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 Eastern Washington's civil rights community for years

She also teaches Africana Studies part time at Eastern Washington University in Spokane

Her mother Ruthanne Dolezal revealed Thursday that her daughter is white and began to 'disguise herself' in 2006 or 2007

A local NAACP leader's parents on Thursday dropped a massive bomb: 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 a local university, has been misleading people about her ethnicity for years, her parents say.

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

Confusion: Other than some 'faint traces' of Native American blood, Ruthanne Dolezal's mother told reporters the family background is Czech, Swedish and German

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

'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.'

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.

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.

'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.

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 is now: 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.

While her parents back up the claim Dolezal attended Howard (she was awarded a Master's of Fine Arts at the school), Dolezal 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:

If you haven't seen it yet, get ready; it will take a hold on you, and you should probably avoid making plans for frivolous social obligations afterward. 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.

In another post, along with selfies of her with a curly mane, the naturally straight, light-haired Dolezal writes:

'Going with the natural look as I start my 36th year.'

Brother not son: Dolezal's blog posts and interviews often reference her 'black sons.' However, her mother says 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

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

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.

In an interview with the Coeur d' Alene Press, her 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.

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.'

Prior to her positions in Spokane, Dolezal served as director of the Human Rights Institute in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

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.

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

Armed on Wednesday with a photo from the Spokane NAACP Facebook page in which Dolezal stands beside a black man the caption of which says it's her father, Local CNN affiliate KXLY then took the issue to Dolezal herself.

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

'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 at Eastern Washington University, 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 went on to say.

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.'

Besides, as her mother explains in a way only a mother can, Dolezal is good at what she does.

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



