Governor of Virginia allegedly turns up in old black face photo.

[The Romulan Republic]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politi ... er-n966141

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he will not leave his office despite pressure from prominent lawmakers to resign over a racially offensive photo that appeared on his medical school yearbook page. The photo shows one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe.

Northam held a press conference on Saturday afternoon at the governor's mansion where he once again apologized for the image, but said he had nothing to do with it. He said the first time he saw the photo was on Friday, he did not attend that party and the picture is not of him.

"I reflected with my family and classmates from the time and affirmed my conclusion that I am not the person in that photo," North said, calling the image "offensive, racist and despicable."

A photo on Ralph Northam's page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School's 1984 yearbook appears to show a man in blackface.A photo on Ralph Northam's page in the Eastern Virginia Medical School's 1984 yearbook appears to show a man in blackface.Courtesy Eastern Virginia Medical School
One of the reasons Northam said he is certain that he is not in the image is because he participated in a dance competition in San Antonio, Texas, the same year the yearbook was published — 1984 — in which he used shoe polish to darken his face for a Michael Jackson costume.

"It is because my memory of that episode is so vivid that I truly believe that I am not in that picture of the yearbook," Northam said.

“I certainly take responsibility for what happened in San Antonio,” Northam added later. “I have learned from that.”

Northam originally apologized Friday on Twitter "for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now."

An hour after he made that statement, Northam said he realized that it was not him in the image after all.

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"When I was shown this last night, it was horrific. It really horrified me. We did what we needed to do last night and that was to reach out and apologize to those who may be hurt, but the more time I've had, I've realized I have no recollection of dressing up like that," the governor said at the press conference on Saturday.

The governor said he does not expect everyone to believe his account, at least not immediately, nor does he expect to be immediately forgiven. He said he would not resign because that would be the easier path.

"I am ready to earn your forgiveness, and I am ready to begin today," he said.

Shortly after Northam's press conference, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez released a statement that said he had spoken with Northam on Saturday morning and he did not accept the governor's explanation.

"The Democratic Party believes that diversity is our greatest strength and that hatred and racism have no place in our democracy," Perez said in a statement. "And we will never hesitate to hold accountable people who violate those values, regardless of their party affiliation. It's time for Ralph Northam to step aside and let Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax serve Virginians as their next Governor."

Despite Northam's expected announcement earlier on Saturday and his claims that he is not in the photo, the state Democratic Party said they had given the governor ample opportunity to do the right thing and resign.

"We stand with Democrats across Virginia and the country calling him to immediately resign," the statement said. "He no longer has our confidence or our support. Governor Northam must end this chapter immediately, step down, and let Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax heal Virginia's wounds and move us forward."




Karine Jean-Pierre: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has no moral authority to lead anymore
FEB. 2, 201915:47
Pressure on the governor grew Friday as the Virginia House Democratic caucus, Senate Democratic caucus and Virginia black caucus all came out against the governor on the Friday. They were soon joined by former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Northam's close ally and predecessor.

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Several high-profile Democrats, including a handful of those who announced interest in a 2020 presidential run, called for the governor's resignation. The NAACP also said that Northam should step down.

Nevertheless, a notable statement came from former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, the first and only African-American to serve as governor in Virginia, before Northam's press conference on Saturday.

"It has never been right, in Virginia, nor anywhere else to participate in or condone such mockery or insensitive behavior and for that Gov. Northam should be criticized," the former governor wrote on Twitter, noting that many had asked him to respond to this latest revelation.

The elder statesman of Virginia politics, however, declined to call for Northam's resignation.

"The choice of his continuing in office is his to make," Wilder concluded.

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POLITICS
Va. Gov. Northam's yearbook pic of men in blackface, Klan robe spurs calls for his resignation
The photo from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook ran alongside pictures of and personal information about Northam.

NBC News verified the yearbook pictures with the school. NBC News is not aware of the identities of either of the men in the picture in blackface or the Klan robe. All the other photos on the page are clearly of Northam: one in a suit jacket, one in a cowboy hat where he is holding a beer, one sitting next to a Corvette.

Vincent Rhodes, chief communications officer for the school, said the production of the yearbook was a student activity, adding, "We don’t know when or where the picture was taken and we don't know anything about its content."

Northam, a doctor, came under fire from Republicans earlier this week, who accused him of supporting infanticide because of comments he made in support of allowing late-term abortions when the fetus is severely deformed or would be unable to survive after birth.

He was elected governor in 2017 in a hotly-contested race against Republican Ed Gillespie. Northam said he supported taking down Confederate monuments, a stance Gillespie blasted him for.

In his victory speech, Northam, an Army veteran and pediatric neurologist, said, "Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we will not condone hatred and bigotry."

The yearbook photo was first reported by Big League Politics, a far-right website that often promotes conspiracy theories.

His defence: I never dressed up in black face with a Klan costume! I just did it so I could play Michael Jackson in a dance contest!

Numerous prominent Democrats have demanded his resignation. While I would be wary of destroying a man's entire career over a single offensive image from decades ago if he has no history of subsequent racist behaviour in office, I'm inclined to agree that he should go. Partly for the lame half-assedness of his apology, and partly for pragmatic reasons- as long as he's there, he's a millstone around the party's neck, and will be an endless source for Whataboutism and "Both Sides" rhetoric to give cover to Republican racism going into 2020. So, disavow and purge.

[Solauren]

Okay, so someone dressed up in black-face, in 1984, as part of a tribute to Micheal Jackson, and he should be booted from politics?

This is making a mountain out of a mole-hill.

It sounds like he was still very immature when this happened, and he's apologized for it. Sounds like he learned his lesson the night he dressed up like that in the first place.

Yes, his apology is half-assed and stupid. But if we canned everyone from politics for stuff they did as an idiot kid, or stupid stuff they said in office, we'd be holding by-elections every 6 - 8 months.

[FireNexus]

It sounds like he was still very immature when this happened, and he's apologized for it.

He was in medical school.

[Jub]

Feels like a molehill is being overly magnified here. He did a stupid in college, learned his lesson, and unless something new comes out isn't a racist. Why is this news?

[FaxModem1]

Feels like a molehill is being overly magnified here. He did a stupid in college, learned his lesson, and unless something new comes out isn't a racist. Why is this news?

Because it was a Democrat, and not a Republican, and the Republicans love screaming hypocrisy.

[Solauren]

It sounds like he was still very immature when this happened, and he's apologized for it.

He was in medical school.

Emotionally Immature. You can be in medical school and still be an immature idiot.

[FireNexus]

If you’ve reached the age of medical school with that level of maturity, one could be forgiven for being skeptical that you’ve ever really gotten past it.

[Jub]

If you’ve reached the age of medical school with that level of maturity, one could be forgiven for being skeptical that you’ve ever really gotten past it.

Yeah because everybody stops developing at a set age and we should always judge people based on a thing they've, to the best of any of our knowledge, done once and regretted since. Makes sense to me.

[The Romulan Republic]

To me, there is a pragmatic angle as well as a moral one here- as long as he's in office, he's going to be a black mark on the party and fuel for Whataboutism going into 2020. Could conceivably even endanger other races in Virginia (where turning out the black vote is absolutely essential for Democratic prospects).

[Jub]

To me, there is a pragmatic angle as well as a moral one here- as long as he's in office, he's going to be a black mark on the party and fuel for Whataboutism going into 2020. Could conceivably even endanger other races in Virginia (where turning out the black vote is absolutely essential for Democratic prospects).

The better idea is for the Dems to grow a spine and manufacture a united party identity that voters can hang their hat on. They're not even progressive right now they're just "Not the GOP" and that doesn't get people to the polls. One guy the GOP can pick on wouldn't be an issue if the Dems controlled their own message and weren't just the "At least we don't throw children in cages" party or the "Hey, we're not Nazi's but we lacked the unified spine to stop any of the GOP's bullshit" party.

You don't win by pushing out anybody who has a slight skeleton in their past, you win by having a voice of your own.

[TheFeniX]

I don't personally give a shit to argue the whole b-b-b-b-b <Democrat / Republican> angle of whatever that is. But I will say:

I'm finding it laughable that posing for a photo in blackface standing next to a guy in a full KKK getup is some kind of "stupid shit done as a kid" (ignoring it's from a medschool yearbook). Holy shit, what DOES it take to say "maybe this guy shouldn't represent the electorate."? This is provided it IS him since the story has changed to "something something black face Michael Jackson." You know it's crazy, but maybe a normal, non-racist, fan of MJ would just put on the MJ Thriller costume or something and rest assured people will know who he's trying to be.

But I'm obviously the crazy guy here.

I've done/said some incredibly shitty things in my life, but you'd have to DIG to find anything on that level. And, in fact, you would never find anything because I'M NOT A TOTAL PIECE OF SHIT (and this is coming from a guy born and raised in Texas) nor am I dumb enough that (if I WERE a POS) you could find a photograph of the shitfuckery.

Also, what kind of shit school selects a photo like that for PUBLISHING in a yearbook? Probably the same kind of people who say "we're not racist! We just show up in ghost costumes and burn lower-case Ts on the properties of black people."

[madd0ct0r]

@thefenix

Allegedly two different photos, two different events, two different people.

Sounds like he has been caught up by either a dirt digger or a smear campaign.

[SCRawl]

@thefenix

Allegedly two different photos, two different events, two different people.

Sounds like he has been caught up by either a dirt digger or a smear campaign.

Both labels appear to be true: someone dug up dirt on the guy in order to smear him. I'm not sure why that matters, since the governor has admitted to the truth of it.

[madd0ct0r]

To me, a smear campaign is not a truthful one.
Semantics i know.

Has the governer admitted the first photo is him now? The thread made me think he said "this photo is not me. I know because i did something similar that year (and got scolded)r, so i did not do this"

[SCRawl]

Re: "smear", I don't know that a smear has to be false. Perhaps it can be interpreted that way, but to me a smear campaign is one that throws negative allegations about a person into the public domain. Those allegations could be true or false. I am open to being corrected on this.

Governor Northam initially confirmed that he was in the photograph, but has since reflected and said the following:

He said he had initially taken responsibility for the photo, which he described as "clearly racist and offensive".

But he said that on reflection with his family and friends he had concluded that he was neither of the people in the photo.

"It has taken time to make sure that it's not me but I'm convinced I'm not on that photo," he said.

He said that he had however blackened his face at a dance contest in San Antonio. "It is because my memory of that is so vivid that I do not believe I am in the photo in the yearbook," he said.

So he initially admitted to being one of the two people in the photo -- probably the guy in blackface, because he now argues that he conflated this occasion with another occasion during which he darkened his complexion, though he never specified -- but now he's sure that he isn't.

Maybe this is spin, I really don't know. Without additional provenance we might never know.

[Gandalf]

If you’ve reached the age of medical school with that level of maturity, one could be forgiven for being skeptical that you’ve ever really gotten past it.

Not just that, but I can't imagine that he didn't know that what he was doing was going to offend people in the eighties. He then submitted it to a yearbook.

He should step aside. It's hard to keep up the idea of Democrats being progressive when this sort of thing happens and people go "it was a long time ago" or some other excuse. It's like Franken again.

[The Romulan Republic]

To me, there is a pragmatic angle as well as a moral one here- as long as he's in office, he's going to be a black mark on the party and fuel for Whataboutism going into 2020. Could conceivably even endanger other races in Virginia (where turning out the black vote is absolutely essential for Democratic prospects).

The better idea is for the Dems to grow a spine and manufacture a united party identity that voters can hang their hat on.

Doing the one does not preclude doing the other.

They're not even progressive right now they're just "Not the GOP" and that doesn't get people to the polls. One guy the GOP can pick on wouldn't be an issue if the Dems controlled their own message and weren't just the "At least we don't throw children in cages" party or the "Hey, we're not Nazi's but we lacked the unified spine to stop any of the GOP's bullshit" party.

While its true that we don't have the same degree of lock-step unity that the Republicans do (and that's a very good thing), the Democrats are generally identified with a number of key policies, including public health care and protecting the social safety net, and support for minority rights (particularly, of late, gay rights) which provide a contrast to Republicans. They're more than just "not Republicans" (though when the Republicans are effectively the Fascist Party of America, that would be enough to ensure my vote).

And it absolutely would be an issue, because part of the identity of the Democrats is that we're the party of social progressivism and anti-racism. And because blackface is never a good look.

You don't win by pushing out anybody who has a slight skeleton in their past, you win by having a voice of your own.

This is not a "slight skeleton". And if we reflexively circle the wagons and just defend our own whenever a Democrat screws up, then we really will be no different than the Republicans.

[Lonestar]

Man the guys in here defending this are exactly what Trumpets on righttwitter talk about when "lol but the Dems don't care when their guy does it".

Also, it looks as if the LT. Gov may or may not have sexually assaulted someone in 2004. Someone is going all out to cripple the Dems in VA this year.

[Jub]

While its true that we don't have the same degree of lock-step unity that the Republicans do (and that's a very good thing), the Democrats are generally identified with a number of key policies, including public health care and protecting the social safety net, and support for minority rights (particularly, of late, gay rights) which provide a contrast to Republicans. They're more than just "not Republicans" (though when the Republicans are effectively the Fascist Party of America, that would be enough to ensure my vote).

You don't win the middle without owning your own image. You don't get bills passed and laws changed without party unity. When the Republicans win they do things. When the Democrats win they try to undo some of the harm from the GOP and rarely set enough of their own stuff up to force the GOP to even worry about doing the same when they take power. They don't feel like a party that gets shit done even when they do win so why would Joe fence sitter who think both sides just call each other Nazis and Commies vote for them?

And it absolutely would be an issue, because part of the identity of the Democrats is that we're the party of social progressivism and anti-racism. And because blackface is never a good look.

Blackface is never a good look, that's entirely true. That said when it's 35-year-old blackface and a picture that may not even contain the guy in question I'm less inclined to see him tossed out over it. Especially if his voting record is solid, which I admittedly don't know.

This is not a "slight skeleton". And if we reflexively circle the wagons and just defend our own whenever a Democrat screws up, then we really will be no different than the Republicans.

Did he sexually assault anybody? Not that we know of. Did he physically abuse anybody? Also no. Murder? Nope. He dressed up in poor taste once to do a lame Michael Jackson bit immediately regretted it and to the best of anybody's knowledge never did it again. It happened ~35 years ago too. That's not a major scandal and not worth a man's career.

[The Romulan Republic]

@thefenix

Allegedly two different photos, two different events, two different people.

Sounds like he has been caught up by either a dirt digger or a smear campaign.

Both labels appear to be true: someone dug up dirt on the guy in order to smear him. I'm not sure why that matters, since the governor has admitted to the truth of it.

Yeah, this.

This isn't a case like the Mueller (or probably the Avenatti) abuse allegations where it was an obvious Right-wing forgery. If that were the case I'd absolutely stand by him. He ADMITTED to being in black face, then followed it up with a bumbling, self-serving half-apology. Whether or not a given example of black face is true or not is kind of secondary at that point.

[The Romulan Republic]

Man the guys in here defending this are exactly what Trumpets on righttwitter talk about when "lol but the Dems don't care when their guy does it".

Indeed.

Also, it looks as if the LT. Gov may or may not have sexually assaulted someone in 2004. Someone is going all out to cripple the Dems in VA this year.

Source on the assault allegations? But if that's true, its going to make all those people saying "He should resign so the Lt. Gov. can take over" really cringe-worthy in hindsight.

Hell with it, though. Let's keep calling for resignations all the way down the ladder if we have to until we get someone decent.

But in any case, I wouldn't see it as "someone trying to cripple the Dems" in this case, so much as "Virginia Dems need to get their shit together and pick better candidates". Especially because I'm not at all confident of a semi-reliable path to victory in 2020 that doesn't involve winning Virginia (I am NOT putting all my hopes on Florida not to fuck up this time).

You don't win the middle without owning your own image. You don't get bills passed and laws changed without party unity. When the Republicans win they do things. When the Democrats win they try to undo some of the harm from the GOP and rarely set enough of their own stuff up to force the GOP to even worry about doing the same when they take power. They don't feel like a party that gets shit done even when they do win so why would Joe fence sitter who think both sides just call each other Nazis and Commies vote for them?

Please do not conflate working together on policy, or making compromises on policy, with excusing any individual wrongdoing because the offender is on "our team." If that's how you "win"... the frankly what is the point of winning? If you've sold out any pretense of integrity, what are you winning for? For the sake of winning? For being able to say "I'm on the winning team"? Its just hollow.

If the only way to win is lockstep tribalism and moral bankruptcy, then we might as well just throw in the towel and vote Trump 2020, because the outcome will effectively be the same.

In any case, even the "pragmatism" argument falls flat here, because there is no scenario where the Dems. lose the enthusiastic support of the black vote and win Virginia. And precious few plausible scenarios where they lose Virginia and win 2020.

Blackface is never a good look, that's entirely true. That said when it's 35-year-old blackface and a picture that may not even contain the guy in question I'm less inclined to see him tossed out over it. Especially if his voting record is solid, which I admittedly don't know.

HE ADMITTED TO DRESSING IN BLACKFACE.

Did he sexually assault anybody? Not that we know of. Did he physically abuse anybody? Also no. Murder? Nope. He dressed up in poor taste once to do a lame Michael Jackson bit immediately regretted it and to the best of anybody's knowledge never did it again. It happened ~35 years ago too. That's not a major scandal and not worth a man's career.

If he had made a more convincing and effective apology, and if the political situation where not what it is, I might agree. And even bending that much would make me a racist and apologist for racism in the eyes of many progressives and African Americans.

[Elheru Aran]

This isn't a case like the Mueller (or probably the Avenatti) abuse allegations where it was an obvious Right-wing forgery. If that were the case I'd absolutely stand by him. He ADMITTED to being in black face, then followed it up with a bumbling, self-serving half-apology. Whether or not a given example of black face is true or not is kind of secondary at that point.

Likewise. If you admit to doing something and then try to walk it back later... it doesn't much matter what it is, it's always going to look bad. Northam would have done better to have not said anything at first.

Nonetheless though, whether it's him or not, he looks really bad now and it's going to hurt him and Virginia Democrats too.

[Jub]

Please do not conflate working together on policy, or making compromises on policy, with excusing any individual wrongdoing because the offender is on "our team." If that's how you "win"... the frankly what is the point of winning? If you've sold out any pretense of integrity, what are you winning for? For the sake of winning? For being able to say "I'm on the winning team"? Its just hollow.

If the only way to win is lockstep tribalism and moral bankruptcy, then we might as well just throw in the towel and vote Trump 2020, because the outcome will effectively be the same.

I never said lockstep or excuse all wrongdoing. I'm saying control the message, find common ground, and protect one another when the wolves start to circle.

HE ADMITTED TO DRESSING IN BLACKFACE.

Once, three and a half decades ago, never again since. He dressed up as a popular artist that was black, made a poor choice, and likely wore all the egg you could ask for on his face at the time. He then proceeded to forget about it to the point of being surprised when it was brought up.

Even if he was a racist back then and didn't just make a single very poor choice, if he's learned from it and moved on isn't that a good thing?

If he had made a more convincing and effective apology, and if the political situation where not what it is, I might agree. And even bending that much would make me a racist and apologist for racism in the eyes of many progressives and African Americans.

Those groups have understandable reasons to be skeptical about a man who dressed in blackface and his apology was less than stellar. However, given the 'crime' and his record since I wouldn't say that he's a racist let alone that anybody supporting him staying in office is.

[Lonestar]

Source on the assault allegations? But if that's true, its going to make all those people saying "He should resign so the Lt. Gov. can take over" really cringe-worthy in hindsight.

Hell with it, though. Let's keep calling for resignations all the way down the ladder if we have to until we get someone decent.

But in any case, I wouldn't see it as "someone trying to cripple the Dems" in this case, so much as "Virginia Dems need to get their shit together and pick better candidates". Especially because I'm not at all confident of a semi-reliable path to victory in 2020 that doesn't involve winning Virginia (I am NOT putting all my hopes on Florida not to fuck up this time).

It could be as simple as the Pilot sending someone to Northam's medical school for a yearbook picture because of the abortion kerfluffle, and now everyone is smelling blood in the water(the SOLE VA Dem who immediately jumped to Northram's defense is the senator minority leader, so maybe he's going to be next).

Anyway, here's the WaPo story about it, albeit behind a soft payroll. They despute Fairfax's claim of significant red flags in the story.

[Oscar Wilde]

This feels like something out of a bad sitcom

Stupid edginess years ago shouldn't be able to ruin your political career now. Show me he's a racist now and I'll be inclined to agree that he probably shouldn't hold office.

This is ignoring that while wearing blackface for a Halloween costume might be racially insensitive, I'm willing to argue that in context its in the realm of shitposting, particularly when you consider that he's being pictured (maybe) next to a Klansman.