revealed Thursday she started 'disguising herself' as black in 2007 and no longer speaks to them because they will 'ruin her image'

The white NAACP leader at the center of a race storm after misrepresenting herself as a black woman for years told her brother: 'Don't blow my cover'.

Rachel Dolezal, 37, was exposed after her parents revealed her European heritage - though she insists that she still identifies herself as black and says she doesn't 'give two sh*ts' what anybody else has to say.

However, her adopted brother Ezra, 22, has revealed how anxious Dolezal was to cover up her ethnicity when she moved west from Montana to craft a 'whole new identity' for herself.

Scroll down for videos

Storm: Rachel Dolezal, 37, was fending of accusations that she had lied for years about her race. She is pictured left recently, and right as a girl

'Don't blow my cover': Ezra Dolezal, above, who appears to be in the U.S. Army, said his sister warned him not to ruin her deception when he came to visit her

'Family': Ezra, left, is pictured some time ago with Dolezal (center), her biological son Franklin Moore (center left) and her adopted brother, Zach, whom she now claims is in fact her son

Spotted: Rachel Dolezal, 37, was pictured outside her home Friday for the first time since scandal erupted over her misrepresentation of her race

Speaking with BuzzFeed News, Ezra Dolezal recalled going to Spokane in 2012 to meet his sister, to discover she had erased her family back home and had persuaded a black man to pretend to be her father.

He revealed Dolezal told him him: 'Over here, I’m going to be considered black, and I have a black father. Don’t blow my cover.'

'She wanted to make a new life for herself but she took it to the ultimate extreme, - Not only did she move out to Spokane, but she created a whole new identity for herself.'

Ezra revealed that his sister started acting 'hateful to white people' after attending Howard University to get a Master of Fine Arts degree.

Outspoken: Dolezal (above) responded to her detractors in a new interview, saying: 'What I'd say to them is "I don't give two s***s what you guys think"'

He said she felt mistreated at the mostly-black institution because she was one of few white students there, and was specializing in African art.

He added that, despite her enthusiasm for African culture - which she teaches at university level, Dolezal has 'never been to Africa in her entire life'.

Dolezal addressed the growing scandal directly for the first time yesterday, after initially dodging questions about her ethnicity and walking out of an interview.

She told reporters: 'I don't give two shi*s what you guys think. You are so far done, and out, of my life'

When pressed further about her race, she told KREM: 'I actually don't like the term African-American. I prefer black, and I would say that if I was asked I would definitely say that yes I do consider myself to be black.'

Speaking up: Dolezal said she 'can understand' why some people believe that she misrepresented herself

As for the outcry over her race, Dolezal said she 'can understand' why some people believe that she misrepresented herself.

She the reiterated earlier statements she had made in which she stressed her need to speak with her NAACP board and the black community about this situation before the public.

'It’s more important for me to clarify that with the black community and with my executive board than it really is to explain it to a community that, quite frankly, don’t really understand the definitions of race and ethnicity,' she explained.

She also urged her critics to 'maybe think about W.E.B Du Bois that said race is usually biological, always cultural.'

As for her appearance Friday, she kept a low profile as she left her home, attired in shorts and a tee shirt as she carried a book to her car.

On her way: KHQ caught Dolezal as she left her house, with sources saying she would lead the NAACP meeting on Monday

It was also revealed that despite the public outcry, she is still expected to lead the NAACP meeting next week.

Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal spoke from their home in Troy, Montana on Friday after they revealed that their daughter, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President, has been misleading people about her ethnicity for years.

Dolezal, who has been a civil rights activist across Idaho and Washington and works part-time as an Africana Studies professor at Eastern Washington University, is now facing a city ethics probe for falsely claiming on an application that she was black.

Her parents, who are estranged from their daughter, say they first found out she was claiming to be African American as they read a newspaper article about her 'some years ago'.

'She has never claimed to be biracial or African-American in our presence,' they told CNN.

But they have also not spoken to their daughter in years, they said. She has claimed in interviews that they were violent towards her, which they have denied. Instead, they say she has cut them out because she fears they will blow her cover.

Revelations: Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal, pictured speaking to CNN on Friday, have revealed their daughter, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President Rachel Dolezal, is white - not African American

Revealed: Her parents shared her birth certificate to prove they are indeed her biological parents

'Rachel has chosen to distance herself from the family and be hostile towards us,' her mother said. 'She doesn't want us to be where she is, she doesn't want to be seen with us because it ruins her image.'

The couple has adopted four younger children of color - three African-American children and another from Haiti - but they say their daughter's interest in diversity far preceded that.

They always surrounded themselves with friends of different ethnicities, they said, and when she graduated from Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, she applied to Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C.

Although she did not claim to be African American in her application, the family believes the school thought Dolezal was black, because she was coming from Jackson and her artwork used African imagery.

Now and then: Rachel Dolezal, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President and part-time Africana Studies professor at a university in Washington, has been misleading people about her ethnicity for years, her parents say

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 after claiming her husband was abusive

'The way we understood, eyes were popping and jaws were dropping when she walked in to finalize her registration,' her father told CNN.

Her mother added: 'For that application, I do not believe Rachel was deceptive as she has been more recently.'

As time went on, their daughter began sounding African American on the phone and then she started to 'disguise herself' from around 2007, her parents said.

'WE STAND BEHIND HER RECORD': NAACP RELEASES STATEMENT 'For 106 years, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has held a long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds. 'NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. One's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership. The NAACP Alaska-Oregon-Washington State Conference stands behind Ms. Dolezal's advocacy record. 'In every corner of this country, the NAACP remains committed to securing political, educational, and economic justice for all people, and we encourage Americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leaders in our organization. 'Hate language sent through mail and social media along with credible threats continue to be a serious issue for our units in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. We take all threats seriously and encourage the FBI and the Department of Justice to fully investigate each occurrence.' Advertisement

Although they and other friends in their community knew that she was white, they did not speak out about it because they originally thought it was an 'artistic representation'.

But after learning that she was claiming to be African American, they did not take the initiative to say anything until they were recently contacted, they said.

'We've never been asked these questions until now,' her father said.

They told the truth and confirmed that they were her biological parents when they were recently contacted, they said.

The couple has also shared images of Dolezal as a child. While today the 37-year-old divorcee sports tight, dark curls, the photos show a fair and freckled blonde child.

One of her adopted brothers, 21-year-old Zach, backed up his parents' story by telling the Washington Post that when he visited his sister in Spokane, he was told not to speak of Larry and Ruthanne as their parents.

Another adopted brother, Ezra Dolezal, 22, compared their sister's decision to blackface.

'Back in the early 1900s, what she did would be considered highly racist,' he said. 'You really should not do that. It's completely opposite – she's basically creating more racism.'

Despite their hurt, her parents said that any decision about Dolezal's future at the NAACP should be left up to the organization.

'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.'

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

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.

But the NAACP released a statement on Friday calling it 'a legal issue with her family'.

'We respect her privacy in this matter,' the statement said. 'One's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership. The NAACP Alaska-Oregon-Washington State Conference stands behind Ms. Dolezal's advocacy record.

'In every corner of this country, the NAACP remains committed to securing political, educational, and economic justice for all people, and we encourage Americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leaders in our organization.'

The parents have said the family background is Czech, Swedish and German, as well as some 'faint traces' of Native American blood.

However, when Dolezal applied to become chairwoman of Spokane's Office of Police Ombudsman Commission - a volunteer appointment - she marked herself down as white, black and American Indian, the Spokesman-Review reported.

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.

The man has now been identified as Albert Wilkerson Jr., and he would not reveal his relationship with Dolezal in an interview with The Spokesman-Review.

'I have nothing negative to say about Rachel and I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus,' said Wilkerson.

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

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, Albert Wilkerson Jr.

Claims: She also shared this photo with the caption: 'L-R Me, my oldest son Izaiah and my Dad'

'I'm just confused by the whole thing,' Elizabeth Phillips, one of Dolezal's students, told People.

'I thought she was mixed. She said her dad was black and her mom was white … that's kind of a big thing to lie about.'

She then added: 'Her stepdad, who was white, used to be very abusive. He used to beat her siblings that were dark. She said her stepdad was the one that was hateful, but her real dad is black.'

'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. Advertisement

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.'

She has also spoken about her 'black sons' - but her mother told CDAPress.com that one of those boys is Izaiah Dolezal - who is, in fact, one of four infants Rachel's parents adopted in the 1990s.

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

Court records show that Dolezal is in fact now the legal guardian of Izaiah.

The Washington Post reported that the disagreement over Izaiah appears to have driven the family apart more than her claims about her race.

'I can understand hairstyles and all that,' Zach Dolezal said of his sister. 'Saying her brother is her son, I don't understand that.'

She also has a son with her now-ex-husband. They married in 2000 and moved to Idaho.

She was later also engaged to a man from Mississippi, Maurice Turner, but they split up in February 2013.

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

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

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.'

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

Artist: An image shows Dolezal's artwork; she studied art at college and continues to work as an artist

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

Despite this fact however, the Spokane Police Department announced Friday: 'All cases involving Ms. Rachel Dolezal are suspended. If new information comes to light we can investigate that information.'

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.

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.

'We are committed to independent citizen oversight and take very seriously the concerns raised regarding the chair of the independent citizen police ombudsman commission,' Spokane Mayor David Condon and City Council President Ben Stuckart said in a statement on Friday.

'We are gathering facts to determine if any city policies related to volunteer boards and commissions have been violated. That information will be reviewed by the City Council, which has oversight of city boards and commissions.'

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.