Virginia governor apologizes for racist imagery in med school yearbook

spaminator

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Virginia governor apologizes for racist imagery in med school yearbook
Associated Press
Published:
February 1, 2019
Updated:
February 1, 2019 11:59 PM EST
In this Jan. 14, 2019, file photo, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks to a crowd during a Women's Rights rally at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam apologized on Friday for a racist photo in which he appeared more than 30 years ago, but said he did not intend to heed calls to resign from both Republicans and prominent fellow Democrats, including several presidential hopefuls.
The yearbook images were first published Friday by the conservative news outlet Big League Politics. The Virginian-Pilot later obtained a copy from Eastern Virginia Medical School, which Northam attended. The photo shows two people looking at the camera — one in blackface wearing a hat, bow tie and plaid pants; the other in a full Ku Klux Klan robe.
An Associated Press reporter saw the yearbook page and confirmed its authenticity at the medical school.
In his first apology, issued in a written statement Friday night, Northam called the costume he wore “clearly racist and offensive,” but he didn’t say which one he had worn.
He later issued a video statement saying he was “deeply sorry” but still committed to serving the “remainder of my term.”
“I accept responsibility for my past actions and I am ready to do the hard work of regaining your trust,” Northam said.
This image shows Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s page in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. (Eastern Virginia Medical School via AP)
Northam’s political viability hinges on whether he can maintain support among the state’s black pastors, officials and state lawmakers, many of whom have long personal relationships with the governor since he first ran for state Senate in 2007.
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement late Friday saying “we feel complete betrayal” and are “still processing” the pictures.
“What has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible and offensive,” the statement said.
Others said there was no question he should step down. Among them: Democratic presidential hopefuls Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren; newly elected Democratic U.S. Reps. Elaine Luria and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia; the NAACP and Planned Parenthood.
State Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, a close ally of Northam and longtime African-American lawmaker, described a hastily called conference call with black leaders around the state as “intense,” her voice breaking, but did not elaborate.
Northam spent years actively courting the black community in the lead up to his 2017 gubernatorial run, building relationships that helped him win both the primary and the general election. He’s a member of a predominantly black church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where he grew up.
“It’s a matter of relationships and trust. That’s not something that you build overnight,” Northam told the AP during a 2017 campaign stop while describing his relationship with the black community.
Northam, a folksy pediatric neurologist who is personal friends with many GOP lawmakers, has recently come under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions.
Last week, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim.

http://torontosun.com/news/world/vi...zes-for-racist-imagery-in-med-school-yearbook
 

spaminator

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Virginia Gov. Northam 'convinced' that wasn’t him in racist yearbook photo
Associated Press
Published:
February 2, 2019
Updated:
February 2, 2019 11:14 PM EST
RICHMOND, Va. — Resisting widespread calls for his resignation, Virginia’s embattled governor on Saturday vowed to remain in office after disavowing a blatantly racist photograph that appeared under his name in his 1984 medical school yearbook.
In a tumultuous 24 hours, Gov. Ralph Northam posted a video on Twitter on Friday apologizing for the photograph that featured what appeared to be a man in blackface and a second person cloaked in Klu Klux Klan garb. He said that he could not “undo the harm my behaviour caused then and today.”
But by Saturday, he said he was not in the photo and had apologized a day earlier for “content” that was on his profile page in the yearbook. The governor said he had not seen the photo before Friday, since he had not purchased the commemorative book or been involved in its preparation more than three decades ago.
“It has taken time for me to make sure that it’s not me, but I am convinced, I am convinced that I am not in that picture,” he told reporters gathered at the Executive Mansion in Richmond, calling the shot offensive and horrific.
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While talking with reporters, Northam disclosed that he once had used shoe polish to darken his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume he fashioned for a 1984 dance contest in Texas when he was in the U.S. Army. Northam said he regrets that he didn’t understand “the harmful legacy of an action like that.”
His refusal to step down could signal a potentially long and bruising fight between Northam and his former supporters.
Shortly after he spoke, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez issued a statement calling on the governor to step aside. Since Friday, groups calling for his resignation included the Virginia Democratic Party and the state House Democratic Caucus. Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and top Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly also urged him to resign, as have many declared and potential Democratic presidential candidates.
“His past and recent actions have led to pain and a loss of trust with Virginians. He is no longer the best person to lead our state,” the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement.
Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Governors office at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Steve Helber / AP
If Northam does resign, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become the second African-American governor in the state’s history.
In a statement, Fairfax said the state needs leaders who can unite people, but he stopped short of calling for Northam’s departure. Referring to Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said he “cannot condone actions from his past” that at least “suggest a comfort with Virginia’s darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping and intimidation.”
Northam conceded Saturday that people might have difficulty believing his shifting statements.
Northam was pushed repeatedly by reporters to explain why he issued an apology Friday if he wasn’t in the photograph.
“My first intention … was to reach out and apologize,” he said, adding that he recognized that people would be offended by the photo. But after studying the picture and consulting with classmates, “I am convinced that is not my picture.”
This image shows Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s page in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. Eastern Virginia Medical School via AP
Walt Broadnax, one of two black students who graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School with Northam, said by phone Saturday he also didn’t buy the class’s 1984 yearbook or see it until decades after it was published.
Broadnax defended his former classmate and said he’s not a racist, adding that the school would not have tolerated someone going to a party in blackface.
It remained unclear whether Northam’s remarks would calm the torrent of criticism that threatens to undermine his administration.
The yearbook images were first published Friday afternoon by the conservative news outlet Big League Politics. An Associated Press reporter later saw the yearbook page and confirmed its authenticity at the medical school.
In an initial apology about the photograph on Friday, Northam called the costume he wore “clearly racist and offensive,” but he didn’t say which one he had worn.
He later issued a video statement saying he was “deeply sorry” but still committed to serving the “remainder of my term.”
Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Steve Helber / AP
“I accept responsibility for my past actions and I am ready to do the hard work of regaining your trust,” said Northam, whose term is set to end in 2022.
The scars from centuries of racial oppression are still raw in a state that was once home to the capital of the Confederacy.
Virginians continue to struggle with the state’s legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and Massive Resistance, the anti-school segregation push. Heated debates about the Confederate statues are ongoing after a deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. A state holiday honouring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson is a perennial source of discontent.
Northam spent years actively courting the black community in the lead-up to his 2017 gubernatorial run, building relationships that helped him win both the primary and the general election. He’s a member of a predominantly black church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where he grew up.
“It’s a matter of relationships and trust. That’s not something that you build overnight,” Northam told the AP during a 2017 campaign stop while describing his relationship with the black community.
Northam, a folksy pediatric neurologist who is personal friends with many GOP lawmakers, has recently come under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions.
Last week, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim.

http://torontosun.com/news/world/vi...lan-yearbook-photo-he-apologized-for-democrat
 

Danbones

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 23, 2015
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Well, if he switches party to Republican, he'll be fine.
This two bit racist, just like you are, is a SLAVE PARTY DEMOCRAT, and he is NOT going to resign.
:)
that sucks doood.

He apologized, but now he claims it wasn't him, so CERTAINLY he is a liar.
( he'll be fine if he is a lawyer.)

After what you slave partyers have put people like Kavanaugh, and Rosanne Barr through, You KKK wieners are just too much.

...and that's not even talking about the newest fakenews event, the fake attack on Jussie Smollet. (After multiple changes to his story, NO collaborating security camera footage, now he won't give up his phone so police can check to see if he is telling the truth...because AS is the S.O.P. with you slavers, he isn't)



Do you cross over and do (trade in, LOL ) used camels too?
;)
 
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spaminator

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Northam blackface scandal spotlights deeply embedded racism in U.S.
Associated Press
Published:
February 3, 2019
Updated:
February 3, 2019 8:19 PM EST
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, left, accompanied by his wife, Pam, speaks during a news conference in the Governor's Mansion in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Ralph Northam clung to office Sunday amid nearly unanimous calls from his own party to resign over a racist photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook, going silent after a bizarre 24 hours in which he first admitted he was in the picture, then denied it.
The Democrat’s stunning about-face — at a weekend news conference where he also acknowledged putting on blackface for a dance contest decades ago and appeared to briefly entertain the notion of doing the Michael Jackson moonwalk for reporters — only seemed to make things worse.
The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus declared that Northam “still does not understand the seriousness of his actions.” The photo shows someone in blackface and another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe.
“I think he’s been completely dishonest and disingenuous,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-California, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ”He knew this picture was there, and he could’ve come clean and talked to African-Americans that he’s close to decades ago.“
Northam worshipped at his home church, the predominantly black First Baptist in Capeville, but otherwise kept out of sight on Sunday as calls intensified for him to step down.
This image shows Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s page in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. The page shows a picture, at right, of a person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood next to different pictures of the governor. Eastern Virginia Medical School via AP
Even if Northam doesn’t resign, the scandal threatens to cripple his ability to govern. He has lost the support of virtually all of the state’s Democratic establishment. Top Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly also urged Northam to step down, as did many declared and potential Democratic presidential candidates.
Virginia governors can be removed for “malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanour” under the state constitution, but top Democrats said they don’t believe it will come to that.
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe predicted that Northam — who served as McAuliffe’s lieutenant governor — will eventually leave office.
“Ralph will do the right thing for the Commonwealth of Virginia,” McAuliffe said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Northam apologized on Friday for appearing in the photograph on his yearbook page. He did not say which costume he was wearing, but said he was “deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo.” On Saturday, though, the governor reversed course and said the picture “is definitely not me.”
While talking with reporters, Northam admitted he once used shoe polish to put on blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a 1984 dance contest in Texas, when he was in the Army. Northam said he regrets that he didn’t understand “the harmful legacy of an action like that.”
Asked by a reporter if he could still do Jackson’s famous moonwalk, Northam looked at the floor as if thinking about demonstrating it. His wife put a stop to it, telling him, “Inappropriate circumstances.”
His shifting explanations did little or nothing to sway prominent Democrats who had swiftly disowned him.
Both of Virginia’s U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, joined the dean of Virginia’s congressional delegation, Rep. Bobby Scott, in saying they no longer believe Northam can serve effectively. James Ryan, president of the University of Virginia, said in a statement that it would be “exceedingly difficult” for Northam to continue serving.
If Northam does resign, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become the second African-American governor in the state’s history. He stopped short of calling for Northam’s departure but said he “cannot condone actions” from Northam’s past that “suggest a comfort with Virginia’s darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping and intimidation.”
McAuliffe faulted Northam’s handling of the furor.
“If it wasn’t him in the photo, he should’ve said that on Friday,” McAuliffe said. “Instinctively, you know if you put black paint on your face. You know if you put a hood on. And so if it isn’t you, you come out immediately and say, ’This is not me.”’
Ultimately, McAuliffe said, “It doesn’t matter whether he was in the photo or not in the photo at this point. We have to close that chapter. We have to move Virginia forward.”
One of the few voices backing Northam on Sunday was former Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat who served in Congress from 1991 to 2015.
Moran told ABC’s “This Week” that Northam’s record — including his support of Medicaid expansion and of public schools in minority neighbourhoods — shows that the embattled governor is a friend of African-Americans and that he should ride out the storm.
“I think it is a rush to judgment before we know all of the facts and before we’ve considered all of the consequences,” said Moran, who is white. “I don’t think these public shamings really get us all that much.”
Northam, a pediatric neurologist who came to politics late in life, spent years courting the black community in the run-up to his 2017 race for governor.
He recently came under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions.
Late last month, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim.

http://torontosun.com/news/world/northam-blackface-scandal-spotlights-deeply-embedded-racism-in-u-s
 

spaminator

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Virginia governor Ralph Northam weighs his future days after racist photo surfaces
Associated Press
Published:
February 4, 2019
Updated:
February 4, 2019 8:52 PM EST
Demonstrators hold signs and chant outside the Governors Mansion at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019.Steve Helber / AP Photo
RICHMOND, Va. — A political death watch took shape at Virginia’s Capitol as Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether to resign amid a furor over a racist photo in his 1984 yearbook.
Practically all of the state’s Democratic establishment — and Republican leaders, too — turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced late last week of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The photo was on Northam’s medical school yearbook page.
The sense of crisis deepened Monday as the politician next in line to be governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, denied an uncorroborated allegation of sexual misconduct first reported by a conservative website. Fairfax told reporters that the 2004 encounter with a woman was consensual, and he called the accusation a political “smear.”
Protest chants, meanwhile, echoed around Capitol Square. Lobbyists complained they were unable to get legislators to focus on bills. Security guards joked about who was going to be the next governor. Cafeteria workers and members of the cleaning staff shook their heads in wonder. And banks of news cameras were set up outside the governor’s Executive Mansion.
Northam stayed out of sight as he met with his Cabinet and senior staff to hear their assessment of whether it was feasible for him to stay in office, according to a top administration official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The meetings included frank conversations about the difficulties of governing under such circumstances, the person said.
Calls from lawmakers for Northam’s resignation seemed to ease Monday. State Del. Lamont Bagby, head of the Legislative Black Caucus, said there was little left to say: “I’m going to let him breathe a little bit, give him space to make the right decision.”
The waiting game played out on what was already one of the legislature’s busiest days of the session, with the House and Senate each seeking to complete legislation to send to the other chamber.
Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said he told Northam that the state cannot afford a prolonged period of uncertainty over his future. Northam’s office is in the middle of negotiations with GOP lawmakers over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. The Republicans control both houses of the legislature.
“One way or the other, it needs to be resolved,” Layne said.
The furor over the photo erupted on Friday, when Northam first admitted he was in the picture without saying which costume he was wearing, and apologized. But a day later, he denied he was in the photo, while also acknowledging he once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest in Texas decades ago.
The scandal threatens to cripple Northam’s ability to govern. In a sign Monday of the challenges he could face, Katherine Rowe, president of the College of William & Mary, cancelled an appearance by Northam at an event this Friday because his presence would “fundamentally disrupt the sense of campus unity we aspire to.”
Northam, a pediatric neurologist who graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School and came to politics late in life, is one year into his four-year term. If he resigns, Fairfax will become the second African-American governor in Virginia history.
The state’s Republican House speaker said lawmakers are hesitant to seek Northam’s impeachment and are hoping he steps down instead.
“Obviously on impeachment, that’s a very high standard,” Speaker Kirk Cox said. “And so I think that’s why I think we have called for the resignation. We hope that’s what the governor does. I think that would obviously be less pain for everyone.”
Referring to the allegation against him, Fairfax said he was not surprised it came at a critical time: “It’s at that point that they come out with the attacks and the smears. It is unfortunate. It really is, but it’s sadly a part of our politics now.”
The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The Washington Post said Monday that it was approached by the woman in 2017 and carefully investigated but never published a story for lack of any independent evidence. The Post said the woman had not told anyone about it, the account could not be corroborated, Fairfax denied it, and the Post was unable to find other similar allegations against him among people who knew him in college, law school or in politics.
The woman did not immediately respond Monday to a voicemail, text message or email from an AP reporter.
The allegations were first reported by Big League Politics, the news outlet that first published the yearbook image.
Last week, Northam came under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions.
Late last month, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after photos surfaced of him in blackface as a Hurricane Katrina victim at a 2005 Halloween party.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/vi...s-his-future-days-after-racist-photo-surfaces
 

Hoid

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That fact that this picture ended up in a yearbook pretty much indicates that this was seen as a normal thing at this time and place.
 

Tecumsehsbones

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That fact that this picture ended up in a yearbook pretty much indicates that this was seen as a normal thing at this time and place.
Virginia in '84? You bet.

Doesn't change the fact that Northam's public statements amount to "I apologize for the picture that's not me while admitting to wearing blackface years after I have declared that I was "woke," but I was to young and irresponsible for the doctor I was about to become."
 

Hoid

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Not just Virginia but Med schools in general always had a reputation for putting on culturally insensitive grad shows.
 

EagleSmack

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It is quite normal for a Democrat and Liberal to wear a KKK outfit. It always has been, then and now.
 

coldstream

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Frankly I think this is all part of the 'gotcha' culture that pervades modern media and politics.

I'd hate to think every case of bad judgement and stupidity I made in my twenties would be exposed and deemed to be the only and final measure of my character 30 years later. Without any recourse to my record, opinions and actions in the interim. It's really nonsense.

My problem with Gov. Northam does not come from some ill considered college prank. It comes from his statements surrounding a new Virginia abortion law, which calls for murdering post-partum infants who have survived an abortion. He went of radio to propose that they should be kept alive until the mother and doctors decide whether to kill the baby or not. What that means is Northam in morally insane, and unfit for executive office.
 
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EagleSmack

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My problem with Gov. Northam does not come from some ill considered college prank. It comes from his statements surrounding a new Virginia abortion law, which calls for murdering post-partum infants who have survived an abortion. He went of radio to propose that they should be kept alive until the mother and doctors decide whether to kill the baby or not. What that means is Northam in morally insane, and unfit for executive office.


It is a little more sinister than "surviving" an abortion. His words go far beyond what you described. Not my words... his words.


Pro Choice... alright... but after a baby being born, keep it comfortable, then the mother have a discussion with the Doctor on what the next steps should be if it is not wanted.
 

Danbones

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Virginia attorney general admits to wearing blackface
by Lynde Langdon
Posted 2/06/19, 01:40 pm
The political crisis in Virginia worsened Wednesday when state Attorney General Mark Herring admitted he once wore blackface to a party in college. Herring is second in line for the governorship behind Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was recently accused of sexual assault, and embattled Gov. Ralph Northam. All three are Democrats.


How the frick do I post an implosion meme?
:)

ah...here we go!




PS I was born at 7 months, I find the idea of late term abortions abhorrent to say the least.


(...and yes Hoid, I AM Mooning you!)
 
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Walter

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It is a little more sinister than "surviving" an abortion. His words go far beyond what you described. Not my words... his words.
Pro Choice... alright... but after a baby being born, keep it comfortable, then the mother have a discussion with the Doctor on what the next steps should be if it is not wanted.
It’s called murder.