Rachel Dolezal

Rachel Dolezal
Dolezal at a rally in May 2015
Born
Rachel Anne Dolezal

(1977-11-12) November 12, 1977 (age 46)
Lincoln County, Montana, U.S.
Other names
Education
Occupations
Political partyDemocratic[6]
Spouse
Kevin Moore
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2004)​
Children2
RelativesJoshua Dolezal (brother)

Nkechi Amare Diallo (born Rachel Anne Dolezal;[a] November 12, 1977[fn 1]) is an American former college instructor and activist known for presenting herself as a black woman despite being born to white parents. She is also a former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter president.

Dolezal was president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, from 2014 until June 2015, when she resigned in the midst of controversy over her racial identity. She was the subject of public scrutiny when her parents publicly stated that she was pretending to be black but was actually white. The statement by Dolezal's parents followed Dolezal's reports to police and local news media that she had been the victim of race-related hate crimes;[10][11][12] a police investigation did not support her allegations.[13] Dolezal had also claimed on an application form to be mixed-race and had falsely claimed that an African-American man was her father and that her brother was her son. In the aftermath of the controversy, Dolezal was dismissed from her position as an instructor in Africana studies at Eastern Washington University and was removed from her post as chair of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane over "a pattern of misconduct".[14] In 2015, Dolezal acknowledged that she was "born white to white parents" but maintained that she self-identified as black.

The Dolezal controversy fuelled a national debate in the United States about racial identity. Dolezal's critics stated that she committed cultural appropriation and fraud; Dolezal asserted that her self-identification is genuine. In 2017, Dolezal released a memoir on her racial identity titled In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.

  1. ^ Rivero, Daniel (June 12, 2015). "Rachel Dolezal's art blog is something to behold". Fusion. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015. The name of the piece Dolezal presented (under her married name Rachel Moore) was 'Hypocrisy: A Form of Godliness'.
  2. ^ "Former Washington NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal gets new name". Associated Press. March 2, 2017. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  3. ^ Oluo, Ijeoma (April 19, 2017). "The Heart of Whiteness: Ijeoma Oluo Interviews Rachel Dolezal, the White Woman Who Identifies as Black". The Stranger. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  4. ^ "Because the truth matters". CDA Press. June 12, 2015. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Malkin, Bonnie (July 21, 2015). "Rachel Dolezal making a living braiding hair". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  6. ^ Guest: Rachel Dolezal, on cancel culture and 2020 elections. The Cave of Time (Livestream). July 25, 2020. Event occurs at 59:20. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Moyer, Justin (June 12, 2015). "'Are you an African American?' Why an NAACP official isn't saying". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  8. ^ Morning, Ann (May 2017). "Race and Rachel Doležal". Contexts. 16 (2): 8–11. doi:10.1177/1536504217714251. S2CID 196063542.
  9. ^ Brownson, Laura (2018). The Rachel Divide (motion picture). Netflix. Event occurs at 1:39:48. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Selle2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Humphrey, Jeff (June 11, 2015). "Did NAACP president lie about her race? City investigates". KXLY. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  13. ^ "SPD suspends all cases involving Rachel Dolezal". KREM. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
  14. ^ "Rachel Dolezal under pressure to quit police ombudsman board". The Guardian. Associated Press. June 18, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2016.


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