Virginia governor denies being in racist yearbook photo

[rooster59]

Virginia governor denies being in racist yearbook photo

By Jason Lange and Idrees Ali

 

FILE PHOTO: Democratic candidate for governor Ralph Northam speaks after his election night victory at the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, November 7, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on Saturday resisted mounting pressure from his Democratic party that he resign, denying that he appeared in a racist yearbook photo while admitting he once wore blackface in a dance contest.

 

Northam, who took office a year ago, said he would stay in his job. "As long as I feel that I can lead, I will continue to do that," he said.

 

Northam had apologized on Friday, saying he was one of the people shown in the photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook, which depicted one person in blackface standing next to another in a Ku Klux Klan costume.

 

But on Saturday he said he looked at the photo more carefully and is sure it was not him. In a news conference alongside his wife, Northam said he had made other mistakes, including dressing up in blackface to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest around the same time.

 

"I actually won the contest because I had learned to do the moonwalk," Northam said, referring to a dance move made famous in part by famed American singer Michael Jackson.

 

Northam apologized for his past actions and vowed to work to earn forgiveness.

 

"I am simply asking for the opportunity to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person I was is not the man I am today," Northam said.

 

Northam's press conference appears unlikely to quell the growing pressure from within his party for him to resign.

 

Even as Northam was speaking, Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said it was time for him to step aside.

 

"Virginians and people across the country deserve better from their leaders, and it is clear that Ralph Northam has lost their trust and his ability to govern," Perez said in a statement.

 

Democratic U.S. Representatives Gerry Connolly and Don Beyer of Virginia said in a joint statement that they had not heard anything that changed their view that Northam should resign.

 

Earlier in the day, others also called on him to step down.

 

"Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately," former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat weighing a 2020 presidential run, said on Twitter.

 

Protesters gathered in front the his office in Richmond, Virginia, waving signs demanding he step down.

 

The head of Northam's party in the state also called on him to quit.

 

Other prominent Democrats - including 2020 presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Julian Castro - have been calling on Northam to resign since Friday.

 

Northam, a 59-year-old pediatric neurologist and Army veteran, graduated from Norfolk medical school in 1984.

 

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

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-03

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

He knows he’s in that photo.

 

He needs to resign.

[beechguy]

Even if the guy is a Democrat, I say leave the guy alone. It's the same type of stuff they tried to dredge up during the Kavanaugh hearing.

[riclag]

7 minutes ago, beechguy said:

Even if the guy is a Democrat, I say leave the guy alone. It's the same type of stuff they tried to dredge up during the Kavanaugh hearing.

In high school, Northam was voted "Most Likely to Succeed"^[10] and graduated as salutatorian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Northam

[Chomper Higgot]

29 minutes ago, riclag said:

In high school, Northam was voted "Most Likely to Succeed"^[10] and graduated as salutatorian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Northam

Nothing to do with his high school days.

 

This was medical school - 25 years old.

 

The problem is not simply the racism behind the images, it’s now (by his choice) also his lies and denials.

 

He’ll be gone by the end of the week.

[Boon Mee]

One of his nicknames when attending VMI (Virginia Military Institute) was "Coonman" 

it seems he liked putting on Blackface and winning dance contests imitating Michael Jackson's 'Moon Walk' 

At any rate, this guy is obviously not being truthful regaging his memory of the events that need to get him out of office 

[Blackheart1916]

Nothing wrong with being a racist. 

[Pilotman]

42 minutes ago, riclag said:

In high school, Northam was voted "Most Likely to Succeed"^[10] and graduated as salutatorian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Northam

and?

[DoctorG]

Is this the same guy that was promoting infanticide? 

[Pilotman]

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Nothing to do with his high school days.

 

This was medical school - 25 years old.

 

The problem is not simply the racism behind the images, it’s now (by his choice) also his lies and denials.

 

He’ll be gone by the end of the week.

agreed, but he just sounds to me ( a Brit) like a run of the mill politician the World over; arrogant, self serving, opinionated, hypocritical scum bag.  

[tifino]

pretty embarrassing... ends up red faced!

[Boon Mee]

20 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Is this the same guy that was promoting infanticide? 

That's him. 

Charming fella, eh? 

[neeray]

36 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

At any rate, this guy is obviously not being truthful regaging his memory of the events that need to get him out of office 

It is a rare day when I can agree with Boon Mee, but the day has come.

Here's where I agree "obviously not being truthful regaging his memory of the events ... to get him out of office".

Yes sir, I certainly agree. This should apply to ALL politicians, right up to the leader.

[attrayant]

All he has to do is switch party affiliation and he'll be a shoe-in as the next supreme court nominee.

[jingjai9]

I have not heard anyone mention the school who published the yearbook. Don't they have an editorial policy? Have they no responsibility? Just another story to keep the 24/7 newscycle rolling along - stay tuned for a new villian tomorrow. 

 

Has anyone checked his history since he left medical school? What has he done to fight racism or endorse it or go along with it? 

 

I don't know this man. I don't care what party he is a member of now and his position on abortion is irrelevant. The more attention paid to something like this that happened many years ago, the more it takes people's eyes off what is really going on in Yemen and other troubled places. If the governor resigns because of this. What is next??

[Ulic]

A man of his times, dressing in blackface was not considered racist back in the day. Halloween Pocahontas costumes, blackface, Steve Martin dressing as King Tut, the list is endless. Times change and people find offense everywhere. Cultural appropriation complaints abound. This was all decades ago. Move along, nothing to see or complain about as far as I am concerned.

[cryo]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

agreed, but he just sounds to me ( a Brit) like a run of the mill politician the World over; arrogant, self serving, opinionated, hypocritical scum bag.  

You've forgotten parasite ????

[White Christmas13]

3 hours ago, neeray said:

It is a rare day when I can agree with Boon Mee, but the day has come.

Here's where I agree "obviously not being truthful regaging his memory of the events ... to get him out of office".

Yes sir, I certainly agree. This should apply to ALL politicians, right up to the leader.

And the leader is?

[HLover]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

from his 1984 medical school yearbook, which depicted one person in blackface standing next to another in a Ku Klux Klan costume.

Let's start with any current faculty that would publish such a retarded photo and work our way up to this 'leader' if he was involved.

So, these are the people running/representating that country?  It's all starting to make sense.

[Kelsall]

1 hour ago, jingjai9 said:

I have not heard anyone mention the school who published the yearbook. Don't they have an editorial policy? Have they no responsibility? Just another story to keep the 24/7 newscycle rolling along - stay tuned for a new villian tomorrow. 

 

Has anyone checked his history since he left medical school? What has he done to fight racism or endorse it or go along with it? 

 

I don't know this man. I don't care what party he is a member of now and his position on abortion is irrelevant. The more attention paid to something like this that happened many years ago, the more it takes people's eyes off what is really going on in Yemen and other troubled places. If the governor resigns because of this. What is next??

The school is mentioned in this thread and is all over the news.  Why don't you check his history?  Hint:  He is in favor of infanticide.

[Kelsall]

41 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

The school is mentioned in this thread and is all over the news.  Why don't you check his history?  Hint:  He is in favor of infanticide.

OK, the school where he dresses either as Klansman or in blackface is NOT mentioned in this thread.  The school where he received the nickname "Coonman" is.  The big issue is, or should be, his support of infanticide. 

[Chomper Higgot]

42 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

OK, the school where he dresses either as Klansman or in blackface is NOT mentioned in this thread.  The school where he received the nickname "Coonman" is.  The big issue is, or should be, his support of infanticide. 

Northam has not, outside of the minds of religious zealots, supported infanticide.

[Becker]

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

OK, the school where he dresses either as Klansman or in blackface is NOT mentioned in this thread.  The school where he received the nickname "Coonman" is.  The big issue is, or should be, his support of infanticide. 

Well, what the issue should be according to you is of no relevance whatsoever. Understand?

[baansgr]

Let me get this....the guy was in fancy dress as a minstrel.= in 1984....and hes racist???.....God help us

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Let me get this....the guy was in fancy dress as a minstrel.= in 1984....and hes racist???.....God help us

Yes, you do need some help.

[evadgib]

Can someone please enlighten this casual British observer what his infanticide entailed? Is he pro-abortion or is there something a little more sinister?

 

A photo in '84 shouldn't alone be a hanging offence but should have been declared/picked up during routine vetting & he would be perfectly ok if it later entered public domain.

 

Just my 2p

Edited February 3, 2019 by evadgib

[attrayant]

51 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Can someone please enlighten this casual British observer what his infanticide entailed? Is he pro-abortion or is there something a little more sinister?

 

The controversy around Virginia’s new abortion bill, explained

 

"Gov. Northam, a Democrat, was asked about the [abortion] bill in a radio interview on Wednesday, and his response only added to the controversy. Appearing to discuss what would happen if a child was born after a failed attempt at abortion, he said, “the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” Some took Northam’s comments as an endorsement of infanticide."

 

He did not say anything about supporting infanticide.  That is, as usual from the peanut gallery, a highly strained interpretation of what he said.

[mcambl61]

7 hours ago, attrayant said:

All he has to do is switch party affiliation and he'll be a shoe-in as the next supreme court nominee.

wow, another vacuous unfounded statement

[evadgib]

[Becker]

1 hour ago, mcambl61 said:

wow, another vacuous unfounded statement

Oh puhleeze! You support a person who make vacuous unfounded statements on the very best of days. Most of the time he's just sprouting unadulterated BS and outright lies.

Now, repeat after me;

As a base man-child supporter I will never again accuse others of making vacuous unfounded statements!