Rachel Dolezal steps down from President position at Spokane NAACP.

photo credit: celebedition

Rachel Dolezal has decided to do the right thing and step down from her position at the NAACP. Dolezal made the announcement on Monday on the Spokane NAACP's Facebook page:

"Dear Executive Committee and NAACP Members,

It is a true honor to serve in the racial and social justice movement here in Spokane and across the nation. Many issues face us now that drive at the theme of urgency. Police brutality, biased curriculum in schools, economic disenfranchisement, health inequities, and a lack of pro-justice political representation are among the concerns at the forefront of the current administration of the Spokane NAACP. And yet, the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.

I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story. I am consistently committed to empowering marginalized voices and believe that many individuals have been heard in the last hours and days that would not otherwise have had a platform to weigh in on this important discussion. Additionally, I have always deferred to the state and national NAACP leadership and offer my sincere gratitude for their unwavering support of my leadership through this unexpected firestorm.

While challenging the construct of race is at the core of evolving human consciousness, we can NOT afford to lose sight of the five Game Changers (Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Health & Healthcare, Education, Economic Sustainability, and Voting Rights & Political Representation) that affect millions, often with a life or death outcome. The movement is larger than a moment in time or a single person’s story, and I hope that everyone offers their robust support of the Journey for Justice campaign that the NAACP launches today!

I am delighted that so many organizations and individuals have supported and collaborated with the Spokane NAACP under my leadership to grow this branch into one of the healthiest in the nation in 5 short months. In the eye of this current storm, I can see that a separation of family and organizational outcomes is in the best interest of the NAACP.

It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley. It is my hope that by securing a beautiful office for the organization in the heart of downtown, bringing the local branch into financial compliance, catalyzing committees to do strategic work in the five Game Changer issues, launching community forums, putting the membership on a fast climb, and helping many individuals find the legal, financial and practical support needed to fight race-based discrimination, I have positioned the Spokane NAACP to buttress this transition.

Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It’s about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum. It’s about moving the cause of human rights and the Black Liberation Movement along the continuum from Resistance to Chattel Slavery to Abolition to Defiance of Jim Crow to the building of Black Wall Street to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement to the #‎BlackLivesMatter movement and into a future of self-determination and empowerment.

With much love and a commitment to always fight for what is right and good in this world,
Rachel Doleza"

A few things that have been brought to my attention since yesterday:

• Dolezal brainwashed her younger adopted brother Ezra into hating white people. She also told him to go along with her little charade and not tell anyone that she is really white.
• In the early 2000s, she began using darker tone makeup and perming her hair. She began posing as an African-American after she faced attitude at Howard University.
• She began to hate white people, including her own parents.
• She gained legal custody of her younger adopted brother, Izaiah, and passed him off as her son in 2010.
• She hated her life in Montana and left as soon as she could in order to start a new life and a new identity.

My Two Cents:

Readers, I totally understand wanting to break free from where you grew up, and get your own identity. However, the only thing about you that you cannot change is your ethnicity. That is engrained in us. We should all be proud of where we come from. I understand that she loves African-American culture. I do too. I love all cultures. But, I wouldn't go around telling people I was someone that I wasn't. That's just being extremely dishonest to people. Also, the thing with lies, the more you tell them, the more you believe them as truth. Dolezal has dug herself into a very deep hole, and her credibility is pretty much nonexistent now.

I was pleased to hear that she stepped down. Her charade was seriously damaging the Spokane NAACP chapter. It does sound like she is continuing her work in the African-American community, which is awesome. However, I hope she is going to continue her work in an honest way.

Readers: What do you think about her stepping down?

Click here to read "Why I find Rachel Dolezal to be a terrible person."