By
Lydia Warren For Dailymail.com and Dailymail.com Reporter
Published:
00:56 EST, 12 June 2015 | Updated: 16:29 EST, 12 June 2015
- Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal revealed that their daughter Rachel Dolezal, 37, is white - not black, as she has claimed to be
- They say she started 'disguising herself' in 2007 and no longer speaks to them because they will 'ruin her image'
- She has been a civil rights activist in Idaho and Eastern Washington for years and also teaches Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University
- She is facing a city ethics investigation after identifying herself as black in an application to serve on a local police ombudsman commission
- She said she was white, black and American Indian and secured the role - but her mother says the family is Czech, Swedish and German
- KXLY asked her if she was African American and, looking stunned, she responded: 'I don't understand the question'
The parents of a white NAACP leader who claimed to be African
American have claimed that she cut them out because she didn't want them
ruining her image.
Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal spoke from their home in Troy,
Montana on Friday after they revealed that their daughter, Spokane's NAACP
Chapter President Rachel Dolezal, has been misleading people about her
ethnicity for years.
Dolezal, who has been a civil rights activist across Idaho
and Washington and works part-time as an Africana Studies professor at Eastern
Washington University, is now facing a city ethics probe for falsely claiming
on an application that she was black.
Her parents, who are estranged from their daughter, say they
first found out she was claiming to be African American as they read a
newspaper article about her 'some years ago'.
Confusion: Other than some 'faint traces' of Native American blood, Ruthanne
Dolezal's mother told reporters the family background is Czech, Swedish and
German. She is pictured left and right as a girl
Revelations: Larry and Ruthanne Dolezal, pictured
speaking to CNN
on Friday, have revealed their daughter, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President
Rachel Dolezal, is white - not African American
Revealed: Her parents shared her birth certificate to prove they are indeed her
biological parents
'She has never claimed to be biracial or African-American in
our presence,' they told CNN.
But they have also not spoken to their daughter in years,
they said. She has claimed in interviews that they were violent towards her,
which they have denied. Instead, they say she has cut them out because she
fears they will blow her cover.
'Rachel has chosen to distance herself from the family and
be hostile towards us,' her mother said. 'She doesn't want us to be where she
is, she doesn't want to be seen with us because it ruins her image.'
The couple has adopted four younger children of color -
three African-American children and another from Haiti - but they say their
daughter's interest in diversity far preceded that.
They always surrounded themselves with friends of different
ethnicities, they said, and when she graduated from Belhaven University in
Jackson, Mississippi, she applied to Howard University, a historically
black college in Washington, D.C.
Although she did not claim to be African American in her
application, the family believes the school thought Dolezal was black, because
she was coming from Jackson and her artwork used African imagery.
Now and then: Rachel Dolezal, Spokane's NAACP Chapter President and part-time
Africana Studies professor at a university in Washington, has been misleading
people about her ethnicity for years, her parents say
A white past: Dolezal's mother also showed reporters this
photo of her daughter's 2000 marriage in Mississippi (she's seen at center).
Dolezal is now divorced after claiming her husband was abusive
'The way we understood, eyes were popping and jaws were
dropping when she walked in to finalize her registration,' her father told CNN.
Her mother added: 'For that application, I do not believe
Rachel was deceptive as she has been more recently.'
As time went on, their daughter began sounding African
American on the phone and then she started to 'disguise herself' from around
2007, her parents said.
Although they and other friends in their community knew that
she was white, they did not speak out about it because they originally thought
it was an 'artistic representation'.
But after learning that she was claiming to be African
American, they did not take the initiative to say anything until they were
recently contacted, they said.
'We've never been asked these questions until now,' her
father said.
They told the truth and confirmed that they were her
biological parents when they were recently contacted, they said.
The couple has also shared images of Dolezal as a child;
while today the 37-year-old divorcee sports tight, dark curls, the photos show a fair and freckled blonde child.
One of her adopted brothers, 21-year-old Zach, backed up his
parents' story by telling the Washington Post that when he visited his sister
in Spokane, he was told not to speak of Larry and Ruthanne as their parents.
Another adopted brother, Ezra Dolezal, 22, compared their
sister's decision to blackface.
'Back in the early 1900s, what she did would be considered
highly racist,' he said. 'You really should not do that. It's completely
opposite – she's basically creating more racism.'
Despite their hurt, her parents said that any decision about
Dolezal's future at the NAACP should be left up to the organization.
'It's very sad that Rachel has not just been herself,'
Ruthanne Dolezal told the Spokesman-Review. 'Her effectiveness in the
causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable,
and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with
everybody.'
Highly visible activist: Dolezal has been a highly visible
civil rights activist in the Eastern Washington/Idaho region for years. She's
seen here with Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby
The way she was: And according to her staff biography at Eastern Washington University, Dolezal received her master's degree from Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C.
But the NAACP released a statement on Friday calling it 'a legal issue with her family'.
'We respect her privacy in this matter,' the statement said.
'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.'
The parents have said the family background is Czech,
Swedish and German, as well as some 'faint traces' of Native American blood.
However, when Rachel Dolezal applied to become chairwoman of
Spokane's Office of Police Ombudsman Commission - a volunteer appointment
- she marked herself down as white, black and American Indian, the
Spokesman-Review reported.
She has also previously claimed that her white father is her
step-father.
In January, a photo showing Dolezal and a black man on the
Spokane NAACP's Facebook erroneously identified the man as her father.
Brother not son: Dolezal's blog posts and interviews often reference her 'black sons.' But her mother says one of the boys is Izaiah - one of four African American infants Rachel's parents adopted in the 1990s
Lies: The NAACP group shared this image on its Facebook page earlier this year claiming to show Dolezal with her father - but her parents, who are white, say she is not related to this man
On Wednesday, a reporter from KXLY confronted Dolezal a photo of her with the African-American man while on camera.
'Ma'am, I was wondering if your dad really is an
African-American man,' the KXLY reporter asked.
'I don't understand the question,' Dolezal replied. 'I did
tell you [that man in the picture] is my dad.'
'Are your parents white?' the reporter asked. Dolezal then
removed her mic and walked away.
Reached by the Spokesman-Review, Dolezal answered questions
about her ethnicity by saying:
'That question is not as easy as it seems... There's a lot
of complexities … and I don't know that everyone would understand that... We're
all from the African continent.'
She has also spoken about her 'black sons' - but
her mother told CDAPress.com that one of those boys
is Izaiah Dolezal - who is, in fact, one of four infants Rachel's parents
adopted in the 1990s.
Izaiah, now 21, has since gone to live with Dolezal and no
longer speaks with his adopted parents.
The Washington Post reported that the disagreement over
Izaiah appears to have driven the family apart more than her claims about her
race.
'I can understand hairstyles and all that,' Zach Dolezal
said of his sister. 'Saying her brother is her son, I don't understand that.'
She also has a son with her now-ex-husband. They married in
2000 and moved to Idaho.
He then became violent towards her and their young son, she
claimed in an article inThe Easterner earlier this year. They
divorced in 2004.
She told the publication that filing for divorce was a hard
decision because she 'wanted to have sort of like a perfect record'.
She was later also engaged to a man from Mississippi,
Maurice Turner, but they split up in February 2013.
The article adds that in 2006 she developed cervical cancer
but was considered cured in 2008.
Cover up: Dolezal has Czech, Swedish and German blood even
though she claimed on a recent application for a volunteer role that she was
white, black and American Indiana. She is now under an ethics review
Poweful: She is pictured in January next to Dr. Scott
Finnie, right, director of EWU's Africana Education Program before the start of
a Black Lives Matter Teach-In on Public Safety and Criminal Justice
Support: In March, she is seen right linking arms with her supporters as they shout 'We shall overcome' during a rally in Spokane. It was held after she claimed she had received a racist and threatening package
Around that time, she also took on the role as director of the Human Rights Institute and says she was also forced to deal with threats from white supremacy groups afraid of female power. They hung nooses in her home and stole from her, she claimed in the article.
She moved to Spokane in 2012 and has since used social media
as an outlet for her frustrations about being a person of color in a very white
corner of America.
A November 2013 post about the release of the film 12 Years
a Slave, reads in part:
Probably not the best film to take a white partner on a
first date to, just-sayin...In fact, over the years I have learned the only way
to screen a Black-themed film in Whitopia (aka Idaho/Eastern Washington) is to:
1) arrive a little early so you have a choice in seating 2) sit in the top,
back row so that if white people are inclined to stare, they have to turn all
the way around to do it 3) sit in the top, back row so that during the movie
people aren't constantly looking at you to monitor the 'Black response' to the
film.
And in another post,
along with selfies of her with a curly mane, the naturally light-haired Dolezal
writes: 'Going with the natural look as I start my 36th
year.'
The naturally light haired Dolezal posted these photos with the caption, 'going
with the natural look'
In a 2013 Facebook post, Dolezal bemoaned the trials and tribulations of being
a person of color in an almost totally white corner of America
Artist: An image shows Dolezal's artwork; she studied art at
college and continues to work as an artist
Her Eastern Washington University bio also says that Dolezal
has been the victim of at least eight 'documented hate crimes'.
While in the position, Dolezal filed multiple police reports
ranging from theft to harassment to the racially motivated hanging of a nooses
in her home.
In a more recent claim of racially motivated harassment, Dolezal made local headlines early this year when hate mail was supposedly sent to her at the NAACP post office box in Spokane.
However, police reports on the case revealed this week that
whoever placed the letters and packages into the box would have had to have the
key because none had bar codes or stamps.
Now, the City of Spokane has said they will investigate
whether Dolezal violated the city's code of ethics in her application to serve
on the citizen police ombudsman commission.
'We are committed to independent citizen oversight and take
very seriously the concerns raised regarding the chair of the independent
citizen police ombudsman commission,' Spokane Mayor David Condon and City
Council President Ben Stuckart said in a statement on Friday.
'We are gathering facts to determine if any city policies
related to volunteer boards and commissions have been violated. That
information will be reviewed by the City Council, which has oversight of city
boards and commissions.'
So how did Dolezal's so easily perforated web of lies fool
the city in the first place? City spokesman Brian Coddington explained.
'The community wanted diversity and limited background
checks,' Coddington said, explaining to the Coeur d' Alene Press that the
committee didn't want to deter applicants with minor criminal pasts. 'The low
level background checks were intentional.'
He added that race wasn't a criteria in the selection
process, but they had wanted to achieve diversity among the committee.
A former president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP added
that being a person of color is not a requirement to become president.
'It is traditional to have a person of color in that
position, but that hasn't always been the case in Spokane,' James Wilburn
said.
Howard University
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. was a trustee at Howard
University, is Valerie B. Jarrett’s
great uncle, an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner,
a senior director at the NAACP Legal
Defense & Educational Fund, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Note: Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Spike
Lee is an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner,
and married to Tonya Lewis Lee.
Tonya Lewis Lee
is married to Spike Lee, and a
director at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund.
Henry Louis
Gates Jr. is an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner,
and a director at the NAACP Legal
Defense & Educational Fund.
Charles J.
Ogletree Jr. is an Oak Bluffs (MA)
homeowner, director at the NAACP Legal
Defense & Educational Fund, and was Barack Obama’s college mentor.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Eric H. Holder Jr.
was an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration, and is a trustee at the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Louis W. Sullivan
was the president of the Morehouse
School of Medicine, and is an Oak
Bluffs (MA) homeowner.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an Oak Bluffs (MA)
homeowner, a senior director at the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund, a director at the American Friends of
Bilderberg (think tank), Valerie
B. Jarrett’s great uncle, was a trustee at Howard University, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Martin D. Payson
is a co-chair emeritus for the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and was a trustee at Howard University.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
James S.
Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a trustee
at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Stephen L. Carter
is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.
Henry Louis
Gates Jr. is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner, and a director
at the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund.
Walter Isaacson
is the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was
the chairman & CEO for CNN.
Charlayne
Hunter-Gault was a correspondent for CNN,
and is an Oak Bluffs (MA) homeowner.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is an Oak Bluffs (MA)
homeowner, a senior director at the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund, a director at the American Friends of
Bilderberg (think tank), Valerie
B. Jarrett’s great uncle, was a trustee at Howard University, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Martin D. Payson
is a co-chair emeritus for the NAACP
Legal Defense & Educational Fund, and was a trustee at Howard University.
No comments:
Post a Comment