NAACP Leader Rachel Dolezal Posed as Black, Parents Say
The parents of a civil rights activist in Spokane, Washington in the United States say their daughter has misrepresented herself as black for years, spurring a growing discussion on social media about race and identity.
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Rachel Dolezal, 37, the president of the N.A.A.C.P. chapter in Spokane and a part-time professor in the Africana Studies program at Eastern Washington University, has listed on at least one application that she is black, as well as white and Native American.
Members of civil rights organizations in the Spokane area say Ms. Dolezal has claimed that she is part African-American. Claims that she received hate mail in late February and March generated much local media coverage and more than a little skepticism.
But Ruthanne and Larry Dolezal told a local television station Thursday that their daughter is Caucasian and had changed her appearance over time to look black. “She chose to represent herself as an African-American woman or a biracial person, and that’s simply not true,” Ruthanne Dolezal said.
Ms. Dolezal deflected questions Thursday about her race.
“I feel like I owe my executive committee a conversation” before publicly discussing the “multilayered” issue, she told The Spokesman-Review in Spokane.
“That question is not as easy as it seems,” she said.
The Spokesman-Review has credited Mrs. Dolezal with re-energizing the Spokane chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. since being elected in 2014.
The City of Spokane is investigating whether Ms. Dolezal lied when she identified herself as African-American on an application to serve in a volunteer position on the citizen police ombudsman commission,according to KXLY, a local ABC-TV station. Ms. Dolezal, who in several instances has claimed to be a victim of racial harassment, ended an interview with the TV station when pressed on her background.