SPOKANE — She said she was an African American woman, but Rachel Dolezal’s family claimed the Spokane NAACP president was white.
Dolezal caused quite a bit of controversy and sparked a national debate for allegedly posing as African American.
Not only is she the president of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington, but also teaches African heritage at a university.
In pictures, she has dark skin, but her parents said she did not always look like that.
“Our daughter is primarily German and Czech and of European descent,” Dolezal’s mother said. “Rachel is a master artist. So, she’s able to disguise herself.”
Keith Norman with our local NAACP chapter was not impressed with how Dolezal is presenting herself.
“Would you call this black face?” WREG asked Norman.
“Of course it is,” he said. “We would have to call it what it is, and we would have to say a shame on any person who would do that.”
Dolezal has claimed to be the victim and has filed multiple hate crimes and complaints with police in Spokane over the years.
Still, she has been active in her community and fights for African American rights.
Norman said that was great.
He just did not understand why she felt the need to change her skin color to do so.
“We want her to continue to do the work that she’s doing. It would probably be more impactful and more powerful if she were to do it as a white female, rather than trying to portray herself as a black female,” he said.
