--- description: "I think she has an integrity issue," Ezra Dolezal told CNN. title: Rachel Dolezal's Brother Calls Her Actions 'Insulting' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba9d0378580252ac/698854b18e060134d0460fca/rtx1gnkw.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Race](/tag/race/) ## Race Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rachel Dolezal's Adopted Brother Says Her Actions Are 'Insulting' by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 6:27 AM CUT  Women hold signs during a protest in front of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) headquarters in Spokane, Washington June 15, 2015. Women hold signs during a protest in front of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) headquarters in Spokane, Washington June 15, 2015.David Ryder—Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2015 6:27 AM CUT Rachel Dolezal, the 37-year-old former NAACP official under intense scrutiny for apparently faking black ethnicity, is the target of a damning indictment from her adopted brother Ezra, who is of African-American ethnicity. He called her actions “insulting” and said they were tantamount to “blackface.” Speaking to CNN soon after his sister resigned as president of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter, Ezra Dolezal claimed she lacked honesty. “I think she has an integrity issue,” he [said](https://twitter.com/CNNTonight/status/610637883972587520 "undefined"). “Being in a position of authority, integrity is very important, being honest is important.” Dolezal’s parents, whom she distanced herself from a few years ago and who have said that her ethnic heritage was primarily European, also appeared on CNN, expressing [confusion](https://twitter.com/CNNTonight/status/610635608575225856 "undefined") and speculating over why she may have chosen to assume a black identity for over three years. “I’m not professionally trained so I can’t really say, but many of the things she’s done are not rational and a normal, sane person wouldn’t take the approach she’s taken,” her father Lawrence Dolezal told CNN. “It’s a baffling thing until she explains it.” Dolezal is [expected to break her silence](http://time.com/3921964/rachel-dolezal-howard-university/ "undefined") regarding the controversy around her racial identity on Tuesday, with NBC News announcing that she would be giving multiple television interviews. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/"},"headline":"Rachel Dolezal's Adopted Brother Says Her Actions Are 'Insulting'","datePublished":"2015-06-16T06:27:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:14:15.656Z","description":"\"I think she has an integrity issue,\" Ezra Dolezal said","url":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/","keywords":["Race","NAACP","white","Black","Rachel Dolezal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba9d0378580252ac/698854b18e060134d0460fca/rtx1gnkw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba9d0378580252ac/698854b18e060134d0460fca/rtx1gnkw.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Women hold signs during a protest in front of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) headquarters in Spokane, Washington","caption":"Women hold signs during a protest in front of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) headquarters in Spokane, Washington","creditText":"David Ryder—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/race/","name":"Race"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/","name":"Rachel Dolezal's Adopted Brother Says Her Actions Are 'Insulting'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Spokane NAACP President Quits Over Race Controversy","description":"Rachel Dolezal, president of Spokane's NAACP chapter, has found herself surrounded by controversy over her race.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EvXeKae8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-15T17:40:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EvXeKae8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/","duration":"PT2M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3922326/rachel-dolezal-ezra-brother-blackface-insulting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```