Rachel Dolezal's Racial Identity Controversy

Overview

Rachel Dolezal’s Racial Identity Controversy refers to allegations that Rachel Dolezal, the president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP, adjunct faculty member at Eastern Washington University and chair of the Spokane police oversight commission, had been disguising herself as an African American since 2007.

Background

Hate Crime Claims

In March 2015, Dolezal claimed to have received a package containing racist and threatening materials in the NAACP PO Box. After police investigated the incident, they determined the package had not been processed by the local postal service, and could only have been placed in the box by a postal worker or key holder.

Racial Identity

On June 11th, 2015, the Coeur d’Alene Press^[3] published an interview with Dolezal’s biological parents, who claimed that their daughter had been misrepresenting her racial identity for several years. The article also noted that Dolezal indicated she was “white,” “African American” and “Native American” on her police oversight committee application.

Notable Developments

KXLY Interview

The same day, the local news station KXLY uploaded an interview Dolezal, in which she discusses the various hate crimes she has reported over the years. After being confronted by the interviewer about whether she identifies as “African American,” Dolezal abruptly ends the interview and walks off camera.

Dolezal’s Response

Also on June 11th,, the Spokesman Review^[8] published an interview with Dolezal, in which she avoided directly answering questions about her racial identity, saying “That question is not as easy as it seems” and “We’re all from the African continent.” The article also included a statement by Dolezal’s mother Ruthanne, who claimed “the family’s ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German” with “faint traces” of Native American.

Online Reaction

That day, reporter for the North Idaho news station KREM Taylor Viydo^[2] posted a current photograph of Dolezal next a picture of her growing up (shown below, left). In the first 24 hours, the tweet gained over 1,800 retweets and 690 favorites. Shortly after, Viydo posted a follow-up tweet featuring a photograph of Dolezal’s biological parents (shown below, right).

Meanwhile, many Internet users and investigative journalists discovered social media posts by Dolezal, in which she describes herself as African American, depicts her adopted step siblings as her children and falsely identifies a black man as her father (shown below).

NAACP’s Response

On June 12th, the NAACP^[7] released a statement on the controversy, noting that “one’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership.”

“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.”

Comparison to Caitlyn Jenner

Also on June 12th, radio host Lenard McKelvey (aka Charlamagne Tha God) posted a tweet saying “If Bruce Jenner can be a woman Rachel Dolezal can be black” (shown below). In the next 12 hours, the tweet gathered upwards of 1,200 retweets and 600 favorites. That day, many debated online whether Dolezal was “transracial” and if it was comparable to being a transsexual.^[5]^[6]

Parents’ CNN Interview

Meanwhile, CNN^[16] broadcast an interview with Dolezal’s parents, in which they indicated that Dolezal first began representing herself as African American in 2007 (shown below).

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news media outlets published articles about the controversy, including The Daily What,^[9] BuzzFeed,^[10] Gawker,^[11] The Washington Post,^[12] The New York Times,^[13]MSNBC^[14] and The Guardian.^[15]