Virginia governor apologizes for racist photo

Virginia governor apologizes for racist photo

by Joseph Anthony
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Democratic candidate for governor Ralph Northam

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam apologized on Friday for a photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook showing him and another person in racist garb at a party, but said he would serve out his term even as pressure piled on from fellow Democrats for him to step down.


Northam indicated in a statement from his office he was one of the people shown in the photo, which depicted one person in blackface standing next to another in a Ku Klux Klan costume.

He did not identify which one was him and his spokeswoman did not respond to requests for further comment.

โ€œI am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,โ€ Northam said in his statement.

Northam, who took office a year ago, said in a video posted later on Twitter: โ€œI have spent the past year as your governor fighting for a Virginia that works better for all people. I am committed to continuing that fight through the remainder of my term and living up to the expectations you set for me when you elected me to serve.โ€


Among those calling for him to resign immediately were four recently announced Democratic candidates for president, Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Julian Castro.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who has said she is exploring a run for her partyโ€™s nomination for president in 2020, also commented on Twitter.

โ€œThese racist images are deeply disturbing. Hatred and discrimination have no place in our country and must not be tolerated, especially from our leaders โ€“ Republican or Democrat. Northam must resign,โ€ Warren said.

The Virginia-Pilot said on its website it obtained a copy of the photo from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library.

โ€œCOMPLETE BETRAYALโ€


The NAACP, a leading civil rights organization, called for Northam to resign. Virginiaโ€™s Legislative Black Caucus condemned Northam in a stinging statement but stopped short of saying he should step down.

โ€œWe are still processing what we have seen about the governor but unequivocally say that what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive,โ€ the caucus said. โ€œWe feel complete betrayal.โ€

Virginiaโ€™s two U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, criticized Northam but also didnโ€™t call for his resignation, saying that he should reflect on how to move forward.

Harris, a first-term senator who is the daughter of a black father from Jamaica and an Indian mother, said on Twitter: โ€œLeaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government.โ€


Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, said on TwitterNorthamโ€˜s โ€œbehavior was racist and unconscionable.โ€

Northam, a pediatric neurologist, graduated from Norfolk medical school in 1984 and did his undergraduate work at Virginia Military Institute.

A 59-year-old Army veteran, Northam was elected Virginia governor in 2017 after spending the previous decade in Virginiaโ€™s state legislature as a senator.

The origins of blackface date back to 19th century minstrel shows, when white actors covered themselves in black grease paint in a caricature of the singing and dancing of slaves.


An entry from Northamโ€˜s 1981 yearbook for the Virginia Military Institute added to the outcry over racist associations.

An archive page of the yearbook, seen on the nonprofit archive.org., shows Northamโ€˜s photo and biography on a page with the nickname โ€œCoonman.โ€ The word โ€œCoonโ€ has racist connotations.

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