by Biodun Iginla, BBC Newsbeat, New York
Rachel Dolezal, the US activist who was at the centre of a row after allegations she had been "pretending to be black", has stepped down from her role at a civil rights organisation.
She was working for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Spokane, around 280 miles away from Seattle.
In a long post on the Spokane branch of the NAACP's Facebook page she references the international row without fully explaining whether or not she is ethnically African-American.
She begins by listing issues faced in the "racial and social justice movement" before adding "the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.
"I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story."
She does not go on to explain what she considers to be the full story.
According to the Spokesman-Review newspaper, Dolezal said she was a mix of white, black and American Indian on her application to serve on the city's citizen police ombudsman commission in January.
That application is being investigated.
Ms Dolezal's mother and father, a white couple called Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolezal, say that she is their biological daughter.
The row surfaced after a picture was published earlier this year on the NAACP's Spokane Facebook page showing Dolezal and an African-American man, who's identified as her father.
Local news reporter Jeff Humphrey from ABC affiliate
KXLY4 asked Dolezal about the claims during an interview about hate mail
she claimed she has received through the NAACP's post office box at
Spokane in Washington State.
She claimed she had been targeted more than a dozen times in both Spokane and Coeur D'Alene but police haven't made any arrests. Police have now dropped investigations into claims she received hate mail.
The 37-year-old, who's a part-time professor in the Africana Studies programme at Eastern Washington University, also said she had two black sons in the same interview.
But Dolezal's parents say one of those boys is her adopted brother Izaiah, one of four black children they raised.
The National Association for the Advancement of
Coloured People (NAACP) issued a statement appearing to back the
activists position, saying: "One's racial identity is not a qualifying
criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership... In every
corner of this country, the NAACP remains committed to securing
political, educational and economic justice for all people.''
Rachel finishes her post by writing: "Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It's about justice.
"This is not me quitting; this is a continuum."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram, Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube and you can now follow BBC_Newsbeat on Snapchat
Rachel Dolezal, the US activist who was at the centre of a row after allegations she had been "pretending to be black", has stepped down from her role at a civil rights organisation.
She was working for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Spokane, around 280 miles away from Seattle.
In a long post on the Spokane branch of the NAACP's Facebook page she references the international row without fully explaining whether or not she is ethnically African-American.
She begins by listing issues faced in the "racial and social justice movement" before adding "the dialogue has unexpectedly shifted internationally to my personal identity in the context of defining race and ethnicity.
"I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, beliefs, confusions and even conclusions - absent the full story."
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According to the Spokesman-Review newspaper, Dolezal said she was a mix of white, black and American Indian on her application to serve on the city's citizen police ombudsman commission in January.
That application is being investigated.
Ms Dolezal's mother and father, a white couple called Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolezal, say that she is their biological daughter.
The row surfaced after a picture was published earlier this year on the NAACP's Spokane Facebook page showing Dolezal and an African-American man, who's identified as her father.
She claimed she had been targeted more than a dozen times in both Spokane and Coeur D'Alene but police haven't made any arrests. Police have now dropped investigations into claims she received hate mail.
The 37-year-old, who's a part-time professor in the Africana Studies programme at Eastern Washington University, also said she had two black sons in the same interview.
But Dolezal's parents say one of those boys is her adopted brother Izaiah, one of four black children they raised.
Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist
Rachel Dolezal
Rachel finishes her post by writing: "Please know I will never stop fighting for human rights and will do everything in my power to help and assist, whether it means stepping up or stepping down, because this is not about me. It's about justice.
"This is not me quitting; this is a continuum."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram, Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube and you can now follow BBC_Newsbeat on Snapchat
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