Nkechi Amare Diallo (); born Rachel Anne Dolezal; November 12, 1977) is an American activist, author, and former college instructor known for presenting herself as a Black woman despite being ethnically white.

Dolezal was born in 1977 in Montana to parents of predominantly German, Czech, and Swedish ancestry. She received her bachelor's degree from Belhaven University in 2000 and her master's degree, summa cum laude, from Howard University in 2002. Dolezal unsuccessfully sued Howard University, a historically black university, for discriminating against her due to her status as a White woman. Later, Dolezal darkened her skin, permed her hair, and claimed a Black identity. She started working as an instructor in the Africana Education program at Eastern Washington University in 2010. In 2014, Dolezal was appointed as chair of the Office of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane, Washington; on her application, she stated that she had Black ancestry. Dolezal also became president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane in 2014.

Dolezal alleged that she was subjected to racist harassment in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and in Spokane. Her allegations were not substantiated by law enforcement. After looking into Dolezal's allegations, a reporter found that she had identified a Black man as her father; the reporter spoke with the man, who contradicted Dolezal's assertion. The reporter then located Dolezal's actual parents. On June 11, 2015, The Coeur d'Alene Press published an article on Dolezal stating that she had "made claims in the media and elsewhere about her ethnicity, race and background" that were contradicted by her parents. The controversy became national news and fueled debate about racial identity. Dolezal stepped down from her NAACP position, was removed from her post as chair of the Police Ombudsman Commission over "a pattern of misconduct", and was dismissed from her position at Eastern Washington University.

Eventually, Dolezal acknowledged that she had been "born white to white parents", but maintained that she self-identified as Black. In 2017, Dolezal released a memoir, In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World. She was charged with felony theft by welfare fraud and second degree perjury in May 2018; the matter was resolved in a diversion agreement in which she agreed to repay her public assistance benefits and perform community service.

Early life, family, and education Rachel Anne Dolezal was born in Lincoln County, Montana on November 12, 1977. Her parents are Ruthanne (née Schertel) and Lawrence "Larry" Dolezal, who are White and are primarily of German, Czech, and Swedish ancestry. The surname Dolezal is of Czech origin. Ruthanne and Larry Dolezal were married in 1974.

As a child, Dolezal was a light-skinned blonde with freckles. Dolezal has an older biological brother, Joshua Dolezal. He is a professor of English at Central College in Iowa and has authored a book about his upbringing in Montana.Multiple sources: When Dolezal was a teenager, her parents adopted three African-American children and one Haitian child.

Dolezal has said she was born and lived in a tipi and that her family had hunted for food with a bow and arrow. Her mother stated that she and Dolezal's father briefly lived in a tipi in 1974, three years before their daughter was born, and that Dolezal's claims were "totally false". From 2002 to 2006, her parents and siblings lived in South Africa as Christian missionaries. Dolezal said she lived in South Africa as a child, but her family disputes the claim.

Dolezal was raised in Troy, Montana, in the Pentecostal faith. She has stated that her parents frequently abused her. In a 2015 interview, Dolezal said she was "punished by skin complexion" by her mother and "white stepfather", and compared this alleged punishment to the punishment suffered by Black slaves. Specifically, Dolezal alleged that her parents had beaten her with a baboon whip. In a 2017 interview, she said she was taught to believe that "everything that came naturally, instinctively was wrong"—a point that was "literally beaten into us". Dolezal's mother has denied that Dolezal has a stepfather, and both parents have denied her claims of abuse.

Dolezal was homeschooled via the Christian Liberty Academy CLASS program, achieving a 4.0 grade point average (GPA). She was one of several co-valedictorians upon graduation in 1996. She won a $2,000 scholarship for college awarded by Tandy Leather for her entry, a portrait of a Black woman, in their 1996 Leather Art contest. In 1998, she entered artworks at Spokane's annual Juneteenth celebration; she expressed African-American themes through collages and mixed-media works.

Following the completion of high school, Dolezal attended Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. She received her bachelor's degree in 2000. She then attended Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C.; she received a Master of Fine Arts, summa cum laude, from Howard in 2002. Her thesis at Howard was a series of paintings presented from the perspective of a Black man. Dolezal later said that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a "trusted mentor" when attending Howard University, and that "suing was nearly impossible".

Lawsuit against Howard University

In 2002, Dolezal unsuccessfully sued Howard University for discrimination based on "race, pregnancy, family responsibilities, and gender, as well as retaliation". Her lawsuit alleged that she was denied scholarship funds, a teaching assistant position, and other opportunities because she was a White woman. She also alleged that the removal of her artwork from a student exhibition at Howard in 2001 "was motivated by a discriminatory purpose to favor African-American students" over her.

Career

Art Dolezal created a fountain sculpture titled "Triumph of the Human Spirit". It was installed in downtown Spokane in June 2005 and was later auctioned off to benefit the Human Rights Education Institute.

In 2007, while working as an art teacher at School Indigo in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Dolezal collaborated with children to make five works for a "Rights of the Child" exhibit by the Human Rights Education Institute.

Plagiarism accusations

In June 2015, Priscilla Frank at The Huffington Post and Sarah Cascone at Artnet accused Dolezal of plagiarism. They observed that a Dolezal painting titled The Shape of Our Kind is nearly identical to J. M. W. Turner's 1840 work, The Slave Ship, which was uncredited.

Civil rights activism Human Rights Institute Dolezal served as education director of the Human Rights Institute in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, from 2008 to 2010. A July 2010 newspaper article indicated that Dolezal had stepped down as education director. Dolezal indicated that she was, "for all intents and purposes", forced to resign from the organization after its board declined to hire her as its executive director.

NAACP

Dolezal was elected president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP in 2014, replacing James Wilburn. During her brief tenure, she was noted for revitalizing the chapter. Her resignation from the civil rights organization was announced on June 15, 2015, after the controversy surrounding her racial identity became public.

Police Ombudsman Commission Dolezal applied for the position of chair of the Office of the Police Ombudsman Commission in Spokane in May 2014. She was subsequently appointed to the post by Mayor David Condon. In her application, she identified herself as having several ethnicities, including Black. In June 2015, City Council President Ben Stuckart said the city had opened an investigation of the truthfulness of her application. On June 17, 2015, the investigation concluded that she had acted improperly, violated government rules and abused her authority. A report stated that the evidence and interviews confirmed workplace harassment allegations and "a pattern of misconduct" by Dolezal. Dolezal was asked to resign by Condon and Stuckart due to "intimidating and harassing" behavior. On June 18, 2015, the Spokane City Council voted unanimously to remove Dolezal from her position as chair of the Police Ombudsman Commission.

Teaching and writing Dolezal has worked as an instructor at North Idaho College.

In 2015, Eastern Washington University stated that "since 2010, Rachel Dolezal has been hired at Eastern Washington University on a quarter-by-quarter basis as an instructor in the Africana Education program. This is a part-time position to address program needs. Dolezal is not a professor." She taught "The Black Woman's Struggle", "African and African American Art History", "African History", "African American Culture", and "Intro to Africana Studies". A statement by university officials on June 15, 2015, indicated that Dolezal was "no longer an employee of Eastern Washington University". Despite not being a professor, she used the title "professor" on several websites.

Dolezal was a frequent contributor to The Inlander, an alternative weekly newspaper in Spokane.

In March 2017, Dolezal released a memoir on her racial identity entitled In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.

Dolezal later became a public school teacher for the Catalina Foothills Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona. In February 2024, Dolezal was fired for violating the district's social media policy by publishing sexually explicit imagery of herself to OnlyFans.Multiple sources:

Other work After her NAACP departure, Dolezal worked as a hair stylist specializing in weaves and braids. She also creates and sells her own artwork. She has stated that in the past she worked as a sushi chef. She has also produced content for OnlyFans and Cameo, where website users can request custom video greetings.

In 2026, Dolezal said she is in training to become a certified sex coach.

Racial identity

Dolezal is of Northern and Central European ancestry; her father has stated that their family is of primarily European descent and "a small amount of American Indian".

According to her adopted brother Ezra, Dolezal began changing her appearance as early as 2009, when she began using hair products that she had seen Ezra's biological sister use. She began darkening her skin and perming her hair sometime around 2011. When Ezra moved in with Rachel in 2012, she told him that Spokane-area residents knew her as Black and said, "Don't blow my cover."

Dolezal has claimed to be a victim of race-related harassment. Dolezal stated on September 29, 2009, to KXLY that a noose had been left on her porch. In July 2010, Dolezal resigned from Human Rights Education Institute in Kootenai County and stated to KREM 2 News that "she had been the target of discrimination". Dolezal's biography on Eastern Washington University's website stated that while she was living 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, including that she had received a hate mail package at her NAACP post office box and that a swastika was placed on the door of the Human Rights Education Institute, where she had previously worked. Regarding the hate mail package, detectives said the envelope that contained the alleged threats had no postage stamps, barcodes or any other indication of having been handled by the postal service. The postal inspector said, "The only way this letter could have ended up in this P.O. box would be if it was placed there by someone with a key to that box or a USPS employee." According to the Spokesman Review, as of 2015, none of Dolezal's allegations had resulted in an arrest or in the filing of criminal charges.