Campaigner who 'pretended to be black' quits civil rights post

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Rachel Dolezal pictured in her younger days, left, and more recently, right Credit: NBC/ NAACP-Facebook

A US civil rights campaigner who allegedly pretended to be black has resigned from her post as president of a prominent civil rights organisation for minorities.

Rachel Dolezal told the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Spokane, Washington, that she would be stepping down from the post after the "unexpected firestorm" around her personal identity.

In her resignation letter to the NAACP she said "the movement is larger than a moment in time or a single person's story."

She wrote:

Dolezal, who was outed as a white woman by her parents, had reportedly been pretending to be black for years.

An Africana Studies Programme professor at East Washington University, Dolezal is reportedly being investigated by authorities over claims she listed her race as African-American on an application for a local independent commission, which she chairs.

The picture shows Dolezal with a man she claimed was her father. Credit: Spokane NAACP/Facebook

Earlier this year Spokane NAACP posted a picture on its Facebook page showing Dolezal with an African-American man, with the accompanying post claiming he was her father.

But according to local broadcaster KXLY, public records, including Dolezal's birth certificate, show her to be the daughter of white couple Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolzeal from Montana.

Dolezal, who will be replaced by her Vice President Naima Quarles-Burnley, said she will continue to give her "complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice " following her resignation.