Rachel Dolezal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rachel Dolezal
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Dolezal at a rally in May 2015
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| Born |
Rachel Anne Dolezal
November 12, 1977 Lincoln County, Montana, U.S.
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| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Kevin Moore
(m. 2000; div. 2004) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Joshua Dolezal (brother) |
Nkechi Amare Diallo (born Rachel Anne Dolezal; November 12, 1977) is an American former college teacher and activist. She is known for saying she was a Black woman, even though her parents are white. She also used to be the president of a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Dolezal was the president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, from 2014 until June 2015. She stepped down because people were talking a lot about her racial identity. This happened when her parents publicly said she was pretending to be Black but was actually white. Her parents' statement came after Dolezal told police and local news that she had been a victim of race-related problems. However, police investigations did not find proof for her claims. Dolezal had also said on an application that she was mixed-race. She also incorrectly stated that an African-American man was her father and that her brother was her son. After this, Dolezal lost her job as a teacher at Eastern Washington University. She was also removed from her role as chair of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane because of "a pattern of misconduct." In 2015, Dolezal said she was "born white to white parents" but still felt she was Black.
The situation with Dolezal started a big discussion in the United States about racial identity. Some people said she was taking on a culture that wasn't hers and being dishonest. Dolezal, however, said that her feeling of being Black was real. In 2017, she wrote a book about her racial identity called In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Rachel Dolezal was born in Lincoln County, Montana, on November 12, 1977. Her parents, Ruthanne and Lawrence "Larry" Dolezal, are white. They are mainly of German, Czech, and Swedish background. Rachel was born with blue eyes and blonde, straight hair. Her parents got married in 1974. Dolezal has an older brother, Joshua Dolezal, who wrote a book about their childhood. When Dolezal was a teenager, her parents adopted three African-American children and one Haitian child.
Dolezal has said that she was born and lived in a teepee. She also said her family hunted for their food with a bow and arrow. Her mother said that she and Dolezal's father lived in a teepee for a short time in 1974, before Rachel was born. She said Rachel's claims were "totally false." From 2002 to 2006, Dolezal's parents and siblings lived in South Africa as Christian missionaries. Dolezal said she lived in South Africa as a child, but her family says this is not true.
Dolezal grew up in the Pentecostal faith. She was taught at home through a Christian program and had excellent grades. She was one of the top students when she graduated in 1996. She won a scholarship for college for her art. In 1998, she showed art at Spokane's annual Juneteenth celebration. Her art showed African-American themes using collages and mixed-media.
After high school, Dolezal went to Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. She earned her bachelor's degree in 2000. Then she went to Howard University, which is a historically Black college in Washington, D.C.. She earned a Master of Fine Arts from Howard in 2002. Her art project at Howard was a series of paintings from the point of view of a Black man.
In 2000, Dolezal married Kevin Moore, who was a medical student at Howard University. They divorced in 2004. Dolezal and Moore have a son named Franklin Moore. Dolezal had another son, Langston Attickus, in February 2016.
Career and Work
Artistic Creations
Dolezal created a fountain sculpture called "Triumph of the Human Spirit." It was a tall column with sad figures at the bottom and dancing figures higher up. It was put in downtown Spokane in June 2005. Later, it was sold to help the Human Rights Education Institute.
In 2007, Dolezal worked as an art teacher at School Indigo in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She worked with children to make five art pieces for a "Rights of the Child" exhibit.
Art Plagiarism Claims
In June 2015, some art critics said Dolezal had copied another artist's work. A painting by Dolezal called The Shape of Our Kind looked very similar to a famous painting from 1840 by J. M. W. Turner called The Slave Ship. Critics said Dolezal should have given credit to Turner.
Civil Rights Work
Human Rights Institute
In July 2010, a newspaper said Dolezal had left her job as education director of the Human Rights Institute in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She had worked there for two years. Dolezal said she felt she had to resign because the board did not want to hire her as the main director.
NAACP Leadership
Dolezal was chosen as president of the Spokane NAACP chapter in 2014. She was known for making the chapter more active during her time there. She announced her resignation from the group on June 15, 2015, after the public discussion about her racial identity began.
Police Oversight Role
Dolezal applied to be the chair of the Office of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane in May 2014. The mayor then appointed her to the position. On her application, she said she had several ethnic backgrounds, including Black. In June 2015, the City Council President said the city was looking into whether her application was truthful. On June 17, 2015, the investigation found that she had acted improperly and misused her power. The report said there was evidence of workplace problems and "a pattern of misconduct" by Dolezal. The city leaders asked Dolezal to resign because of her "intimidating and harassing" behavior. On June 18, 2015, the Spokane City Council voted to remove Dolezal from her position.
Teaching and Writing
In 2015, Eastern Washington University said that Rachel Dolezal had been hired as an instructor in their Africana Education program since 2010. This was a part-time job to help with program needs. She taught classes like "The Black Woman's Struggle" and "African and African American Art History." University officials said on June 15, 2015, that Dolezal was "no longer an employee of Eastern Washington University." Even though she was not a full professor, she used the title "professor" on some websites.
Dolezal often wrote for The Inlander, a newspaper in Spokane.
In March 2017, Dolezal released a book about her racial identity called In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.
Dolezal later worked as a public school teacher in Tucson, Arizona. In February 2024, she was fired for breaking the school district's rules about social media.
Other Work
Dolezal later worked as a hair stylist, specializing in weaves and braids. She also creates and sells her own artwork. She has said that in the past she worked as a sushi chef.
Racial Identity Discussion
Dolezal's family background is from Northern and Central Europe. Her father has said their family is mainly of European descent with a small amount of American Indian heritage.
According to her brother Ezra, Dolezal started changing her appearance around 2009. She began using hair products that she had seen Ezra's biological sister use. She started making her skin darker and perming her hair around 2011. When Ezra moved in with Rachel in 2012, she told him that people in Spokane knew her as Black and said, "Don't blow my cover."
Dolezal has said she was a victim of race-related problems. In September 2009, she told a TV station that a noose had been left on her porch. In July 2010, she resigned from the Human Rights Education Institute and told another news station that "she had been the target of discrimination." Dolezal's information on Eastern Washington University's website said that while she lived in Idaho, "at least eight documented hate crimes targeted (Rachel) Dolezal and her children." Dolezal reportedly made several reports of harassment and other crimes to police in Idaho and Washington. This included receiving a threatening package and a swastika being placed on a door where she worked. Regarding the threatening package, detectives said the envelope had no postage stamps or other signs of being handled by the postal service. A postal inspector said the letter could only have been placed in the P.O. box by someone with a key or a postal employee. As of 2015, none of Dolezal's claims had led to arrests or charges.
Dolezal's uncle, Dan Dolezal, has said that his niece first claimed a Black friend named Albert Wilkerson was her real father in 2012 or 2013. In another interview in 2015, Dolezal mentioned her "stepfather." Dolezal's mother has said she has never met Albert Wilkerson and that Dolezal does not have a stepfather. Dolezal later said she had met Wilkerson in Idaho and considered him her "dad."
In her 2014 application for the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane, Dolezal said she had several ethnic backgrounds, including Black. In an article she wrote for The Inlander in March 2015, Dolezal included herself when talking about Black women by using words like "we" and "our."
Personal Life
In February 2015, a newspaper article said Dolezal had cervical cancer in 2006 but recovered by 2008. Dolezal's brother, Ezra Dolezal, has said he does not believe this is true.
She has also said that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In October 2016, Dolezal legally changed her name to a Nigerian phrase that means "gift of God." She later explained that she still plans to use the name Rachel Dolezal "as her public persona." She changed her name to have a better chance of finding work.
Images for kids
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Dolezal at a rally in May 2015
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The Slave Ship (1840) by J. M. W. Turner.
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Dolezal marching with NAACP activists in Spokane, Washington in January 2015.
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Dolezal before the Spokane NAACP march on Martin Luther King Day in January 2015.
See also
- Cultural appropriation
- Hypatia transracialism controversy
- Marie Sophie Hingst
- Sacheen Littlefeather
- Andrea Smith
- Martina Big
- Jessica Krug
- Racial misrepresentation
