Blackface Photo From College Returns To Haunt Virginia Governor
Reprinted with permission from AlterNet.
Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) is facing uproar over a racist image that appeared in his medical school yearbook, depicting a man in blackface and a man in a KKK robe:
The photo is from 1984. You would have thought the 1950s.
Ralph Northam yearbook page shows men in blackface and KKK robe https://t.co/oGoEy0NR76
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 1, 2019
The image was first circulated by the conservative website Big League Politics, but was confirmed by the archives of Eastern Virginia Medical School. It is unclear whether Northam is one of the two figures, but the image’s inclusion on his page, is grotesque and has sparked calls for his resignation.
And it’s a medical school yearbook when he was in his mid-20s, so the “I was an idiot teenager” defence is not available. https://t.co/tiLmG4bwlB
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 1, 2019
If Northam resigns, Lt. Gov Justin Fairfax would take his place, and become the second-ever African-American to serve as governor of Virginia.
