Spokane, Washington NAACP Branch Stands Behind President Rachel Dolezal

[big_dog]

Source: Slate.com

The NAACP has issued a statement in support of Dolezal that reads in part:

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... [W]e encourage Americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leaders in our organization.
The NAACP's statement also addressed, indirectly, the questions raised about the threats Dolezal says arrived in her chapter's post office box:

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. Rachel Dolezal is an adjunct professor of Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University. She was elected president of the Spokane NAACP last year. She serves as the chair of an ombudsman commission to represent the interests of the area's minority groups in relations with the Spokane police.

Her parents say that Dolezal has been falsely presenting herself as black for years when she is actually of "Swedish, Czech, and Geman" background with some possible traces of Native American heritage, reports the Seattle Times.

Read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/12/rachel_dolezal_naacp_official_college_professor_accused_of_pretending_to.html

[JustAnotherGen]

1. I'm glad they took that approach! n/t

[big_dog]

2. awesome! k&r

[heaven05]

8. I don't care what her race is

according to american cultural standards. As long as her commitment to justice and equality is proof that she is trying to make the human race better, I'm satisfied with her. That person on here saying "she should get help", should be ashamed of him or herself. I'd want her to represent me in matters of racial equality and justice before you.

[yallerdawg]

3. What a beautiful response.

Racial identity- not race!

[big_dog]

4. Dr King would be proud!

[LovingA2andMI]

5. Sad....

They need to get Rachel help and treatment. Until she claims her race, there is a problem. Rachel can have an affinity with the African-American community and even possibly continue serving as NAACP President in Spokane, Washington but, she cannot claim she is something culturally that she is not.

Also, the NAACP have indeed initially made poor decisions before, they had to walk back....

"The Donald Sterling scandal has claimed collateral damage: the president of the NAACP's Los Angeles chapter.

Leon Jenkins resigned Thursday, after the civil rights group came under fire for its plans to present a lifetime achievement award to the Los Angeles Clippers owner.

Meanwhile on Friday, Sterling's purported girlfriend said through her attorney she was merely a platonic friend, with no sexual relationship with the NBA team owner.

Sterling is accused of making racist comments against African-Americans in an audio recording that surfaced last weekend that purportedly depict an argument between Sterling and V. Stiviano.

On Friday, Sterling was quoted on DuJour.com as saying "I wish I had just paid her off" in reference to Stiviano. The site, which specified that Sterling was referring to Stiviano in a discussion with one of its writers, didn't state when the remark was made.

Sterling isn't the only one reeling in the controversy.

The uproar also struck one of the nation's leading civil rights groups, the NAACP, whose Los Angeles chapter rescinded Monday its offer to give Sterling a lifetime achievement honor once Sterling's racist remarks came to light.

But that reversal was apparently too late. The outcry was too much for the group."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/us/los-angeles-naacp-sterling-controversy/

[Cleita]

6. On the radio today a guest said she was raised with some foster children from Africa and

took her identity from them. But I suppose taking her DNA may settle the issue.

[LovingA2andMI]

10. Yes...

Her parents adopted four African-American children and she was raised with them but, she's not the only person raised with children of a different race.

Yet, amazingly, not only did she decide to have a deep connection to her siblings (that's understandable of course) -- but take it a big step further and claim their race.

Wonder how her Siblings feel about that?

Also, Rachel removed herself from the family, news reports cite. So, if she cared as deeply about her adopted Brothers and Sisters, it would seem as if she would have kept the connections with them, even if she denied a relationship with her parents, correct?

Rachel was living a "ruse" plain and simple.

Last point, while attending Howard University - an highly respected, historically African-American institution of Higher Learning - Rachel received a scholarship -- yet had no problems then identifying as Caucasian.

Heck, she married a African-American Man without the "hair" and "tanning" ruse -- and her parents along with her adopted siblings attended the wedding (there's a photo to prove this by the way).



So, yes -- there is a difference between having a deep affinity and RESPECT for the African-American culture, and "passing" as African-American. Rachel surely KNEW the difference and choose, otherwise.

[LanternWaste]

11. And a lot of sub-literate half-wits pretend to know that differenc

"So, yes -- there is a difference between having a deep affinity..."

And a lot of sub-literate half-wits pretend to know that difference while yet lacking all necessary and relevant information.

[LovingA2andMI]

15. Well, well...

Do tell....

Would I be a Sub-Literate Half-Wit (if such four words connected by a "-" exist) if one was African-American. And a Woman to boot?

Inquiring minds want to know and in particular, this inquiring mind?

[cosmicone]

17. What difference would the DNA make?

As long as she is working to further the goals of the NAACP and doing a good job at it, her race is irrelevant and immaterial.

There is no difference between a qualified candidate being denied a job because he/she is white or because he/she is black.

Good for the NAACP to stand up for her.

[Cleita]

31. It would establish her ethnicity for critics including her parents and wouldn't it be a vindication

if she has African ancestors as many white people do and aren't aware of? Other than that your concerns have nothing to do with my suggestion. I never said the NAACP were wrong to stand up for her that she didn't do a good job or that she should be denied a job because of her ethnicity. Where did you read that?

[rocktivity]

45. And don't forget the role the NAACP played in the Shirley Sherrod debacle

Last edited Sun Jun 14, 2015, 10:30 AM - Edit history (2)

They demanded her resignation even though it was a video of an NAACP speech that the late Breit-barf had doctored!


rocktivity

[struggle4progress]

47. Video: watch the Shirley Sherrod speech in full

... It was selectively edited to cast her in a negative light. Here is the video, shot by the local NAACP unit that hosted Ms. Sherrod ...
http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod/

[sendero]

7. While I think..

.... it is wrong to lie about your race or ethnicity, I don't see what that has to do with her position. In the NAACP thinks she is doing a good job that is their call.

[SunSeeker]

9. Wow. I can't imagine parents intentionally publicly humiliating their child like that.

I can see why she wants nothing to do with the ethnic identity of her birth.

[LovingA2andMI]

13. Who else could technically....

Out her "Ruse" besides her parents? Who's to say that the Local Media (which they can do, since Birth Certificates are PUBLIC RECORDS) obtained the public record of Rachel's birth and confronted the parents with it? What should have parents have done in this case, continue to lie or deny what they knew was true for Rachel's sake?

Then there is the "Hate Mail" issue which likely started the local media's investigation of Rachel's background in the first place....

SPOKANE, Wash. -
A police report raises questions about reports of threatening hate mail sent to Spokane's NAACP president. Major Crimes detectives have concluded that the mail was never processed, despite showing up in the organization's post office box.

Rachel Dolezal, president of Spokane's NAACP chapter, said she found an envelope containing threatening mail in the post office box on North Monroe in February. The 20 pages of notes included pictures and lynchings and words like "war pig."

"I was immediately struck by guns pointed towards me," Dolezal told KXLY of the pictures in February.

Spokane Police took possession of the envelope and dusted for fingerprints. Investigators then went back to the Rosewood post office where the NAACP gets its mail in a locked box.

Postal workers told detectives the envelope had not been canceled, time stamped or imprinted with the bar code that directs mail to the right destination. According to the police report, the postal inspector told detectives, "The only way this letter could have ended up in this P.O. box would be if it was placed there by someone with a key to that box or a USPS employee."

Police then interviewed the three postal employees who put mail in post office boxes and none of them remember seeing the envelope. They all said they've never seen mail end up in a box without the barcode. All three said, at the very least, they would have canceled the stamps.

The detective wrote, "I have no reason to believe any of these employees were involved in putting the letters in this post office box."

http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/questions-raised-about-naacp-hate-mail-report/33512308

[SunSeeker]

16. Her parents could have just said "no comment."

They were under no obligation to speak to reporters. Who else could "out" her? Like you said, the reporters could get her birth certificate, so no need for the parents to say anything.

[LisaL]

19. It's up to them.

Maybe they are upset she is claiming somebody else as her father, don't you think?

[SunSeeker]

23. I saw no comments by the parents about that. They just talked about her race.

And apparently provided private photos of her as a child to reporters. It's not clear they even knew about her calling a black man her "dad" in a social media post.

Why are you so angry at her? She devoted herself to fighting for civil rights as part of her work with the NAACP, and as far as I can tell, has not hurt anyone.

She clearly has family issues, but that's her business.

[LisaL]

25. She also claimed to be getting hate mail.

Is that nobody's business also?

[SunSeeker]

26. If it turns out she provided a false report to the FBI, that's a felony.

But claiming to be black when your parents are white is not a crime.

[snagglepuss]

28. She has maintained that her parents whipped her like a slave because

of her skin color.

[LisaL]

20. Her not wanting anything to do with her ethnic identity isn't going to change that identity.

She identified somebody as her father who apparently isn't. Can you imagine doing that to your parents?

"Earlier this week, KXLY4 asked Dolezal about a photo posted to the NAACP chapter’s Facebook page of a black man identified as Dolezal’s father."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/12/spokane-naacp-president-rachel-dolezal-may-be-white/

[SunSeeker]

21. Why not? If you can change your sex, why not your ethnic identity?

And yes, I can imagine calling someone else my dad. With what my dad did to me, I have often wished someone else was my dad.

Not clear what went wrong with that family, but it is obviously dysfunctional. No reason to pile on.

[LisaL]

22. So I see.

She is transracial?

[SunSeeker]

24. She is whatever she wants to be. nt

[snagglepuss]

27. She spread lies about them. She says they have lied about her

real father, she says they whipped her like a slave because of her skin color. To name a few.


They have every right to clear their names. That people are defending a compulsive liar is shocking.

[SunSeeker]

29. I did not read that in the OP. Got a link?

[snagglepuss]

30. Daily Mail UK may be a rag but they have thoroughly

reported this.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3121061/Local-NAACP-leader-professor-African-studies-outed-WHITE-parents-convincing-community-black-years.html

[SunSeeker]

33. See my Post #32. nt

[SunSeeker]

32. That DailyMail article you cite doesn't say that.

It says she accused them of beating her, but not because of her skin color. It doesn't say why they beat her. It certainly doesn't say "they whipped her like a slave because of her skin color."

And it doesn't appear she made those allegations recently, but as part of legal proceedings years ago to gain custody of her adopted brother from her parents, and she was apparently granted custody of her adopted brother. That appears to be when the bad blood between her and her parents began and when they stopped speaking.

As the link LisaL provided states,

The Dolezals, it should be noted, are a family divided. Parents Lawrence and Ruthanne and brothers Ezra and Zach do not speak with their sister because, they say, she alleged abuse in the family and obtained custody of her 21-year-old brother Izaiah. Izaiah, who is black, lives with Rachel Dolezal in Spokane — and Rachel says he is her son, the family alleged.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/12/spokane-naacp-president-rachel-dolezal-may-be-white/

A court does not easily transfer custody like that. There has to be some pretty major dysfunction in that family.

[snagglepuss]

34. Yes it does

"Dolezal's claim her parents punished her 'by skin complexion' with a 'baboon whip' reminiscent of those once used on slaves."

[SunSeeker]

35. It doesn't say they did it because of her race.

Last edited Fri Jun 12, 2015, 10:31 PM - Edit history (1)

It just describes bizarre punishments. It doesn't say why she was punished. Her parents were Christian missionaries in Africa. Maybe that's where they got that baboon whip, whatever that is. I don’t even know what punishing "by skin complexion" even means.

Mind you, the court apparently agreed with her and gave her custody of her adopted brother.

[snagglepuss]

36. I never used the word race . She refers to skin complexion

which is the same thing as skin color which is what i stated.

[SunSeeker]

37. The words "because of" are just not there. Nor is "skin color."

Complexion is not the same as race or skin color. You're reading words that aren't there. But you're entitled to your opinion.

I can see that you care about this story a whole lot more than I do.

[snagglepuss]

39. Where do you get the notion that skin color is different from complexion?

Black people have darkly complected skin; white people have lightly complected skin.

You are reading the words but missing the sense. "by skin complexion" means (according to her), the parents used her complexion (which according to her is black) as a determining factor to mete out their punishment.

[SunSeeker]

40. Webster's. Give it a rest.

[Psephos]

41. Webster's provides denotation, not connotation.

I have to go with Snagglepuss for the real meaning here.

[mainer]

43. I can't imagine doing that to my child, either

There must be some bitter, bitter blood between them. I would have said "no comment."

[itsrobert]

12. She needs help

What she did was wrong.

[LovingA2andMI]

14. Exactly!!!

Thank you for saying so!

[LisaL]

18. Did anybody actually send her this hate mail?

"Postal workers, meanwhile, told police that hate mail Dolezal said she received at the NAACP’s post office box in Spokane was not processed by a post office, as it had no date stamp or bar code. Postal workers suggested the mail was put there by someone with a key to the box. The Spokesman-Review noted, however, that similar mail was sent to that newspaper and the Spokane Valley Police Department postmarked from Oakland, Calif."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/12/spokane-naacp-president-rachel-dolezal-may-be-white/

[Fumesucker]

38. So the NAACP isn't throwing her under the bus?

Things that make you go Hmmmm....

[Bosonic]

42. The signs were there

[d_b]

44. hahahahaha

that pic

[rocktivity]

46. There is good reason to believe that she is not of sound mind

Last edited Sun Jun 14, 2015, 02:28 AM - Edit history (6)

The NAACP must remove her from office -- pending a psychological evaluation, at least.


rocktivity