"I'm as white as the driven snow and so is she," her mother stated.
Raquel Evita Saraswati, born Rachel Elizabeth Seidel to parents of German, British, and Calabrese Italian heritage, fooled people into thinking she was South Asian, Arab, and Latina. She even managed to use her fake ethnic credentials to score a role as the chief equity, inclusion, and culture officer at the American Friends Service Committee, a progressive Quaker organization that fights for equality and social justice.
According to the Intercept, the 39-year-old had converted to Islam in high school, and had been masquerading as non-white for nearly two decades.
"I don't know why she's doing what she's doing," Saraswati's mother, Carol Perone, said. "She's chosen to live a lie, and I find that very, very sad."
"I'm as white as the driven snow and so is she," Perone added.
In a series of tweets posted Saturday, Saraswati addressed the controversy.
"I assure people that as soon as I am capable, I will provide answers to the recent discussion and attack on me," she said. "I understand all the reactions you're having. I am currently taking the time to get to where I can answer in a way that is most helpful and thorough."
She has since locked her account.
Oskar Pierre Castro, one of the human resources officers who took part in Saraswati's hiring, claimed that she had "touched all the points" by presenting as a "queer, Muslim, multiethnic woman."
"I definitely feel conned, … I feel deceived," he said following the revelations that her identity was a lie.
The organization has, for now, stood by Saraswati, noting that it "does not require any employee to 'prove' their heritage as a condition of their employment, or in order to be valued as a member of our team."
In an open letter, however, staff and supporters of the AFSC were more critical, questioning whether Saraswati had deliberately misled them to infiltrate the organization.
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