Shaun King, a key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement, has been accused of lying about his biracial background.

Shaun King Another Rachel Dolezal?

Throughout his public life, King has maintained that he was born to a white mother and a black father. However, a birth certificate unearthed by Beitbart News says otherwise. On the document, it lists King’s father as Jeffery Wayne King, a white man. Furthermore, King’s race is checked as white.

Not only does the piece by the conservative news outlet question King’s racial background, but also the accuracy of his accounts of a brutal beating in his teenage years, a life-altering car accident and how many children he is raising with his wife Rai King.

In response to the takedown piece, King headed to Twitter in an attempt to shut down the accusations. In King’s lengthy Twitter reaction, he reiterates that he is and always has been biracial. He seemed to acknowledge the existence of a birth certificate in which it’s shown he was fathered by a white man, but implies that some scandalous family history might be to blame.

King explained that the changes in the number of children he claims he is raising has to do with the fact that he’s taken in nieces and nephews at different times in addition to having three biological children with Rai King. As for the car accident, King provided pictures to prove that it was as bad as he’s stated, leaving his back in ruins.

King’s wife also shut down the Brietbart story by vouching for the activist’s race. “Regarding his race, he has never lied. Not once,” she wrote on Facebook. “His story is beautifully difficult, and painful. And I’ve actually encouraged him to tell it publicly because it is a unique expression of this country’s sordid and ridiculous history with race. But it’s his story to tell. On his own terms. When he’s ready to tell it. Out of respect for his mother, and all involved, I hope he continues to let the talking heads talk while he does the real work of holding judicial systems accountable for the 742 women and men they’ve gunned down this year alone.”

“Just know this, there is nothing fake about Shaun King. He’s no Rachel Dolezal. What’s white about him is white, and what’s Black about him is Black and always has been from the time he was a child,” Rai King added. “There’s no spray tan, no fake Black hairstyles, no attempt to make himself appear any more ethnic than he already does. Whatever you think you know about him, you don’t. Whatever you think has been uncovered, hasn’t.”

King has been using the attention, including being a trend on Twitter and elsewhere, to keep fighting back against police brutality.

 

 

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