Former NAACP official Rachel Dolezal became infamous for appropriating Black culture. She changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in 2016, a year after she went on television and proclaimed that even though she was born Caucasian, she identified as Black. She resigned from the NAACP after her parents revealed that she was white, and had been lying for a number of years. Her name slowly disappeared from the media once more scandalous news took over (namely, a reality television star becoming a president). Dolezal's name is back in the news once again though, as she is being charged with welfare fraud.
According to The Washington Post, Dolezal stands accused of stealing $8,847 in food and child care assistance dating back to August 2015. Court documents that were originally obtained by KHQ-TV can be viewed here. The investigation into the fraud began in March 2017 when an investigator from the Washington Department of Social and Health Services discovered Dolezal had written and published a book. The investigators researched the book’s publisher and learned “a typical contract would include payments of $10,000 to $20,000 as advances against later royalties,” according to documents. Until now, Dolezal had been reporting an income less than $500 a month, which came from child support payments.