By Maureen Dolan, Jun. 17, 2015, CDA Press

For me, Rachel Dolezal's race was never the issue. It was her credibility.

And that was a big issue for me because for several years, I was the reporter assigned to cover her activities in Coeur d'Alene. I wrote many stories about her work at the Human Rights Education Institute, and several about the hate crimes she reported.

Even before she called to tell me in September 2009 that someone had left a noose on the doorstep of her Spokane home, I saw troubling signs that Rachel might not be telling the truth about her background.

I was surprised when she told another Press reporter in February 2009 that she was the product of a biracial marriage and had been discriminated against as a child growing up in Troy, Mont. By that time, I had written five stories about Rachel and her human rights work and this was new information. I did a little research at the time, and could not find evidence contradicting what Rachel had said about herself.

Her race did not become relevant to my reporting until I interviewed her about the first noose.