Rachel Dolezal, 37, is the president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
For years, she has described herself as a mix of white, black, and Native American - not to mention filed numerous complaints with police, claiming she’s been a victim of racial harassment.
But now, speaking with The Spokesman-Review, her parents have insisted that Rachel has been lying about her heritage for years.
Her mother, Ruthanne, explained that Rachel’s ancestry is actually Czech, Swedish, and German - with some very ‘faint traces’ of Native American heritage.
Apparently she began to ‘disguise herself’in the mid 2000s, after the family adopted four African-American children.
Ruthanne said: “It’s very sad that Rachel has not just been herself.
“Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable, and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.”
To add credibility to her claims, Ruthanne also provided a copy of her daughter’s birth certificate.
After the claims went public, Rachel was asked directly if she is black.
Insisting that the question carried a lot of "complexities," she said: "We're all from the African continent”.
An investigation has now been launched into the shocking claims about Rachel’s background.