Just over a week ago the head of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Rachel Dolezal, was revealed to not actually be of African-American descent. Dolezal was born in Montana to two white parents, Ruthanne and Lawrence Dolezal from whom she is now estranged. After attending the historically black Howard University she became involved in causes of racial justice and by 2007, by which time she lived in Spokane, she was saying that her father was black. Since her heritage has come to light Dolezal has had to resign as head of the Spokane NAACP and stopped teaching at Eastern Washington University. 

YouGov’s latest research shows that a large majority of Americans (68%) believe that it is unacceptable for Rachel Dolezal to identify as a black woman while only 16% believe that it is acceptable. Among whites 73% say that it is unacceptable, with 55% saying that it is ‘very unacceptable’. While among black Americans a small majority (51%) believe that it is unacceptable for Dolezal to identify as a black woman, 32% believe that it is acceptable.