NAACP leader and civil rights activist outed as WHITE by her parents who say she's been pretending to be black for years

• Rachel Dolezal, 37, has been a vocal member of the civil rights community in Idaho and Eastern Washington for years
• She also teaches Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University
• But her estranged mother has now revealed that her daughter is white and began to 'disguise herself' in 2006 or 2007
• She is facing a city ethics investigation after identifying herself as black in an application to serve on a local police ombudsman commission
• She said she was white, black and American Indian and secured the role - but her mother says the family is Czech, Swedish and German
• KXLY asked her if she was African American and, looking stunned, she responded: 'I don't understand the question'

An NAACP leader's parents have made a startling revelation: their daughter, for years a highly visible civil rights activist in Eastern Washington, is white.

Rachel Dolezal, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President and part-time Africana Studies professor at Eastern Washington University, has been misleading people about her ethnicity for years, her parents say.

Her mother even offered photographic proof. While today the 37-year-old divorcee currently sports tight, dark curls, her mom Ruthanne Dolezal showed KREM photos of the fair and freckled blonde daughter she once knew.

Dolezal is now facing a city ethics probe after she identified herself as black in an application to serve on a local police ombudsman commission - a position she secured.

It's very sad that Rachel has not just been herself,' Ruthanne Dolezal told the Spokesman-Review. 'Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable, and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.'

 

The Dolezals remain in Northwest Montana, where Dolezal grew up. It is not clear why they have now shared the revelations but Dolezal has previously said that she no longer has any contact with her parents. In articles in the Easterner, she claimed they were violent towards her.

But her father denies this and said that Dolezal cut off all communication with them and doesn't want them to be seen in Spokane 'because we're Caucasian', Buzzfeed News reported. 

According to her mother, Ruthanne began to 'disguise herself' in 2006 or 2007.

Other than some 'faint traces' of Native American blood, Ruthanne said the family background is Czech, Swedish and German.

However, that's not how her daughter identified herself when she became chairwoman of Spokane's Office of Police Ombudsman Commission. 

In her application for the volunteer appointment, Dolezal marked herself down as white, black and American Indian, reports the Spokesman-Review. 

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Speaking out: Dolezal's parents, who live in Montana, said she has been 'disguising herself' since around 2006. Dolezal has previously said she has no contact with her parents, claiming they were violent towards her

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Highly visible activist: Dolezal has been a highly visible civil rights activist in the Eastern Washington/Idaho region for years. She's seen here with Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby 

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The way she was: And according to her staff biography at Eastern Washington University, Dolezal received her master's degree from Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C.

She has also previously claimed that her white father is her step-father. In January, a photo showing Dolezal and a black man on the Spokane NAACP's Facebook erroneously identified the man as her father.

On Wednesday, a reporter from KXLY confronted Dolezal a photo of her with the African-American man while on camera. 

'Ma'am, I was wondering if your dad really is an African-American man,' the KXLY reporter asked.  

'I don't understand the question,' Dolezal replied. 'I did tell you [that man in the picture] is my dad.' 

'Are your parents white?' the reporter asked. Dolezal then removed her mic and walked away.

Reached by the Spokesman-Review, Dolezal answered questions about her ethnicity by saying: 'That question is not as easy as it seems... There's a lot of complexities … and I don't know that everyone would understand that... We're all from the African continent.' 

According to her staff biography at Eastern Washington University, Dolezal received her master's degree from Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C.   

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Brother not son: Dolezal's blog posts and interviews often reference her 'black sons.' But her mother says one of the boys is Izaiah - one of four African American infants Rachel's parents adopted in the 1990s

A white past: Dolezal's mother also showed reporters this photo of her daughter's 2000 marriage in Mississippi (she's seen at center). Dolezal is now divorced

Lies: The NAACP group shared this image on its Facebook page earlier this year claiming to show Dolezal with her father - but her parents, who are white, say she is not related to this man

Rachel Dolezal's parents speak out about her ethnicity 'lies'

 

'Her passion for civil rights is influenced by her years in Mississippi, where she advocated for equal rights and participated in community development,' reads the bio. 

She has taught multiple classes at the university, including one named 'The Black Woman's Struggle'.

'NOT TRUE': DOLEZAL'S MOTHER SHOOTS DOWN HER CLAIMS 

In an interview with the Coeur d' Alene Press, Dolezal's mother shot down many other claims her daughter has made in interviews over the years. Specifically:  Dolezal's claim she was born in a tepee.

'Totally false,' said her mother. She and Dolezal's father once lived in a tepee but it was before Dolezal was born.

Dolezal's claim she once had to use bows and arrows to hunt for her own food as a kid.

Not true, says her mother.

Dolezal's claim she once lived in South Africa.

'Rachel did not even ever visit us there,' said Ruthanne, who lived there as a missionary.

Dolezal's claim her parents punished her 'by skin complexion' with a 'baboon whip' reminiscent of those once used on slaves.

'She is fabricating a very false and malicious lie,' Ruthanne said.

Dolezal's claim that Larry Dolezal, who is white, is actually her stepfather. 

'Anybody who lives in the town of Troy or Libby knows that Larry is her father,' Ruthanne said.

Her parents back up the claim Dolezal attended Howard (she was awarded a Master's of Fine Arts at the school). She later moved to Washington D.C. and married her now ex-husband in 2000.

After moving to Idaho with her husband, he became violent towards her and their young son, she claimed in an article in The Easterner earlier this year. They divorced in 2004.  

She told the publication that filing for divorce was a hard decision because she 'wanted to have sort of like a perfect record'.

The article adds that in 2006 she developed cervical cancer but was considered cured in 2008.

Around that time, she also took on the role as director of the Human Rights Institute and says she was also forced to deal with threats from white supremacy groups afraid of female power. They hung nooses in her home and stole from her, she claimed in the article. 

She moved to Spokane in 2012 and has since used social media as an outlet for her frustrations about being a person of color in a very white corner of America.

A November 2013 post about the release of the film 12 Years a Slave, reads in part:

Probably not the best film to take a white partner on a first date to, just-sayin...In fact, over the years I have learned the only way to screen a Black-themed film in Whitopia (aka Idaho/Eastern Washington) is to: 1) arrive a little early so you have a choice in seating 2) sit in the top, back row so that if white people are inclined to stare, they have to turn all the way around to do it 3) sit in the top, back row so that during the movie people aren't constantly looking at you to monitor the 'Black response' to the film.

And in another post, along with selfies of her with a curly mane, the naturally light-haired Dolezal writes: 'Going with the natural look as I start my 36th year.'  

Cover up: Dolezal has Czech, Swedish and German blood even though she claimed on a recent application for a volunteer role that she was white, black and American Indiana. She is now under an ethics review

Poweful: She is pictured in January next to Dr. Scott Finnie, right, director of EWU's Africana Education Program before the start of a Black Lives Matter Teach-In on Public Safety and Criminal Justice

Support: In March, she is seen right linking arms with her supporters as they shout 'We shall overcome' during a rally in Spokane. It was held after she claimed she had received a racist and threatening package

As Buzzfeed notes, Dolezal's blog posts and interviews often reference her 'black sons'.

However, her mother told CDAPress.com that one of those boys is Izaiah Dolezal - who was, in fact, one of four African American infants Rachel's parents adopted in the 1990s, meaning the boy is Dolezal's brother, rather than her son. 

Izaiah, now 21, has since gone to live with Dolezal and no longer speaks with his adopted parents. 

Publicly available birth records, list her biological parents as Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolezal of Montana.

Her Eastern Washington University bio also says that Dolezal has been the victim of at least eight 'documented hate crimes'.  

While in the position, Dolezal filed multiple police reports ranging from theft to harassment to the racially motivated hanging of a nooses in her home. 

The naturally light haired Dolezal posted these photos with the caption, 'going with the natural look'

In a 2013 Facebook post, Dolezal bemoaned the trials and tribulations of being a person of color in an almost totally white corner of America

The revelations echo the plot line of 1986 movie Soul Man, in which a wealthy student played by C. Thomas Howell wears blackface to qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School after his dad refuses to pay tuition. He cheats by taking tanning pills to appear African American.

Once at the university, he meets an African-American student and falls in love with her, but learns he beat her to the scholarship and she now has to work to support herself.

He ultimately reveals that he is white and says he knows he will never understand what it means to be black because he could choose to be white at any time.

After its release, it became a box office hit but it was slammed by critics for featuring a white actor in blackface.

In response to the Rachel Dolezal claims, activist Kim Moore tweeted: 'Don't talk to me about how #RachelDolezal understood/knew the Black struggle when she could pick & choose when to be "Black".' 

In a more recent claim of racially motivated harassment, Dolezal made local headlines early this year when hate mail was supposedly sent to her at the NAACP post office box in Spokane. 

However, police reports on the case revealed this week that whoever placed the letters and packages into the box would have had to have the key because none had bar codes or stamps. 

Now, the City of Spokane has said they will investigate whether Dolezal violated the city's code of ethics in her application to serve on the citizen police ombudsman commission 

So how did Dolezal's so easily perforated web of lies fool the city in the first place? City spokesman Brian Coddington explained.

'The community wanted diversity and limited background checks,' Coddington said, explaining to the Coeur d' Alene Press that the committee didn't want to deter applicants with minor criminal pasts. 'The low level background checks were intentional.' 

He added that race wasn't a criteria in the selection process, but they had wanted to achieve diversity among the committee. 

A former president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP added that being a person of color is not a requirement to become president.

'It is traditional to have a person of color in that position, but that hasn't always been the case in Spokane,' James Wilburn said.

He added that at least half of the Spokane Chapter members are of European descent. 

And, as her mother explained, Dolezal is good at what she does.

'Rachel is very good at using her artistic skills to transform herself,' her mother said.