Rachel Dolezal stepped down as head of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP after she portrayed herself as black, even though she was born white, according to CNN.
Dolezal reportedly hasn’t denied that her biological parents are white and the fact that she has altered her look over the years as she explained reasons for her actions during an interview on NBC’s “Today” show.
“My life has been one of survival,” explained the former NAACP leader.
“And the decisions that I have made along the way have been to survive and to carry forward in my joinery and life continuum.”
37-year-old Dolezal made headlines last week when her biological parents stated that she lied about her race, according to ABC News.
“In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organization outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP,” Dolezal said in a letter on the Spokane NAACP Facebook page before stepping down.
When she had applied for a position at the Spokane Police Ombudsman Commission, Dolezal reportedly claimed that she was white, black and American Indian, according to the ABC affiliate station KXLY-TV in Spokane.
Dolezal’s parents, who haven’t talked to their daughter for years, reportedly stated that their daughter connected with African-Americans since she was younger, evident from self-portraits that she drew of herself at the age of 5. Dolezal reportedly recalled using brown crayon to portray herself while she drew herself with curly, black hair, instead of the straight blonde hair that she had grown up with.
“I felt very isolated with my identity virtually my entire life, that nobody really got it and that I really didn’t have the personal agency to express it,” explained Dolezal.
“I kind of imagined that maybe at some point [I’d have to] own it publicly and discuss this kind of complexity. [But] I wasn’t expecting it to be thrust upon me right now.”
Rachel Dolezal’s recent interview on the “Today” show has been receiving negative responses.
“Why not just be a White woman who supports Black ppl? #RachelDolezal has a cognitive dissonance that is straight stunning & self serving,” tweeted Steve Perry, a CNN education contributor and founder of Hartford, Connecticut’s Capital Preparatory Magnet School.
One Twitter user commented, “rachel dolezal will never be black because she can stop being black.”
