An adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington University became the focus of a fierce debate about race and identity last week, when her parents asserted that she was white, despite having passed herself off for years as a black woman.
Rachel A. Dolezal, 37, earned a master’s degree in fine arts from Howard University and has worked as an adjunct in Eastern Washington’s Africana-education program, teaching such courses as African and African-American art history and “the Black Woman’s Struggle.” Ms. Dolezal is president of the Spokane, Wash., chapter of the NAACP, and earned a track record as a civil-rights advocate through her work locally and in Mississippi.
Spokane’s mayor appointed Ms. Dolezal to serve on a police-ombudsman commission, and last week local leaders said the city would investigate whether she had lied on her application to serve on that body. When she applied, she checked several boxes to indicate her race, including white and black.
In an interview with KXLY last week, Ms. Dolezal responded to a question about whether she was African-American by saying, “I don’t understand the question.” She told KREM that she considered herself to be black.
Eastern Washington issued a statement on Friday saying that the university “does not feel it is appropriate to comment on issues involving her personal life,” and saying that it did not discuss personnel issues publicly.
The national office of the NAACP said in its own statement that a person’s race “is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership.” It said the local NAACP conference “stands behind Ms. Dolezal’s advocacy record.”
Reactions to the questions about Ms. Dolezal’s identity swirled on campuses and online. The Spokesman-Review collected comments from Eastern Washington students, several of whom told the newspaper that they thought her work in the community and as a teacher mattered more than did the specifics of her identity:
Satori Butler, the president of Eastern Washington University’s Black Student Union, doesn’t think Dolezal’s race should matter. Butler knows Dolezal personally and considers her a mentor. She doesn’t recall Dolezal ever labeling herself as black, nor did Butler ask.
“If she was yellow, green or purple, we would still respect her,” Butler said.
Scott Finnie, Eastern Washington’s director of Africana education, told KXLY that Ms. Dolezal had supported students academically and had earned a reputation for “being a person that they can count on.”
Marybeth Gasman, a professor of higher education and director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, spoke to The Philadelphia Tribune about the controversy:
“Since 1994, I have been doing work in this area,” she said. “I have never in my life felt the need to misappropriate Black culture. If she is not Black and not telling the truth about her background, to me, it is offensive to Black women in particular. I think it would be perfectly fine for her to say that she feels comfortable around Black culture and that’s where she wants to exist.”
“But an appreciation and saying I feel more comfortable and wanting to move in those spaces in a respectful way is different than saying, ‘I’m Black.’” she added. “The biggest thing I would say is that if you’re white and you’re doing work within Black communities, or any communities of color, you have got to be respectful and have an open mind to be a learner and a listener. You cannot lie.”
Tressie McMillan Cottom, an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, weighed in with a long series of tweets:
Ms. Dolezal had planned to take part in a graduation event on Friday, but it was later decided that she would not appear as scheduled. Mr. Finnie told The Spokesman-Review that the firestorm surrounding the instructor would have been “too much of a centerpiece.” She initially said that she would make a statement on the matter at a meeting of the local NAACP chapter on Monday night, but on Sunday she sent out an email canceling the meeting “due to the need to continue discussion with regional and national NAACP leaders,” the Associated Press reported.
