In a ‘Today’ show interview this morning, Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP head who is accused of lying about her race, explains that she has identified as Black from an early age.
Until yesterday, Rachel Dolezal was the president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP. She resigned after news broke that while she has been telling people for years she is Black, her birth parents are both white.Â
Dolezal, 37, appeared on the “Today” show this morning, telling host Matt Lauer, “I identify as Black,” and believes she has, as early as age five.Â
“I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon,” she told Lauer. “It was a little more complex than me identifying as Black.”
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Dolezal rejects the accusation that she has “deceived” people, but acknowledges she might have done a better job of correcting some interviews, and explaining her identity – but overall she wouldn’t change a thing.
“As much as this discussion has somewhat been at my expense recently and in a very sort of viciously inhumane way come out of the woodwork, the discussion is really about what it is to be human,” she said. “I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment.”
Asked if she does anything to change her appearance – Dolezal at 16 had blonde hair and a lighter complexion – she responded, “I certainly don’t stay out of the sun.”
And she says one of her sons – she has two who are Black – says her race is human but her ethnicity is Black.
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Image: Screenshot via NBC News