An anticipated response from a Washington state NAACP chapter leader about accusations that she has been pretending to be black has been postponed.
Rachel Dolezal, 37, said in an email to members of Spokane's NAACP chapter that she would address the claim by her parents Monday night during a monthly meeting, NBC station KHQ reported.
But the chapter announced Sunday on Facebook that the meeting during which Dolezal was expected to speak had been delayed. "Due to the need to continue discussion with regional and national NAACP leaders, tomorrow's meeting is postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date," the statement said.
Dolezal's parents told KHQ last week that their daughter had been misrepresenting herself as black for years even though "she is Caucasian by birth."
Their statement sparked a lively national discussion about of race, identity and culture.
The NAACP responded by saying it has a "long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds."
Dolezal is a professor in the Africana Education Department at Eastern Washington University, where she has taught courses on African History, African American Culture, the Black Woman's Struggle and others. She was not in attendance at the program's graduation ceremony Friday night, at which she was scheduled to give the keynote address.
