SPOKANE, Wash. ― Rachel Dolezal, who has posed for years as a Black woman, faced tough questions about her racial identity long before her career as a civil rights advocate was derailed by this week’s revelations that she grew up “Caucasian.”
More than a decade ago, Howard University’s lawyers questioned whether she had tried to pose as African-American when she applied for admission to the historically Black college in the nation’s capital.
Dolezal had sued the university, claiming among other things that she had been denied a teaching position because she was White. During a deposition, Howard’s lawyers pressed her to explain whether she had tried to mislead the admissions office with an essay on her study of Black history, according to court documents reviewed by The Assoicated Press.
“I plunged into black history and novels, feeling the relieving release of understanding and common ground,” she wrote in the essay. “My struggles paled as I read of the atrocities so many ancestors faced in America.”
Dolezal resigned her NAACP post this week after her parents accused her of posing as Black despite her Czech, German and Swedish ancestry. She now faces a swirl of criticism about other statements she’s made.
On Wednesday, an independent investigation by the city of Spokane concluded that she acted improperly and violated government rules while leading the city’s volunteer police ombudsman commission. The report admonishes the conduct of Dolezal, the chairwoman, and two other commissioners for workplace harassment allegations and “a pattern of misconduct,” and Spokane Mayor David Condon and Council President Ben Stuckart said they’re “deeply disturbed by the facts.”
A dozen years earlier, Dolezal’s lawsuit against Howard was dismissed before reaching trial when a court said she failed to prove her claims and ordered her to pay the university’s legal costs.
