Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP chapter president in Spokane, Wash., whose non-black racial status sparked a furor, has resigned from the post in the face of the controversy.
“It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the presidency and pass the baton to my vice-president, Naima Quarles-Burnley,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Dolezal, 37, came under intense scrutiny last week after questions emerged about her racial background.
Family photo of Rachel Dolezal. Courtesy of Dolezal family (Courtesy of the Dolezal family via The Spokesman-Review)
In a Spokane city application, she identified herself as white, African-American, and Native American, authorities said.
Dolezal was elected president of the local NAACP chapter about six months ago, The Spokesman-Review reported.
The NAACP issued a statement Friday supporting Dolezal, who has been a longtime figure in Spokane’s human-rights community and teaches African studies to college students.
Her mother, Ruthanne Dolezal, said the family’s ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German, with a trace of Native American heritage. She produced a copy of her daughter’s Montana birth certificate listing herself and Larry Dolezal as Rachel’s parents.
Rachel Dolezal soon after she was elected president of the Spokane NAACP chapter. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review/Associated Press)
The city of Spokane is investigating whether Dolezal lied about her ethnicity when she applied to be on the police board.
Police on Friday said they were suspending investigations into racial-harassment complaints filed by Dolezal, including one from earlier this year in which she said she received hate mail at her office.
Dolezal had said in a statement Friday that she would address the controversy at Monday’s meeting.
