UPDATE: NAACP leader outed as white speaks out, explains why she identifies as black

Rachel Dolezal. 

Photo Credit: Facebook/Rachel

Remember the story of the President of a Civil Rights Chapter (NAACAP) who pretended to be black for years? well she has decided to speak out.

After pretending to be black for over ten years, Rachel Dolezal, one of the leaders of the NAACP has been exposed as misrepresenting her racial identity and was actually discovered to be white. More after the cut...

A day after news of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) leader and African Studies Professor Rachel Dolezal's true ethnicity broke, the 37-year old has finally spoken up about why she opted to misrepresent her racial identity.
In an interview with a local TV channel, KREM, Dolezal said she considered herself black but not necessarily African American. Of Swedish, Czech and German descent, Dolezal insisted that people who were unrelated to her were her real family, and that she considered her adopted brother as her son.

 

On lying about her race, Dolezal said it was a private matter.
"First of all, it is a very private matter especially getting into childhood pasts and family members that have had a history of litigation. Number one, I don’t think that there’s any contradiction in my mind or Franklin’s mind or Izaiah’s mind.
"We are a family unit. My real dad is Albert Wilkerson. That’s who I call that, and that’s all that matters to me.I do not talk to [biological parents] Ruthanne or Larry anymore. Neither does Izaiah or other siblings," she said.

 

Highlights from her interview below:
She doesn't care about what her biological parents think
I feel like the article was questioning. Really it’s Larry and Ruthanne who are questioning. So what I say to them is I don’t give two sh*ts what you guys think. You’re so far gone and out of my life.
I can understand [the misrepresentation]. It’s more important for me to clarify that with the black community and with my executive board than to explain it to a community that I quite frankly don’t think really understands the definitions of race and ethnicity.

Why she doesn't see herself as African American
I don’t like the term “African-American.” I prefer “Black.” If I were asked, I would definitely say, “Yes, I do consider myself to be Black.” Whatever [naysayers] say, I wish I could say doesn’t effect me at all, but, unfortunately, people might listen to them or give them a platform they don’t deserve. But I have nothing to say to [naysayers].

Source:Times LIVE