What I Don't Understand About the Rachel Dolezal Case

Here's what I think I do understand about the strange case of Rachel Dolezal:

• Ms. Dolezal's experiences bring her to the conclusion that she is more "black" than "white." Since racial designations in the United States have very little to do with outward appearance (as demonstrated by the fact that she had to be "outed" by her own parents), this is not a nonsensical thing to do. 
• Many leaders of Civil Rights Movement and other black leaders have been very light skinned. See, for example, the aptly named Walter White, one of the founding members of the NAACP.

Walter White, son of two parents born into slavery, identified as black.

• Many African-Americans resent it when white Americans co-opt "black culture" to suit their own needs. As rapper Talib Kweli noted, this kind of behavior may be intended as sympathetic, but usually it's just exploitative or selfish. That Ms. Dolezal reportedly sued Howard University for not showing her work because she was white only reinforces this view.

Here's what I do not think I understand:

• Why exactly are people so angry at Ms. Dolezal. The whole point of her story is that race is socially constructed in so many ways. She did make up a story, but the whole concept of race in the United States is a story, fabricated by those in power so they could stay in power. The episode makes me sad, not angry.
• Whom did she harm? Kweli says that she probably took positions from women of color when she led the Spokane NAACP, and I suppose that's right. But if there were so many people clamoring for the job, why did she get it?
• Why is this about white privilege? That's not to say the sense of entitlement felt by white Americans is not a problem in general, but it seems to me that we have to be careful about how we use the term lest it lose all meaning.