SPOKANE, Wash. — The "no reporters" sign outside the Fox Island home was easy to see. And the woman who answered the door confirmed it.
The man who lives there, 77-year-old Albert Wilkerson Junior, does not want to talk about the president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP who claims he is her black father.
Indeed, on her Facebook page, Rachel Dolezal, identified Wilkerson as her dad.
He said he had no inkling that the controversy over race happening 300 miles to the east had reached quiet Fox Island, where he has lived for 30 years.
"It is an interesting story," he said. "And to live next door to someone who's supposed to be the father is surprising to me."
Dolezal says she identifies as black.
But a controversy over her race erupted this week when a Spokane newspaper talked to a white couple who say she is their daughter.
"Our daughter is primarily German and Czech and of European descent," said Ruthanne Dolezal.
Now the Spokane City Council is investigating Dolezal.
When she applied for a spot on a police oversight committee there, she identified herself as white, Native American and black.
McPherson says he hasn't been too concerned about the issue.
"I have no opinion either way," he said, adding, that his neighbor keeps to himself. "I've talked to his wife several times."
He was asked if they are good neighbors.
"Beautiful," said McPherson. "Oh, [you] couldn't ask for better neighbors."
Dolezal says she will speak publicly about the issue Monday.
KIRO
