The chief equity and inclusivity officer at a distinguished, Quaker-founded social justice organization has claimed Latina, South Asian, and Arab roots—a multi-ethnic background now disputed by her own mother, The Intercept reported last week. Raquel Evita Saraswati is a Muslim activist who began working as a senior official with American Friends Service Committee in 2021. In actuality, Saraswati is “as white as the driven snow,” her mother, Carol Perone, says. “I call her Rachel,” she said. “I don’t know why she’s doing what she’s doing.” Perone provided photos of Saraswati as a child that show her with a “significantly lighter” complexion, according to the outlet, which also obtained Saraswati’s Ancestry.com profile. “I’m German and British, and her father was Calabrese Italian,” Perone explained. “She’s chosen to live a lie, and I find that very, very sad.” Saraswati did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Intercept, but a spokesperson for the AFSC said that she “stands by her identity,” and that the organization “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.”
