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Governor Northam of Virginia - Should He Resign?


This picture, depicting one person in KKK robes and a hood and another person standing next to them in blackface, has taken the political side of the internet by storm Friday afternoon. It is a picture from the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook, on the page of current Virginia governor, Ralph Northam. Supposedly, one of the people in this picture is him.

Whichever of these people he may be, this displays that, at least in the past, he at best had no sense of the implications of his actions and the history of these highly offensive costumes, and at worst was openly racist.

The governor quickly issued an apology amid the backlash, claiming that he had changed and that this was no longer his own views.

"That photo, and the racist and offensive attitudes it represents does not represent that person I am today, and does not reflect the way that I have conducted myself as a soldier, a doctor, and a public servant. I am deeply sorry."

It would seem that, with this statement, he is confirming that that was him in the photo. In fact, in his statement from Friday, he says, "I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo." However, he soon followed up with a press conference on Saturday. His new claim: this was not him; there was a mix-up at the publication that allowed another person's picture to be printed on his page.

During his press conference on Saturday, he did, however, admit to having used black shoe polish to darken his face for a Michael Jackson dance contest in 1984. Khashoggi's Ghost (@UROCKlive1) jokingly said on Twitter about this, "Do you really want a governor or leader who's dumb enough to put black shoe polish on their face? That stuff's toxic!"

Northam's Saturday Press Conference

Photo from Steve Helber - Associated Press

In this same press conference, he said that he will not be resigning. This could start a potentially long and relentless fight between Northam and the Democratic party in Virginia. Virtually all of the Virginia Democrats have made statements advocating for his resignation.

Much of the public condemned his actions, and many of the major Democratic Senators and Representatives called for his resignation. Some of the best, in my opinion, include these:

Kirsten Gillibrand, who said the following:

"There aren't two sets of rules for our friends and our foes: Right is right and wrong is wrong... Governor Northam should resign."

Cory Booker, with this:

"These images arouse centuries of anger, anguish, and racist violence and they've eroded all confidence in Gov. Northam’s ability to lead. We should expect more from our elected officials. He should resign."

Here is a list of some of the most notable:

Of my own representation in government (being in California's 14th congressional district), Sen. Kamala Harris, as noted above, has already called for his resignation, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14), and Gov. Gavin Newsom have not released statements, but I have reached out to them on Twitter for a position. None have responded as of today.

One person notably absent from those calling for him to resign is Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. He did put out a statement Saturday providing his disapproval of the actions, but did not call for him to resign.

"As we commemorate 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia, it is painful to experience such a searing reminder of the modern legacy of our nation's original sin. And, as someone whose great-great-great grandfather was enslaved in Virginia, this episode strikes particularly close to home."

Fairfax has said that Northam did need to apologize and was glad he did, but has put out no statement since.

 

Now, it seems like, while Northam has declined to resign so far, that the odds (and the people) are against him.

In my opinion, this is how it should be. In a case where a political leader has a personal history that brings back memories of eras of fear, suffering, and persecution, no matter how they've changed, I will not trust them to be a fair leader. I can't trust someone with a racist past to make decisions that will affect almost 9 million people, 20% of which are African American.

This is 1.6 million people that, in Northam's past, would have faced discrimination from him. No matter how much you change, that deeply ingrained bias that forms in your youth can be very difficult to ignore and remove from your personality.

In addition, the backtracking that he does throughout this story is alarming, and reveals, in my opinion, that he is unsure in his positions. At first, he thought he could get away with just an apology and it would all end quickly. Now, he's realized that it doesn't matter, and is trying to weasel his way out of blame by claiming it isn't him in the picture. We cannot trust a leader like this. If it is him, he should own up to that and resign. If it isn't he should have started with that.

Either way, whether he resigns or not, this has been a real test of whether the Democrats would condemn racist behavior from a Democrat, and they have passed in my book.

 

Pages Referenced:

[3] - CNN Politics, "Northam denies being in racist photo but recalls darkening his skin in Michael Jackson dance contest in 1984" - https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/politics/northam-racist-yearbook-photo/index.html

[5] - StarTribune, "Virginia's Gov. Northam says that wasn't him in racist photo" - http://www.startribune.com/virginia-s-gov-northam-says-that-wasn-t-him-in-racist-photo/505251192/

[6] - Associated Press News, "Virginia governor digs in as demands that he resign swell" - https://www.apnews.com/8a41dfae7a1d49f48b15d1112b6db7a7

[7] - Vox, "Here’s everyone calling on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to resign" - https://www.vox.com/2019/2/3/18209320/virginia-gov-ralph-northam-resignation

[9] - WTVR, "Virginia Attorney General wants Governor Northam to ‘step down’" - https://wtvr.com/2019/02/02/herring-on-northam/

[10] - Politico, "Warner, Kaine urge Northam to resign as presser fails to quell Dems' fury" - https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/02/ralph-northam-resign-yearbook-racist-democrats-1144283

[31] - WJLA, "Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax makes statement on Northam controversy" - https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-lt-governor-justin-fairfax-makes-statement-on-northam-controversy

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