The parents of Rachel Dolezal said that they want their daughter to tell the truth about her identity, that she is "Caucasian by birth" and not partially black, as she has identified herself on official documents.
"I don't know why she's chosen to be deceptive about her true identity," Rachel's mother, Ruthanne Dolezal, told TODAY's Carson Daly in a Skype interview on Saturday.
Dolezal, an NAACP leader in Spokane, Washington, does not speak to her parents who said that their daughter was Caucasian in an interview with NBC affiliate KHQ on Friday. The case has sparked a national furor and conversation about race and identity.
"It's important to us that the truth is known," Ruthanne said Saturday. "We cannot participate by our silence in the lies."
While Dolezar's parents said that they were not surprised that African American causes have been Rachel's passion for years, they do not understand why she decided to lie about her identity.
"To identify with people of different groups is, I think, a healthy thing," Ruthanne said. "But to be deceptive and dishonest about who you are, that is a totally different matter."
In a statement on Friday, the NAACP said it stands behind Dolezal's advocacy record and has a "long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds."
"NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. One's racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership," it said.