Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP chapter president who was accused of pretending to be Black, released a statement today that she would be stepping down from her position (June 15, 2015).

In a post written on the Spokane NAACP Facebook page, Dolezal, who has been the butt of many a joke since being outed in an interview, stands by her commitment to civil rights, but she doesn’t address anything concerning why she lied about her 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 Dolezal never addresses the true nature of her departure, her estranged biological parents, who confirmed she is “Caucasian by birth,” responds to her statement in a video interview and they say that hopefully she can one day be true to who she really is.

Read Dolezal’s full statement + watch video of her Parent’s response to the controversy below…

It was the interview above that started a firestorm about Dolezal, 37, the president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP. In the footage, Dolezal is surprised with a question about being ‘African-American’ and she states… she doesn’t understand the question as she runs away from the camera.

Days later, Dolezal has issued the following response and is stepping down from her post:

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 Dolezal

Dolezal’s mom and dad sat down today to address the statement in the following video:

Dolezal’s mother, Ruthanne, points out to MSNBC that her daughter did not apologize in the Facebook post or address “the issue of being dishonest about her ethnicity.”

“I don’t see any honest way that a person can describe themselves as transracial because your ethnicity comes from your genetic code and what’s handed down to you by your parents, your real biological parents,” the mother said. “And I think the healthy path to take on this kind of discussion is to find a way to embrace and celebrate who you are — or who you really are.”

In my opinion, it’s not an issue of whether Rachel Dolezal is Black or White. No one should care what race the person is who leads the cause for justice & civil rights. The issue is that she LIED about her identity for years, pretending to be someone she’s not. And that, my friends, is pathological!