MARYLAND (NEWSWATCH33) – The NAACP was under fire last month due to the Rachel Dolezal scandal, which involved a Caucasian woman who identified herself as an African-American to maintain her employment with the organization.
Rachel Dolezal, 37, is the head of the local chapter of the NAACP and has identified herself as an African-American. Her alleged parents, Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolezal, reported to CNN that Rachel Dolezal was in fact Caucasian, and they were confused as to why she would misrepresent her ethnicity.
“We are her birth parents,” Lawrence Dolezal told CNN. “We do not understand why she feels it’s necessary to misrepresent her ethnicity.”
There has been mixed feelings regarding the scandal leaving the NAACP to question it’s hiring methods. The NAACP claims they had no knowledge that Dolezal misrepresented her identity and an investigation would follow to clarify any issues.
“One’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership,” the NAACP said.
A petition has circulated, created by the National Association For Black Employment, to persuade the NAACP in using DNA testing to confirm the ethnicity of all current and future employees. The organization believes the NAACP needs to “do a better job” of having its members represent African-Americans. The NAFBE was prompted to begin the petition in light of the Rachel Dolezal scandal.
“We are very disappointed that the NAACP has allowed such atrocity to occur with in its organization. The organization is specifically for the advancement of colored people, yet they’ve allowed a Caucasian to misrepresent their mission. We do not have any issues at all with the employment of Caucasians with the NAACP. What we do have an issue with is having people like Rachel Dolezal misrepresent the struggles of African-Americans just to have a job,” stated by Jason Miller, Vice President of NAFBE.
The NAACP has not release any official comments in regards to the petition.
