Gov. Ralph Northam ‘deeply sorry’ after photo emerges from his 1984 yearbook...

[Belsnickel]

...showing blackface, KKK hood

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gov-northams-medical-school-yearbook-page-shows-men-in-blackface-kkk-robe/2019/02/01/517a43ee-265f-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?fbclid=IwAR1CzrOT6PStXUT32ofJh6kQSpzGxDoYEaieaN92bhWqoHyNv62gFaTT2as&utm_term=.8215f3d83b36

Quote:RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Friday acknowledged appearing in a “clearly racist and offensive” photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook that shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

“I 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,” he said. “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”

Northam did not say if he was the man dressed in blackface or Klan robes. The governor’s statement indicated that he had no immediate plans to resign, despite some calls for him to do so.

I'm among those calling for his resignation. More info at the link.

[SunsetBengal]

Ah, them old style Southern Democrats, don't y'all just love them?

Even though the climate of society was vastly different in 1984, how does a Medical Student allow himself to be portrayed in his Medical School Annual that way?? Heck, for that matter, how does the Medical School allow that, and yet maintain their integrity?

[*bfine32*]

He was a kid in a different time. What about forgiveness?

[Belsnickel]

(02-01-2019, 09:59 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Ah, them old style Southern Democrats, don't y'all just love them?

Even though the climate of society was vastly different in 1984, how does a Medical Student allow himself to be portrayed in his Medical School Annual that way?? Heck, for that matter, how does the Medical School allow that, and yet maintain their integrity?

That was my biggest issue. Not only did he choose to dress like that, but he chose that picture to represent himself in the yearbook!

(02-01-2019, 10:03 PM)bfine32 Wrote: He was a kid in a different time. What about forgiveness?

24-25 isn't a child.

[*bfine32*]

(02-01-2019, 10:07 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: 24-25 isn't a child.

When your my age it is.

This guy holds pretty much every political stance opposite of me; including banning Civil War statutes in public. But a photo surfaces of him being a kid, in which, I'm sure there was no malice intended (perhaps ignorance) and the PC warriors go overboard. 

No skin off my nose if he's forced to resign, but just stop it. 

[Au165]

Yea, there is a big difference between 18 and 24/25.

[SunsetBengal]

(02-01-2019, 10:12 PM)bfine32 Wrote: When your my age it is.

This guy holds pretty much every political stance opposite of me; including banning Civil War statutes in public. But a photo surfaces of him being a kid, in which, I'm sure there was no malice intended (perhaps ignorance) and the PC warriors go overboard. 

No skin off my nose if he's forced to resign, but just stop it. 

Well, let's see here..  He's got one photo of himself in a straw hat, looking like a plantation owner's son, another showing him lounging next to his Corvette, and then the blackface/klan photo.  And, this is a man who has already graduated from VMI, and is in Medical School.  How much of a kid are you still, by the time you're in Medical School??

Nothing about any of those photos jumps out at me and says, "There's a great young Scientist, about to embark upon a medical career.".  If anything, he was simply flaunting how much better he is, than the rest of us.  The kind of "privileged kid" that could get away with untold deeds that the rest of us would get held to the fire for.

[*bfine32*]

(02-01-2019, 10:51 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Well, let's see here..  He's got one photo of himself in a straw hat, looking like a plantation owner's son, another showing him lounging next to his Corvette, and then the blackface/klan photo.  And, this is a man who has already graduated from VMI, and is in Medical School.  How much of a kid are you still, by the time you're in Medical School??

Nothing about any of those photos jumps out at me and says, "There's a great young Scientist, about to embark upon a medical career.".  If anything, he was simply flaunting how much better he is, than the rest of us.  The kind of "privileged kid" that could get away with untold deeds that the rest of us would get held to the fire for.

As I said it was 40 years ago and he's had a lifetime of service since then.

It we choose to sow we better be prepared to reap. For me, what he's done the last few decades speaks more than a yearbook photo and nothing in his nearly last 1/2 century point to his being a racist.  

[Belsnickel]

(02-01-2019, 10:51 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Well, let's see here..  He's got one photo of himself in a straw hat, looking like a plantation owner's son, another showing him lounging next to his Corvette, and then the blackface/klan photo.  And, this is a man who has already graduated from VMI, and is in Medical School.  How much of a kid are you still, by the time you're in Medical School??

Nothing about any of those photos jumps out at me and says, "There's a great young Scientist, about to embark upon a medical career.".  If anything, he was simply flaunting how much better he is, than the rest of us.  The kind of "privileged kid" that could get away with untold deeds that the rest of us would get held to the fire for.

Apparently, his VMI yearbook lists one of his nicknames as "Coonman." All I'm going to say is how the hell was this missed in his 2007 campaign for the General Assembly, his 2013 campaign for LG, and his 2017 race for governor?

[SunsetBengal]

(02-01-2019, 11:11 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Apparently, his VMI yearbook lists one of his nicknames as "Coonman." All I'm going to say is how the hell was this missed in his 2007 campaign for the General Assembly, his 2013 campaign for LG, and his 2017 race for governor?

That is definitely a mystery.  One could speculate that it might have been the prevailing attitude throughout the institution, at that time.  Perhaps those yearbooks were closely held, until one fell into the hands of someone willing to expose?

[Dill]

(02-01-2019, 11:11 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Apparently, his VMI yearbook lists one of his nicknames as "Coonman." All I'm going to say is how the hell was this missed in his 2007 campaign for the General Assembly, his 2013 campaign for LG, and his 2017 race for governor?

I was leaning towards Bfine's direction there--if the guy has been good, and a good (anti-racist) Democrat for 40 years, I'm not going after the guy.

But "Coonman."  That is something else. It suggests an embrace of racist culture, embedment in a social network of racist friends, apparently throughout formative years.  24 is not a kid any more. Wondering if people regularly used that name for him or someone just tagged it on for the yearbook.

[Beaker]

Statute of limitations. I don't care what he did 40 years ago as a college student. How dos he act now? That's what matters. Does he have racist leanings now? If so, he should resign. If he hasn't done or said anything racist since, then he should be left alone....he shouldn't even apologize. We all do stupid stuff, but if we live our adult lives better after learning from the mistakes of our early years, then I have no problem not prosecuting him for this past transgression.

[BmorePat87]

We've had reformed KKK members go on to be huge supporters of civil rights for decades... but it's 2019 now and times are different.

He needs to step down and let Justin Fairfax step up. Virginia needs to move past this. If this had been revealed a decade ago, he would have had time to make amends for it people would be able to look past it. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and many voters have to feel like they would have gone in a different direction in the primary if they knew this.

[Belsnickel]

After his shit show of a presser on Saturday, it's even more clear he needs to resign. He had an opportunity to really turn this around, but he has done nothing but make it worse. He lacks any political capital going forward, which means he will be ineffective as governor.

[GMDino]

(02-04-2019, 09:52 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: We've had reformed KKK members go on to be huge supporters of civil rights for decades... but it's 2019 now and times are different.

He needs to step down and let Justin Fairfax step up. Virginia needs to move past this. If this had been revealed a decade ago, he would have had time to make amends for it people would be able to look past it. Unfortunately, it wasn't, and many voters have to feel like they would have gone in a different direction in the primary if they knew this.

I had a great night talking about life and politics over the weekend with a good friend.

He is conservative.  He wasn't trying to defend the gov, but didn't know why it was "so bad".  And I tried to explain that I feel at some point a real discussion needs to be had, but that black face hasn't been acceptable for 70+ years.  He used an example of someone who dressed up like Diana Ross for Halloween and caught flack for it.  To me that is different.  That is an homage not trying to be "funny".  Black face invokes stereotyping for laughs.  That is why it was wrong in this case.

He should step down.  No matter what he has done as an elected official.

This is just more obvious than what King in Iowa says and does and McConnell allows to go on so he can get those white votes.  

He isn't the only one...he's just one that made it obvious.

And, last thought, he knows if that's him or not.  His excuse is so lame I'm surprised it didn't come from a Trump administration spokesperson.

[Belsnickel]

(02-04-2019, 10:01 AM)GMDino Wrote: I had a great night talking about life and politics over the weekend with a good friend.

He is conservative.  He wasn't trying to defend the gov, but didn't know why it was "so bad".  And I tried to explain that I feel at some point a real discussion needs to be had, but that black face hasn't been acceptable for 70+ years.  He used an example of someone who dressed up like Diana Ross for Halloween and caught flack for it.  To me that is different.  That is an homage not trying to be "funny".  Black face invokes stereotyping for laughs.  That is why it was wrong in this case.

He should step down.  No matter what he has done as an elected official.

This is just more obvious than what King in Iowa says and does and McConnell allows to go on so he can get those white votes.  

He isn't the only one...he's just one that made it obvious.

And, last thought, he knows if that's him or not.  His excuse is so lame I'm surprised it didn't come from a Trump administration spokesperson.

One of the things that puts some of this into context is that 2019 is the 400th anniversary year of the first slaves brought to Jamestown. So here in the Commonwealth, we are actually holding events around the state to commemorate this and many organizations are working to use this as a launching pad for dialogue. Unfortunately, blackface has just moved more underground since the 1970s in Virginia.

I met with other folks from our local Democratic committee on Saturday to discuss what to do. Elected officials and other Democratic organizations were making calls for his resignation, but we wanted to discuss it before we put anything out. It was a meeting of the executive committee and any Dem elected officials. I was there for some reason, I get pulled into these things more than I'd like even though I hold no leadership role. Ultimately, we decided not to outright call for his resignation in our statement because that was a strong thing to say without all of the members present to have input on. But we did want to focus on this being representative of Virginia's past and present with regards to racism and that we need to work to move beyond it. We called for a truth and reconciliation commission type of action for Virginia. We can't ever move beyond this sort of thing if we aren't honest about it.

[BmorePat87]

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(02-04-2019, 10:10 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote:

Not if they hit women though. 

On topic, I do have to wonder how long ago a stupid decision has to have been made for it to no longer have the ability to destroy your life?  Not commenting on this specific example, but seriously.  Joe Reed gets a pass for making blatantly homophobic comments around ten years ago.  Understood that she's not an elected official but the concept is the same.

[GMDino]

(02-04-2019, 12:32 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Not if they hit women though. 

On topic, I do have to wonder how long ago a stupid decision has to have been made for it to no longer have the ability to destroy your life?  Not commenting on this specific example, but seriously.  Joe Reed gets a pass for making blatantly homophobic comments around ten years ago.  Understood that she's not an elected official but the concept is the same.

And believe it or not I agree with you.  It's just a hard thing to gauge because of changing times.  

People still look at "The Jazz Singer" as a good film, but debate the use of black face.  Whereas blackface gets criticized elsewhere.

I'm sure the vast majority of us said or did something that NOW is considered horrible.  

The only answer I can think of is that the time and forgiveness are fluid.  So many factors like publicity, which group is offended, what the current climate is, etc.  Lots of variables that sometimes are not fair to the accused.

[fredtoast]

(02-04-2019, 12:32 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: On topic, I do have to wonder how long ago a stupid decision has to have been made for it to no longer have the ability to destroy your life?  

You have to look at how a person is living his life now to judge him.

Seems the same people who argue that a felon should get his voting rights back after spending several years in prison don't think a guy can have an elected position 40 years after adopting a racist symbol.  There are not any even any allegations that he was actually a member of the Klan or was a white supremist activist or took part in any demonstrations.  It just looks like he went to a very stupid party.

If a 24 year old was to wear a white power t shirt today would you say he could never hold an elected office for the rest of their life?