiethnic� and as �a queer person of color,
who happens to be a Muslim� in hiring interviews he saw.

�I definitely feel conned. � I feel deceived,� he told The Intercept.

Some fear Saraswati scandal will damage communities of color
Coverage in tabloids mostly focused attention on personal or family drama.
But other commentators worry about damage to people of color or to the
mission of organizations like AFSC.

�Will the organization investigate why a member of its most senior
leadership has so profoundly eroded trust among the people of color on
staff and in the communities that the organization serves?� reads the open letter, citing a Quaker commitment to integrity.

�This is not about �proving� one�s heritage but about lying,
misrepresentation and taking opportunities from actual women of color,�
tweeted documentarian Laila Al-Arian, who referred to Saraswati as a
�Rachel Dolezal of the Muslim community.�

Journalist Sana Saeed, who called attention to Saraswati�s heritage as
early as 2015, tweeted that focusing on the salacious aspects of
Saraswati�s story elides the �harm she�s done � especially the years she
worked as essentially a �native informant� with anti-Muslim orgs &
platforms.�

So far, Saraswati has been publicly silent.

�AFSC has given Raquel the opportunity to address the allegations against
her, and Raquel stands by her identity,� read a statement to The Intercept
from AFSC�s Mullett, prior to Saraswati�s resignation.

A broadly circulated screenshot of a social media post, purportedly from Saraswati, promised she would provide answers when she was able.

But for now, her Twitter account is locked. Her Facebook and Instagram
pages appear to have been taken offline. A TikTok account under her name,
with 1,200followers, consists of two cat videos and a speech by addiction expert Gabor Mat�.

�Trauma creates coping mechanisms,� begins the video.

�If you get the message that you are not good enough, that you are not
worthy enough,� it continues, �then you might spend the rest of your life trying to prove that you are.�

Matthew Korfhage is a Philadelphia-based reporter for USA TODAY Network.
Follow him on Twitter @matthewkorfhage or email [email protected].


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President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

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