NAACP Chapter President Steps Down Amid Race Controversy
SPOKANE, Wash. (WJZ) -- The head of Spokane's NAACP resigns amid the controversy over her racial identity.
Mary Bubala with more on Rachel Dolezal's announcement.
Rachel Dolezal claimed to be an African American woman, though her parents say she's not.
Through a Facebook post, Rachel Dolezal gave up her position as NAACP chapter president without clearly answering lingering questions about her ethnicity, saying in part:
"In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP."
Controversy has been building around Dolezal for days after accusations that she was misrepresenting her background.
"If I was asked, I would definitely say yes. I do consider myself to be black," she said.
But pictures from her childhood in Montana show a blonde, blue eyed, freckled faced girl. Her parents say Dolezal has lied about her past for years.
"Our daughter is primarily German and Czech and of European descent," her mother, Ruthanne Dolezal, said. "She's white."
Dolezal was once married to a black man and grew up with four adopted black children. One of her brothers claims she asked him to help keep her true ethnicity a secret.
"She's trying to say that people were racist to her her entire life, even though she grew up a white, privileged person up in Montana," said Ezra Dolezal, brother.
Dolezal also served as chair of Spokane's independent police commission. The city is investigating whether she lied about her ethnicity on her application.
Dolezal was supposed to address the controversy and explain herself in a chapter meeting Monday night, but that meeting was canceled before she announced her resignation online.
The Spokane Police Department has also suspended its investigations into two claims by Dolezal that she was the victim of racist attacks.