NAACP Weighs In On Wash. President Allegedly Pretending To Be Black

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Friday said that the organization would respect the privacy of the Spokane NAACP chapter president, who has reportedly been pretending to be black.

“NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. 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,” the statement reads.

Rachel Dolezal has said numerous times that she is of African-American descent, according to multiple news reports published on Thursday. However, her parents said that Dolezal is white. They described themselves as white and showed Dolezal’s birth certificate to the Coeur D’Alene Press, indicating that they are her parents. They also showed The Press a picture of Dolezal when she was younger, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Read the NAACP’s full statement below:

Baltimore, MD – For 106 years, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has held a long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds. NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. 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.

Hate language sent through mail and social media along with credible threats continue to be a serious issue for our units in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. We take all threats seriously and encourage the FBI and the Department of Justice to fully investigate each occurrence.

Latest Livewire
45
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. One’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership.

    You know, for a bunch of racists intent upon the extinction of the white race, they don’t sound very scary. I may have been misled about them.

  2. If she should happen to step down, her VP, Donald Sterling, will take over.

  3. You know, if the anthropologists are right and homo sapiens originated in Africa, then ALL Americans are, by definition, “African Americans” or “African-Americans” or “Afro-Americans.”

    So the NAACP’s stance in this matter is wise.

  4. Except their stance is not wise.

    Fact is, this woman was giving paid speeches in which she told stories about how hard it was to grow up African American (that’s basically fraud). She’s claimed she’s been a victim of racial bias, intolerance and bigotry.

    Its quite disgusting.

  5. Just thought I’d head this one off at the pass…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

39 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for doremus_jessup Avatar for zedindylil Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for mcnett Avatar for kittychi Avatar for economides Avatar for doctorbiobrain Avatar for ralph_novy Avatar for meangreen Avatar for mrcomments Avatar for mantan Avatar for sniffit Avatar for just2stressed Avatar for sarenarterius Avatar for ottnott Avatar for lynndee Avatar for tomj Avatar for robcat2075 Avatar for seedoubleyou Avatar for occamsrazor2 Avatar for raincntry Avatar for whateverdude Avatar for chicagopov

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: