VA Gov Northam Admits to 1984 Racist Photo

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VA Gov Northam Admits to 1984 Racist Photo

Postby Cordelia » Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:05 pm

The photo was released yesterday, the first day of 'Black History Month'.

Image

Northam's apology; he must know he's out. (But politics is a dirty business and it's going to get a lot dirtier.)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmsmXs0f760

The Latest: Northam loses all key support from Democrats

Feb 2, 2019

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Latest on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook photo of a person in blackface (all times local):

12:08 a.m.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appears all but certain to resign after losing support from every Democratic state lawmaker and other close allies.

Virginia's Legislative Black Caucus, the state House Democratic Caucus and the state Senate Democratic caucus all called on Northam to resign late Friday after acknowledging he appeared in a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook in a racist costume.

Several other influential advocacy groups with strong ties to the Democratic governor, including the League of Conservation Voters and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, also called on Northam to resign late Friday.

The governor had previously resisted calls for his resignation after the photo went public Friday afternoon.

But he now faces an almost untenable situation without the support of any Democratic lawmakers or other allies.

———

9:50 p.m.

Planned Parenthood is calling on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after he acknowledged appearing in a photo wearing a racist costume.

The abortion-rights group joins a growing list of Democrats and progressive advocacy groups calling for the Democratic governor to step aside.

Northam has apologized for appearing in a photo in which one person is dressed in blackface and another is wearing a full Ku Klux Klan uniform, but he is resisting calls to resign. The photo appeared in his 1984 medical school yearbook.

Pro-choice groups such as Planned Parenthood have been key supporters of Northam during his political career. Northam has recently come under fire from Republicans for supporting looser restrictions on late-term abortions.

———

9:05 p.m.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he's "committed" to serving out the remainder of his term, indicating he does not plan to resign after an old photo of him wearing a racist outfit surfaced.

Northam issued a video statement late Friday apologizing for appearing in a photo in which one person is dressed in blackface and another is wearing a full Ku Klux Klan uniform. The photo was published in Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook and was made public Friday.

The Democratic governor says he's "ready to do the hard work of regaining" Virginians' trust. Northam's term is set to expire in 2022.

Several prominent Democrats have said Northam should resign, including two presidential hopefuls.

———

8:15 p.m.

Members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus say they are "still processing" the news that Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appeared in a photo in which one person is dressed in blackface and another is wearing a full Ku Klux Klan uniform.

In a news release issued Friday night, the caucus said "what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive."

It went on to say that while the caucus has "no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, only permanent interests," members "are still processing what we have seen about the Governor."

Northam apologized Friday night for what he called "racist and offensive" costumes that are seen in the photo on a page of his 1984 medical school yearbook.

He did not say which of the two costumes he was wearing
.

MORE...https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/nati ... 0c4c3.html


Which was worse Ralph? :wallhead:

Edit to add...

Va. Gov. Northam is refusing to step down, despite flood of calls for his resignation for ‘racist and offensive’ photo, party says

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vi ... 72231f0c5a
The greatest sin is to be unconscious. ~ Carl Jung

We may not choose the parameters of our destiny. But we give it its content. ~ Dag Hammarskjold 'Waymarks'
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Re: VA Gov Northam Admits to 1984 Racist Photo

Postby JackRiddler » Sat Feb 02, 2019 6:13 pm

He changed his mind and says he doesn't remember this ever happening. Or he doesn't think so.

What's this guy been like as governor, I have no idea.
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Re: VA Gov Northam Admits to 1984 Racist Photo

Postby Cordelia » Sat Feb 02, 2019 8:04 pm

After a years-long battle on Medicaid expansion for poor Virginians, and just a few weeks into his term, he signed into law expansion of Medicaid for those who really need it. I know people who have greatly benefited.

I’m of the frame of mind that most politicians who reach that level have cards ready to be used against them and televised, highly publicized comments this week on late-term abortion could be why his card came up so suddenly and was made public.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_MZPTrbpU

Northam now says that it's not him in the photo. His admission yesterday, followed by his back-pedaling today, show how his & his PR’s handling of the yearbook photo has failed miserably.

Northam appears at the 33 min. mark.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxw6Jjy-caA

Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive.
The greatest sin is to be unconscious. ~ Carl Jung

We may not choose the parameters of our destiny. But we give it its content. ~ Dag Hammarskjold 'Waymarks'
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VA Gubernatorial Politics Turning Uglier

Postby Cordelia » Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:13 pm

From yesterday's WaPo, an 'anonymous concerned citizen's' tip to a reporter from Big League Politics .


A tip from a ‘concerned citizen’ helps a reporter land the scoop of a lifetime about Northam


By Paul Farhi

February 3 at 2:58 PM

The reporter who exposed Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s racist yearbook photo said a “concerned citizen” led him to the story that has prompted widespread outrage and calls for the Democrat’s resignation.

Patrick Howley, editor in chief of the website Big League Politics, first reported Friday the existence of a photo on Northam’s page of his medical school yearbook depicting a figure in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood.

“It’s very easy to explain,” Howley, 29, said in an interview Saturday. “A concerned citizen, not a political opponent, came to us and pointed this out. I was very offended [by the photo] because I don’t like racism.”

The tip came after Northam’s comments on Wednesday about late-term abortions, he said. Howley declined to give any further information about his source, citing a confidentiality agreement. But he said it took him just a few hours to confirm that the photo was authentic.

The source of the tip appears to have been a medical school classmate or classmates of Northam who acted as a direct result of the abortion controversy that erupted earlier in the week, according to two people at Big League Politics, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

“The revelations about Ralph Northam’s racist past were absolutely driven by his medical school classmate’s anger over his recent very public support for infanticide,” one of the two said.


Howley’s four-paragraph story, which included the yearbook photo, was quickly confirmed by The Washington Post and other news outlets Friday. The article ignited outrage on social media, immediate calls for Northam’s resignation and a contradictory response from Northam.

In the immediate aftermath Friday, his office issued a statement in which Northam was quoted as saying that he was “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.”

But at a news conference at the governor’s mansion in Richmond on Saturday, Northam reversed himself, saying that he wasn’t in the photo and didn’t know how it got on his yearbook page. He said he hadn’t seen the photo until aides showed it to him after Howley’s article was published.

“I believe then and now that I am not either of the people in that photo,” he said in a prepared statement.

Under reporters’ questioning, Northam acknowledged that he had dressed up as Michael Jackson, using shoe polish to darken his skin, when he attended a Halloween party a few months after graduating from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984.

Howley’s story claimed that the photo shows Northam “and a friend.” But it offers no reporting to back up that assertion.

Nevertheless, Howley stuck by that claim on Saturday.

“It’s clearly a picture of him,” he said, but again could offer nothing more in support. He added, “The photo is genuine. It shows clearly he’s a racist.

He repeated that description several times in the interview.

“I know [Northam] is a racist,” he said at one point. “This guy is a racist.” He cited only one instance to back up that assertion: a 2013 TV interview in which Northam declined to shake hands with E.W. Jackson, an African American who was running against him for lieutenant governor.

A brief recording of the encounter shows Northam looking at the interviewer as Jackson extends his hand. It’s not clear from the clip whether Northam saw Jackson’s attempt to shake hands. Northam defeated Jackson in the general election that year.

Howley said he is co-owner of Big League Politics, which he described as politically “independent.” He didn’t mention the site’s close connection to Republican and Virginia politics.

MORE...https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyl ... b33a854813


Meanwhile, should he step down, Northam's replacement has been accused (again via Big League Politics)...

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax responds to report hinting at sexual assault allegation

by Nick Boykin February 4, 2019

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia’s Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax responded on Twitter to a report that hinted at sexual assault allegations that were brought against him over the last year.

The release by Fairfax comes as the Lt. Governor waits to see if he will become Virginia’s second African-American Governor after racist photos in Gov. Ralph Northam’s EVMS yearbook appeared in media circulation on Friday.

The post on Fairfax’s account responded to what was called “defamatory and false allegations,” and said the Lt. Governor would take “appropriate legal action.”

“Lt. Governor Fairfax has an outstanding and well-earned reputation for treating people with dignity and respect. He has never assaulted anyone — ever– in any way, shape, or form,” added the statement. The statement also expressed that the Washington Post had examined the allegations against Fairfax and considered not to publish them.

The report on Fairfax was first published by the conservative-leaning online publication Big League Politics, which sourced a Facebook post of a Standford University fellow. The account hints at misconduct by Fairfax at the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he was a staffer for then-presidential candidate John Kerry.


WaPo has revisited the allegations and included the following today's article online, front page..


Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax denies sex assault allegation from 2004


By Theresa Vargas

February 4 at 12:02 PM

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax issued a statement early Monday denying a sexual assault allegation that appeared on the same conservative website that posted a racist photograph from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page.

“Lt. Governor Fairfax has an outstanding and well-earned reputation for treating people with dignity and respect,” read the statement from his chief of staff and communications director. “He has never assaulted anyone — ever — in any way, shape or form.”

The statement came after the online publication, Big League Politics, ran a story under the headline: “UPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.”

The story was based on a private Facebook post from the woman, which the publication said it had obtained from a friend of hers who had permission to share it.

In their response, Fairfax’s staff members, pointed out that the woman first approached The Washington Post with the allegation shortly before he was inaugurated and The Post “carefully investigated the claim for several months.”

The woman approached The Post after Fairfax won election in November 2017 and before he was inaugurated in January 2018, saying she felt like she had an obligation to speak out.

MORE..://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-lt-gov-justin-fairfax-denies-sex-assault-allegation-from-2004/2019/02/04/05fb0f6c-272b-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html?utm_term=.a3e112e42d2e


This clip of Northam refusing (or ignoring) to shake the hand of EW Jackson, an opponent in 2013 election for Lt. Governor, is widely publicized as proof of his racism, but is it that, a personal grudge, or is he really preoccupied/spaced out? :shrug:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqO4u0yrkjA
The greatest sin is to be unconscious. ~ Carl Jung

We may not choose the parameters of our destiny. But we give it its content. ~ Dag Hammarskjold 'Waymarks'
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Re: VA Gov Northam Admits to 1984 Racist Photo

Postby Cordelia » Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:01 pm

Next line of succession after Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who's accused of sexual assault:

Virginia Attorney General Herring says he wore blackface in college

By Gregory S. Schneider and Laura Vozzella

February 6 at 1:16 PM

RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) said Wednesday he dressed in blackface during college, elevating the Capitol’s scandals to a new level that engulfed the entire executive branch of government.

“In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song,” Herring said in a statement. “It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes – and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others – we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.”

Herring called it a “onetime occurrence” for which he accepted responsibility.

“That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others,” Herring said. “It was really a minimization of both people of color, and a minimization of a horrific history I knew well even then.”

In his statement, Herring suggested that he knew the photo would someday surface.

“I have a glaring example from my past that I have thought about with deep regret in the many years since, and certainly each time I took a step forward in public service, realizing that my goals and this memory could someday collide and cause pain for people I care about, those who stood with me in the many years since, or those who I hoped to serve while in office,” said Herring, who announced in December that he planned to run for governor in 2021.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vi ... bc1bc56ca6


A lot of white politicians must be quaking in their boots.

State Rep. Anthony Sabatini under fire for wearing blackface in 2005 photograph

https://www.wesh.com/article/state-repr ... h/26227240





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The greatest sin is to be unconscious. ~ Carl Jung

We may not choose the parameters of our destiny. But we give it its content. ~ Dag Hammarskjold 'Waymarks'
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