*A white couple is alleging that they are the parents of the chapter president of Spokane, Washington’s NAACP and that their daughter is attempting to pass as a black woman.
Lawrence and Ruthanne Dolezal told the Washington Post that they are the biological parents of 37-year-old Rachel Dolezal and that they are both white.
“We are definitely her birth parents,” Lawrence Dolezal said. “We are both of Caucasian and European descent — Czech, German and a few other things.”
The Dolezals also provided the Post with photos of Rachel from her youth in which she appears blonde and Caucasian, as well as a copy of her birth certificate from Lincoln County, Montana, showing that they are indeed her parents.
The issue of Rachel Dolezal’s ethnicity first surfaced along with questions surrounding the veracity of alleged hate mail sent to the local NAACP. The Spokane police told a local television station, KXLY, that the mail was never processed, though it did end up in the group’s post office box. Postal employees with access to the box denied ever handling the threatening letter.
Dolezal has worked as an adjunct professor of Africana studies at Eastern Washington University since 2007 and has also worked at North Idaho College. She obtained a master’s degree from Howard University, a historically African-American school, and has been involved in civil rights activism in Spokane since moving there.
In an application for the city’s Office of Police Ombudsman Commission, which she currently chairs, Rachel Dolezal identified herself as white, black and American-Indian, according to the Spokesman-Review.
When confronted Thursday, Dolezal dodged direct questions about her ethnicity, saying it was a “multi-layered” issue and that “I feel like I owe my executive committee a conversation” before answering questions from the media.
“That question is not as easy as it seems,” she added.
The Spokane NAACP had previously posted photos of her on Facebook with an African-American man that said he was her father and he would be attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the group’s new office. In an interview with a local television station, Dolezal avoided a question about whether or not the man really is her father, saying “I don’t understand the question.”
Watch below:
Dolezal’s parents adopted two African-American children while Rachel was growing up. They told the Washington Post that her black siblings “definitely fueled her interest as a teenager in being involved with people of color.”
“We’re all from the African continent,” Dolezal told the Spokesman-Review.
#RachelDolezal didn’t use ‘black face’ to mock black people in any way. Everything she has done for the black community is good…
— The London Curls (@TheLondonCurls) June 12, 2015
On the fence about #RachelDolezal. She’s done a lot of good work, down w the struggle, etc. But that cultural appropriation though. Wow. — Resolute (@ForrestBivens) June 12, 2015
White privilege is picking and choosing when you’re black. #RachelDolezal
— BWD (@theonlyadult) June 12, 2015
Don’t talk to me about how #RachelDolezal understood/knew the Black struggle when she could pick & choose when to be “Black”. — Kim Moore (@SoulRevision) June 12, 2015
If we can change race then I choose to be white and I want my white privilege now. #WrongSkin #transracial
— Temi (@InPacWeTrust) June 12, 2015
Co-opting the oppression of Black women for professional advantage & personal attention. Wow. That is some messed up. #RachelDolezal — Victoria Weinstein (@peacebang) June 12, 2015
The problem comes if #RachelDolezal gained academic advantage or credibility by lying about her racial background. Other than that…
— Luis Alis (@luisalisferrer) June 12, 2015
Last week with Caitlyn we were accepting “New Norms” now here comes Rachel Dolezal and yall not accepting her. 😂😂 Hypocrisy is Hilarious. — Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) June 12, 2015
@velow1 @Dan__Crocker @Montel_Williams LMAO u cannot “racially identify” as a black woman WHEN U R NOT A BLACK WOMAN. #Transblack #utriedit
— Amanda Seales (@amandaseales) June 12, 2015
If #RachelDolezal can do it, so can I. I am now a white American. Give me: good credit, the ability to swim, and police NOT beating me. — PrestonMitchum (@PrestonMitchum) June 12, 2015
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