Last week, it was reported that Rachel Dolezal, the “black” president of Spokane’s NAACP chapter, likely violated the city’s code of ethics because she’s actually white. Dolezal identifies as African-American and has even modified her appearance accordingly. She’s also claimed to be the victim of several “hate” crimes. But public records indicate she and both of her parents are white. The revelation resulted in lots of backlash, culminating in Dolezal’s resignation today. Writing on Facebook, she said, “It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the NAACP that I step aside from the Presidency and pass the baton to my Vice President, Naima Quarles-Burnley. It is my hope that by securing a beautiful office for the organization in the heart of downtown, bringing the local branch into financial compliance, catalyzing committees to do strategic work in the five Game Changer issues, launching community forums, putting the membership on a fast climb, and helping many individuals find the legal, financial and practical support needed to fight race-based discrimination, I have positioned the Spokane NAACP to buttress this transition.”

Hot Air’s Allahpundit responds, “[I] wonder if this would have played differently if Dolezal had maintained her racial charade for, say, 40 years instead of seven or eight. If she had proved that she had adopted ‘blackness’ for the long haul, if she could demonstrate that she had been discriminated against by whites because she appeared to them to be African-American, would that have given her a stronger claim to quasi-authentic black identity? Come to think of it, that may be what’s behind the suspicious, dubious hate crimes she says she experienced. The more she seemed to suffer for being black, the more likely it may have been that she’d be forgiven later when her true racial identity was exposed.” More…

Update: In 2002, before she rejected her “white privilege,” Dolezal filed a lawsuit accusing her alma mater, Howard University, of racial discrimination. Additionally, in an interview Tuesday morning with NBC’s Matt Lauer, she stood by her transformation, saying, “I identify as black.” She added, “The discussion is really about what it is to be human. I hope that that can drive at the core of definitions of race, ethnicity, culture, self determination, personal agency and, ultimately, empowerment.”