PERSON: Rachel Dolezal

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Civil Rights Activist

Rachel Anne Dolezal (born November 12, 1977) is an American civil rights activist and former Africana studies instructor. She was president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Spokane, Washington, from 2014 until June 15, 2015, when she resigned following allegations that she had lied about her racial identity and other aspects of her biography.Though she resigned from the NAACP, the organization released a statement supporting Dolezal in response to the allegations of misrepresentation leveled against her. She was chair of Spokane’s police ombudsman commission from 2014 until she was removed by the city council on 18 June 2015 over “a pattern of misconduct”. From 2008 to 2010 she was education director at the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, when she resigned due to alleged discrimination.<br> <br> In June 2015, Dolezal came to media attention when her white parents said publicly that Dolezal is a white woman passing as black. Their statement followed Dolezal’s reports to police and local news media that she had been the victim of nine hate crimes. Dolezal’s critics contend that she has committed cultural appropriation and fraud; her supporters contend that her racial identity is genuine, although not based on biology or ancestry.<br> <br> — Wikipedia