Baltimore Book Festival Removes Rachel Dolezal From Lineup

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Book Festival has announced on Tuesday that it will be removing controversial speaker Rachel Dolezal for its lineup.

The controversial civil rights activist and former head of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington, resigned from her position in 2015 after she received negative attention and was "outted" by her family as being white, even though Dolezal says she identifies as black.

Her statements have caused a backlash amongst people in civil rights groups, including Black Lives Matter.

Dolezal was scheduled to be in town to promote her book "In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World."

The popular book festival, which has been running since 1995, posted a statement on social media, highlighting its history of hosting "writers with different views and perspectives, always with the goal of presenting authors that engage the audience with topical and enlightening discourse."

The Baltimore Book Festival is being held September 22-24, 2017. Writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Michael Eric Dyson and Chantel Acevedo are all due to present at this year's festival.

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