For the first time since resigning as NAACP Chapter President, Rachel Dolezal has spoken out publicly.
Dolezal, under major fire for lying about her racial background, sat across from Matt Lauer this morning and claimed that her failure over the years to explain that she was born white did not equate to deception.
"I identify as black," Dolezal said, adding of her childhood years:
"I was drawing self-portraits with the brown crayon instead of the peach crayon. That’s how I was portraying myself."
Dolezal’s interview aired about 24 hours after she resigned from her position as head of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter due to controversy surrounding assertions she made about her race and upbringing.
The scandal got underway last week after the ex-official’s white parents confirmed that Dolezal was their estranged daughter.
They had not spoken to her in years, but they felt a need to tell the truth about her ethnicity.
As for critics that say Dolezal purposely deceived everyone, the 37-year old replied:
"I do take exception to that because it’s a little more complex than me identifying as black or answering a question of, are you black or white?"
Watch the Q&A above.