RACHEL DOLEZAL: Former NAACP Leader Speaks Out

Less than 24 hours after stepping down from her position as the president of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP, Rachel Dolezal was on the Today show this morning to speak out about the firestorm she's endured and explain her racial identity.

Today host Matt Lauer asked her flat out if she is black and she responded that her racial identity is complex but she identifies with being black and has ever since she was five-years-old. The firestorm over her race began last week after her white biological parents revealed her true identity. Critics says she's been masquerading as a black woman to increase her credibility but Dolezal insists, "This is not some freak-show, Birth of a Nation blackface performance. This is on a real connected level how I’ve had to go there with the experience.” She adds, "My life has been one of survival. The decisions I’ve made along the way, including my identification, have been to survive.”

Lauer showed her pictures of herself as a teenager with blonde hair and light skin and asked if she thought others would see her as black. She admitted that people would see her as white but it's not how she saw herself. As for her darker complexion, she insists that she hasn't done anything to darken her skin but admits that she doesn't stay out of the sun. (Today.com)