Black Lives Matter organizer and Oprah scholarship recipient who was 'revealed to be white' refuses to answer questions about his race - claiming he is the victim of a 'white supremacist conspiracy'

Big names: King with Dr. Cornel West in a photo from taken at a Morehouse event

Shaun King, an author and writer who is one of the leading voices speaking out against police brutality on social media, has claimed he is mixed

A report now claims he is white, citing a police report that labels him as white and claiming his parents on his birth certificate are both white 

King applied for and then accepted an Oprah scholarship to Morehouse College, which are only given to black men 

He also called the vicious attack he suffered in high school a hate crime that was motivated by race
'Out of LOVE for my family, I've never gone public with my racial story because it's hurtful, scandalous, and it's MY STORY,' said King

King also said he is the victim of a 'white supremacist conspiracy' 

A key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement who claimed he was the victim of a horrific hate crime in his youth as a result his race has been outed as white.

Shaun King, an author and writer who is one of the leading voices speaking out against police brutality on social media, has claimed he is mixed.

King has claimed in past interviews that his father is black and his mother is white and of Irish descent, but his birth certificate lists his parents as both white.

In addition, King's race is listed as white in the police report of the aforementioned attack that occurred while he was in high school.

King also applied for and then accepted an Oprah scholarship to Morehouse College, which are only given to black men.

The 35-year-old responded to the controversy on Twitter by saying; 'Out of LOVE for my family, I've never gone public with my racial story because it's hurtful, scandalous, and it's MY STORY.'



Shaun King (above), an author and writer who is one of the leading voices speaking out against police brutality on social media, has claimed he is mixed

A report now claims he is white, citing a police report that labels him as white (above)

Early days: King in his second grade school photo (left); and with his mother as a baby (right)

The report also claims that the parents listed on his birth certificate (above) were both white as well

Family: King is pictured with his children in this photo from earlier this year

These claims were first uncovered by the site ReNews-It, and then Breitbart, and King compared their attack to President Obama being asked to show his birth certificate to prove he was born in America.
Out of LOVE for my family, I've never gone public with my racial story because it's hurtful, scandalous, and it's MY STORY.

King also wrote on Twitter of his family; 'The key facts about my biological relatives are all wrong. They tried, but my family, like many of yours, is one big mess.

'Like many of you, I have siblings I don't know, siblings I'm estranged from, and a family full of secrets, divorce, affairs, etc.

'No 2 siblings in my family have the same set of parents. We're all over the place. Some of us are not even blood relatives.'

He ended by writing; 'Trying hard not to slip into a deep funk over all of this garbage, but my life, my past, my pain, my family, ARE VERY REAL TO ME.' 

King also commented on the claim on the police report that he only suffered minor injuries during the attack that took place in high school.

'Over 20 years ago, when I was 15 years old, I was beaten so badly I missed the next 20 months of school recovering from fractures to my face and ribs, and severe injuries to my spine,' he wrote on Facebook.

'I had three brutal spinal surgeries during that time and it changed the entire course of my life. I received counseling for PTSD and have had multiple spinal surgeries and years of physical therapy since.'

Trying hard not to slip into a deep funk over all of this garbage, but my life, my past, my pain, my family, ARE VERY REAL TO ME.

He also had a fellow student write a detailed account of what happened, and multiple people that attended Morehouse with him commented that he suffered from back problems even then.

King also wrote about the fight on his Daily Kos profile, saying it was a hate crime.

'High school was a rude awakening for me. I quickly found myself in the middle of decades old racial tensions and became the focus of constant abuse of the resident rednecks of my school.

'I had half a dozen fights my freshman year, had a jar of tobacco spit thrown on me in the middle of the school day, and came a few feet away from being run over by a pickup truck full of guys who chased me down and nearly mauled me as I walked home from a school dance.

'I reported it to the school, having saw each guy in the car, but they did nothing about it.

'A few months later, a group of guys in the school beat me within a few inches of my life. I missed the next 18 months of school recovering from three spinal surgeries and fractures to my face and ribs. I won’t even try here to explain the depths and extent of my physical and emotional pain, but it was brutal.

'I got some counseling for PTSD, learned the hard way that spinal surgeries leave a lasting impact, and finally found myself back on my feet.'

He also spoke about in an a taped interview.

Wounded physically and emotionally: King on his racist abuse



King climbing a tree in a photo posted to his Instagram account

Jeffrey King, King's alleged father, who he has claimed in the past is black (left); King's brother Jason (right)

High school sweethearts: King and his wife Rai. The couple have four children together

If true, the story would have remarkable similarities to that of Rachel Dolezal, the civil rights activist and NAACP head from Spokane, Washington who purposely mislead people about her racial background.

Dolezal was forced to step down from her NAACP position and lost her job at a local university after the scandal broke.

She has maintained however that she identifies as black. 

No 2 siblings in my family have the same set of parents. We're all over the place. Some of us are not even blood relatives.

According to a 2011 profile of King; 'Shaun is married to his high school sweetheart, Rai, and they proudly home-school and travel with their four young children.'

However, an Atlanta Journal Constitution story from that same year says he has six children.

He cleared this up on Twitter however Wednesday, explaining; 'My wife & I have 3 birth children, we fully adopted our niece in '03, she's 15 now, + we have custody of our 2 y/o niece, Zayah.

'In addition to the 5 kids we have now, we've also had full custody, at one time or another, of 4 other nieces/nephews of ours.'

That Journal story also confirms his brother Russ - who is white - is serving overseas.

Individuals who have questioned King's race and the details of his attack in high school now claim he is blocking them from his feed.

Moment NAACP leader is confronted about her white parents

Back in the day: King and his wife when they were teenagers in high school

Sean's brother Russ King (above) a 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron electrician

High School: A photo King posted from high school during his sophomore year

In a 2014 interview with Liberal America, King spoke about white privilege, and how best to get white Americans to understand the idea of white privilege.
Oprah Winfrey paid my way through Morehouse. The leadership scholarship that I received from her is why I have a college degree today. Five hundred other brothers have the exact same story 

'Some of how we get all people to understand privilege is simply to tell our story – one story at a time. I try to do that on Twitter and share stories of others I know,' he said.

'You can never truly understand how others feel, but at least being aware is a good start.'

As for his Oprah scholarship, he wrote in one Daily Kos post; 'Oprah Winfrey paid my way through Morehouse. The leadership scholarship that I received from her is why I have a college degree today.

'Five hundred other brothers have the exact same story.' 

The Mail