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NAACP leader's parents say she lied about her race

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Police in eastern Washington said Friday they're no longer investigating racial harassment claims made by Rachel Dolezal, the head of a local NAACP chapter whose integrity was thrown into question when her mother said she's a white woman pretending to be black.

SPOKANE, Wash. — QUICK FACTS:

  • Spokane officials have said there's an investigation into whether she violated city policy
  • Dolezal has said the controversy came up because of legal issues between family members
  • Mother says her daughter's background is Czech, Swedish and German, with some Native American

Dolezal has filed police complaints, saying she received hate mail at the organization's post office box.

Authorities, however, have said it's unlikely a letter without a date stamp or bar code could have been placed in the box without a key.

Inquiries into the complaints were suspended this week, Spokane police spokeswoman Teresa Fuller said. They could be reopened if new information emerges, she said.

Dolezal's story has triggered a national debate over race and ethnicity, and such questions prompted NAACP officials to release a statement saying the organization's leaders can come from any background.

The statement also said the organization respected her privacy on the matter.

“I’m just surprised that this issue has come to the forefront to talk about what her race is, when there’s far more important things in our society we must deal with,” said Gerald Hankerson, president of the Seattle/King County NAACP.

Hankerson said the issue of Dolezal’s application to the Spokane police oversight committee is the city’s issue, not an issue of the NAACP.

Dolezal, meanwhile, has declined to comment directly about her background, saying Thursday the "question is not as easy as it seems. There's a lot of complexities, and I don't know that everyone would understand that."

She couldn't be reached Friday when contacted by The Associated Press.

Friday night, she tweeted, “I am very happy to see more people joining us #TransracialLivesMatter #WrongSkin.”

She also tweeted a picture of herself next to a picture of Caitlyn Jenner, with the caption “who are you to decide what is right for me?”

Aside from her role as president of the Spokane NAACP chapter, Dolezal is an adjunct professor in the Africana Studies Program at Eastern Washington University and chairwoman of Spokane's police overnight board.

Seattle residents expressed mixed feelings about the situation.

Millka Solomon said she was personally offended by Dolezal “trying to identify as an oppressed person for her own economic and social gain, because she has a position as a teacher of African-American studies.  ”But for others, her representation of her race doesn’t matter in the context of the work she’s done.

Mary Davis, who works at the family-owned R&L Barbecue on Yesler Way, said she contributes to the NAACP.

While she said a woman should be accepted as black if she wants to be seen as black she added, “The question I have is, ‘why?’”

Another Seattle resident going only by the first name of Tennessee said, “A man want to be a woman, a woman want to be a man. They choose who they want to be, you know what I’m saying? It’s not my opinion to judge that person.”

Spokane officials have said there's an investigation into whether she violated city policy when she listed herself as white, black and American Indian on her application for the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission.

Dolezal has said the controversy came up because of legal issues between family members, but she hasn't offered specifics.

Ruthanne Dolezal told The Spokesman-Review newspaper that her daughter's background is Czech, Swedish and German, with some Native American.

She said she and her daughter haven't been in touch for years but that Rachel Dolezal began to portray herself as black about a decade ago after the family adopted four black children.

"It's very sad that Rachel has not just been herself," the mother told the newspaper by phone from her home in Montana. "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."

On Friday morning, the NAACP released a statement:

"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."

Copyright The Associated Press

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