SPOKANE, Wash., June 15 (UPI) -- Rachel Dolezal, who sparked a nationwide debate about race after apparently lying about her ethnicity, announced on Monday she will resign as the president of the Spokane, Wash., chapter 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," Dolezal wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Dolezal, 37, a civil-rights activist and a professor of African Studies who once claimed she lived in a teepee and used a bow and arrow to hunt for dinner, was under investigation after she allegedly lied about her race.
Dolezal teaches at Eastern Washington University. She came under fire after her parents produced a birth certificate indicating she is white. Dolezal has served in many capacities representing the black community, including as chairwoman of the city's Office of Police Ombudsman Commission and the education director of the Human Rights Education Institute in Idaho.
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It is unclear if she will resign her part-time position as a teacher or her membership on the Spokane police ombudsman's commission.
On Friday, the NAACP said they support Dolezal while she is "enduring a legal issue with her family" and that they "respect her privacy in this matter."
"One's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership," the NAACP said in a statement. "The NAACP Alaska-Oregon-Washington State Conference stands behind Ms. Dolezal's advocacy record."
Dolezal's mother, Ruthanne, said the family's ancestry is Czech, Swedish and German with some "faint traces" of Native American heritage. Spokane City Hall opened an investigation after Rachel Dolezal identified herself as white, black and Native American on a volunteer application to the commission.
Dolezal's parents said she does not have biracial parents, was not born in a teepee in Montana, did not use a bow and arrow to hunt for food and never lived in South Africa -- all claims she has made.
Dolezal has also filed multiple police reports regarding alleged racist threats against her, including one found near her home, but police have not been able to substantiate them. She previously said the claims about her falsifying her race are untrue and attributed her parent's comments to a longstanding family estrangement.
Amy R. Connolly contributed to this report.
