It’s been a decade since the race scandal of Rachel Dolezal shocked the nation. In 2015, Dolezal was exposed for pretending to be a Black woman, but how well do you really know her full story? From growing up with four adoptive siblings to changing her name to Nkechinyere Diallo, Dolezal’s peculiar case is one that still stumps Black Americans today.
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Growing Up
In 1977, Dolezal was born to a white mother and father in Montana. But life for her changed once her parents adopted four young Black children. Her parents, Ruthanne and Larry, told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that Dolezal started to “disguise herself” around 2006, but the activist later told the “Today” show that she has identified as Black for the majority of her life.
“I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon, and black curly hair,” Dolezal said. Her parents, however, told the press they have only faint traces of Native American heritage outside of their otherwise Czech, Swedish and German lineage.
After high school, Dolezal attended Belhaven University in Jackson, Miss., where the Black students currently make up almost 50 percent of the total population. Larry said his daughter became involved with a “racial reconciliation ministry” while in school.
Marriage to Kevin Moore
In 2000, Dolezal married a Black man named Kevin Moore. Together, they had one son, Franklin. Their marriage lasted until 2004 when Dolezal filed for divorce, according to New York Daily News.
Attending…and Suing Howard University
In 2000, Dolezal enrolled in Howard University, a historically Black university (HBCU) to get a masters degree in fine arts. Her thesis advisor reportedly described her as “a blue-eyed blond woman,” while she attended the HBCU. But her time at Howard was clouded by the defamation lawsuit she filed against the school in 2002, the Smoking Gun first reported.
She claimed several school officials discriminated against her and denied her scholarship aid all because she was white. A judge dismissed the suit 18 months later.
Slowly Changing Her Appearance
According to her adopted siblings, Dolezal began a physical transformation to look more like a Black woman. “It started with her hair, then she’d probably have a little darker tan,” Zachariah Dolezal said to ABC News. “It was very progressive,” he continued.
Ezra Dolezal confessed that his sister did not want others to know about her true identity. “She took me aside… and told me to make sure that no one found out where she was actually from and for me not to blow her cover,” he said of Dolezal.
“It’s very sad that Rachel has not just been herself,” Ruthanne Dolezal said. “Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable, and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.”
Moving to Spokane, Wash.
Dolezal eventually moved to Idaho and later to Spokane, Wash. There, Dolezal began her career as a civil rights activist. She even started teaching Africana Studies at Eastern Washington University in 2010 and working with the local NAACP chapter.
While living in Idaho, Dolezal became the director of the Human Rights Education Institute. During her time, she claimed she and her son were victims of a racist hate crime done by local white supremacy groups.
President of the NAACP Spokane Chapter
In November 2014, Dolezal was elected president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP. During her time with the NAACP, Dolezal built a respected reputation in activism. The organization later vouched for her, giving her credit for re-energizing the Spokane chapter of the NAACP.
She also served as chair of Spokane’s police ombudsman commission, working on cases related to police brutality. Many in the Idaho community viewed her as a passionate Black activist.
Rachel’s Real Ethnicity Is Exposed
Dolezal was at the top of the world until rumors surrounding her ethnic identity started. In June 2015, her own family began speaking out against her, confirming that Dolezal was indeed a white woman pretending to be Black.
“Unfortunately, she is not ethnically by birth African American,” Larry, her father, told The Washington Post. “She is our daughter by birth. And that’s the way it is.” In the Dolezals’ bombshell interview with Spokane Spokesman-Review, they exposed their own daughter for the years-long fraud, and it didn’t take long for Dolezal’s adopted siblings to also come forward.
Rachel Steps Down
Amid the shocking allegations against her, Dolezal resigned from her role as president of the local NAACP chapter, CNN reported. “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,” she wrote in a Facebook statement. “It’s about justice. This is not me quitting; this is a continuum.”
The then-president of the national NAACP, Cornell William Brooks, addressed the scandal as a “distraction” in his own statement. “Our members who looked up to her, appreciated her leadership, are pained, very disappointed,” he wrote. “This is a distraction from the work.”
Admitting to Being White
In November 2015– just months after resigning from the NAACP– Dolezal finally admitted that she is white. “I acknowledge I was born biologically white, to white parents,” she told the hosts of “The Real.” Then she added, “But I identify as Black.”
Name Change to Nkechi Diallo
Dolezal was looking to rebrand, so she legally changed her name to Nkechinyere Diallo in October 2016. Nkechinyere– Nkechi for short– comes from the Igbo word for “what God has given” or “gift of God” in Nigeria, the New York Daily News reported. Diallo means “bold.”
2018 Welfare Fraud Case
Diallo maintained a low profile until 2018, when she was accused of welfare fraud, according to the New York Times. Authorities alleged she received $8,847 in illegal food and child care assistance all while failing to report her income from book sales. She pled not guilty.
Hair Braiding Business
After the race scandal and the welfare fraud allegations, Diallo’s reputation was severely damaged. She was unemployed, so she began running her own businesses from her Spokane home, according to the New York Post. She became a hair braider and even published a children’s book about hair called “Ebony Tresses.
Where Is She Now?
On Nov. 12, Diallo celebrated her 48th birthday. Diallo now lives with her family in Arizona, according to reports. She still considers herself an activist for civil rights and you can still catch her sporting braids and curly wigs from time to time.
Fired from Teaching Over OnlyFans
Diallo was fired by the Catalina Foothills Unified School District in Arizona after her OnlyFans account was exposed, NBC News reported. Her account made headlines in 2022, when leaked photos of her in lingerie went viral online.
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