Rachel Dolezal’s parents speak out on CNN: “We are confirming the truth”

"She has not explained to us... [why she is] being dishonest and deceptive with her identity"

Published June 12, 2015 5:41PM (EDT)

   (CNN)
(CNN)

On Friday morning, CNN's Kate Bolduan interviewed the parents of Rachel Dolezal, the Spokane, Washington NAACP chapter president who has reportedly misrepresented her race since attending Howard University.

"We are confirming the truth," said her father, Lawrence Dolezal. "We are her birth parents. We do not understand why she feels it's necessary to misrepresent her ethnicity."

"She has not explained to us why she is doing what she is doing and being dishonest and deceptive with her identity," said Dolezal's mother, Ruthanne.

They explained that they first learned that she had been misrepresenting her identity from a local newspaper article, but that since Dolezal doesn't communicate with her parents, they could never ask her why.

Watch the clip below, courtesy of CNN:


By Joanna Rothkopf

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Identity Naacp Race Rachel Dolezal Video Washington