--- description: The former N.A.A.C.P. official caused outcry in 2015 after being 'revealed' as white title: Rachel Dolezal: "I’m not going to stoop and apologise" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dcb5eb50e69e8a/6988703d0a4a225dd39c6f49/time-top-10-2015-rachel-dolezal.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 # Rachel Dolezal Is Flat Broke, But Unapologetic About Identifying as Black by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2017 10:26 AM CUT  Rachel Dolezal at her home in Spokane, Wash., on March 2, 2015. Rachel Dolezal at her home in Spokane, Wash., on March 2, 2015.Colin Mulvany—AP by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2017 10:26 AM CUT [Rachel Dolezal](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/25/rachel-dolezal-not-going-stoop-apologise-grovel "undefined"), the former civil rights activist whose claim to be black [caused outcry in 2015](http://time.com/3918915/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined"), has said she is l[iving in penury and facing the prospect of losing her home](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/25/rachel-dolezal-not-going-stoop-apologise-grovel "undefined") in a new interview. Yet Dolezal, who was a N.A.A.C.P. branch president when it was discovered she had been born to white parents, said in the [interview with the _Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/25/rachel-dolezal-not-going-stoop-apologise-grovel "undefined") that she will not “apologise and grovel” for her actions. She generated [global headlines ](http://time.com/3921404/rachel-dolezal-naacp-race-kareem-abdul-jabbar/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined")after questions from a local reporter led to her parents releasing childhood photos of her and denouncing her as a fraud. Today, she continues to identify as black and denies doing anything wrong. “I don’t think you can do something wrong with your identity if you’re living in your authenticity,” Dolezal said. “I’m not going to stoop and apologize and grovel and feel bad about it.” She has written a memoir about her experiences, which will be released next month after having been turned down by around 30 publishing houses. In the midst of the [race scandal](http://time.com/3921964/rachel-dolezal-howard-university/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined"), the activist resigned her position at the N.A.A.C.P. and was fired from a teaching position at Eastern Washington University. Dolezal said she wrote the memoir to “set the record straight” and to “open up this dialogue about race and identity”. “Calling myself black feels more accurate than saying I’m white,” she said. \[[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/25/rachel-dolezal-not-going-stoop-apologise-grovel "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/"},"headline":"Rachel Dolezal Is Flat Broke, But Unapologetic About Identifying as Black","datePublished":"2017-02-27T10:26:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:32:21.408Z","description":"The former N.A.AC.P. official was 'revealed' to be white in 2015","url":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/","keywords":["NAACP","Rachel Dolezal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dcb5eb50e69e8a/6988703d0a4a225dd39c6f49/time-top-10-2015-rachel-dolezal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dcb5eb50e69e8a/6988703d0a4a225dd39c6f49/time-top-10-2015-rachel-dolezal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rachel Dolezal","caption":"Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, poses for a photo in her Spokane, Wash. home on March 2, 2015.","creditText":"Colin Mulvany—AP","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":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/","name":"Rachel Dolezal Is Flat Broke, But Unapologetic About Identifying as Black"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Former Spokane NAACP President Admits She Was Born White","description":"Rachel Dolezal admitted she was born white during an interview on \"The Real\" Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CFAKFZ05/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-03T00:27:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CFAKFZ05.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4683633/rachel-dolezal-race-naacp-activism/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```