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Spokane NAACP Stands By Dolezal, Waits For Explanation

NAACP Spokane chapter president Rachel Dolezal has been in the national spotlight this week.
NAACP Spokane
NAACP Spokane chapter president Rachel Dolezal has been in the national spotlight this week.

The NAACP is standing behind the besieged president of the Spokane chapter, at least for the time being.

Rachel Dolezal came into the national spotlight after her parents revealed this week that their daughter is white.

Dolezal has been a prominent leader on civil rights causes in Spokane. She teaches part-time in Eastern Washington University’s Africana studies program. And she identifies as black.

But Dolezal’s parents told the press this week that she’s been lying about her race and shared her birth certificate and photos of Dolezal as a child in Montana.

The NAACP is taking a wait and see approach. The national organization in Baltimore released a statement calling it a legal issue with her family and said racial identity is not a qualifying factor for leadership in the organization.

The Spokane branch is holding a meeting on Monday where members say they hope to hear Dolezal’s version of the story. But Dolezal remains president of the local chapter.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.
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