Rachel Dolezal (also spelled Doležal)[3] is an American civil rights activist, who came to media prominence as a white woman passing as black and inventing a significant amount of her life story.[4] She is the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Spokane, Washington.[5][6][7] She is also the chair of the office of the police ombudsman commission in Spokane.[8] From 2008 to 2010, she was a leader of the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.[9][6][10] On June 11, 2015, Dolezal came to media attention when her white parents publicly stated that Dolezal is a white woman claiming to be black. This occurred following a report from Dolezal to the police and to local news outlets that she was the victim of nine hate crimes.[6][11][12] The controversy around Dolezal is a showcase for the passing phenomenon. Dolezal was born to parents Ruthanne (nee Schertel) and Lawrence (Larry) Dolezal, who are caucasian and primarily of Czech and German origin.[14] She has an older biological brother, Joshua, who is an English professor.[15] When she was a teenager, her parents adopted four children: three African Americans and a Haitian.[16] Rachel Dolezal has claimed she was born and lived in a teepee and hunted her food with bows and arrows,[17] Her parents confirmed they previously lived in a teepee, but report this was before their daughter was born.[18] Prior to college, Dolezal was home-schooled. She attended Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi for college, receiving her bachelor's degree in 2000. After Belhaven, she attended Howard University, a historically black college in located in Washington, D.C.. Dolezal received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the school in 2002.[12][19][20] It was stated in a Boston Globe op-ed that Dolezal, upon applying to Howard, was assumed to be black by the admissions office; she received a scholarship from the university. It was not realized by the faculty and students until she started taking classes there that she was Caucasian.[21] Her thesis at Howard was a series of paintings presented from the perspective of a black man, and sparked a controversy after Dean Tritobia Benjamin, a specialist on black women in the arts, questioned whether Dolezal was qualified to tell this type of story as a white woman.[20] Dolezal's Eastern Washington University profile states that she has begun pre-medical studies to "engage in life-saving surgery efforts around the world".[22][23][24] From 2002 to 2006, her parents and adoptive siblings lived in South Africa as Christian missionaries, but she has never been to South Africa.[25][26] Dolezal claims that a "trusted mentor" raped her when she attended Howard University, and that "suing was nearly impossible due to the amount of wealth the man had." Dolezal's claim to be of African-American ancestry became the subject of controversy [44][3] in June 2015, after Dolezal's parents stated that their daughter had been trying to "disguise herself" as African-American.[7] They presented a "copy of [their] daughter’s Montana birth certificate,"[45] and said that she is of German and Czech heritage,[8] with "traces of Native American ancestry."[46] According to her parents, Dolezal began to identify herself more with the African-American community around 2007.[16] Following her parents' denial that she is of African-American ancestry and release of "family photos of her as a blue-eyed teenager with straight blond hair", Dolezal was asked by KXLY-TV reporter Jeff Humphrey about a photo on the Facebook page of the Spokane NAACP chapter of "a black man identified as Dolezal's father". When Humphrey asked if the man was really Dolezal's father, and if she was an African American, Dolezal walked out of the interview.[3][44] In subsequent interviews, Dolezal stated that "if, you know, I was asked, I would definitely say that yes I do consider myself to be black,"[47][48][49][47][50] and that "I would definitely consider myself to be black."[51] Dolezal has also listed herself as black on at least one application,[6] and has said she is of "African-American, Native American, German, Czech, Swedish, Jewish and Arabic" heritage.[52][53] In an article she wrote for The Inlander in March 2015, Dolezal repeatedly includes herself when discussing black women through use of the "we" and "our" pronouns.[54] According to her uncle Dan Dolezal, Rachel Dolezal began claiming that a black friend named Albert Wilkerson was her real father around 2012–2013, stating that "it caused my brother quite a bit of pain."[55] Dolezal has in recent interviews referred to her father as her "stepfather."[27] In a 2015 interview, Dolezal claimed that she was "punished by skin complexion" by her mother and "white stepfather," and compared this alleged punishment to the punishment suffered by black slaves

• published: 15 Jun 2015
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