By: Ava BreslinVirginia Governor Ralph Northam has been under fire in recent weeks regarding a racists photo in his 1984 East Virginia Medical School Yearbook, where there is a man that is clearly blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) robe. He has denied that either of the two people in the photo was him, but has admitted to blackface in a different instance when he was dressing up as the famous entertainer, Michael Jackson. Governor Ralph Northam came from a medical background, graduating from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1984. He practiced medicine in the United States Medical Corps from his graduation year until 1992.
He began to delve into the political world around 10 years ago but was elected as Virginia governor late 2017. With about year in the political world, Ralph Northam is fairly new to the scene. On Feb. 1, 2019, a site by the name of Big League Politics published a picture of a page in Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook. As previously described, it showed 2 people; one wearing a KKK robe and another in blackface. According to the Governor of Virginia’s newsroom, that same day Northam published a public apology with both a statement and a video, saying, “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.” Even with his apology, party members such as Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, 2020 presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are asking the Virginia Governor to step down. Days after the original statement from Northam when he said he was in the photo, at an afternoon conference on Feb 2, he stated he was not in the photo. According to the NY Times, Northam originally said he was in the photo because he wanted to take responsibility, as his name was on the page. However, he said that after further personal investigation, neither of the people in the photo was him. Hurting his political case was the admitting to doing blackface on another occasion, at the Feb 2 conference. Northam said that he was dressing up as Michael Jackson in 1984 at a dance contest in Texas. He stated, “I look back now and regret that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that.” Members of the Virginia Commonwealth, Mr. Scott, who is the dean of the state’s congressional delegation, Mr. Warner and Mr. Kaine issued their statement at 7 p.m. Eastern time. They stated, “Governor Northam has served the people of the Commonwealth faithfully for many years, but the events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders...He should step down and allow the Commonwealth to begin healing.”(NY Times) Fellow students have also stepped in to defend their colleague. Nine of the members wrote a letter saying that they didn’t believe that Northam had ever “engaged in, promoted, tolerated, or condoned racism.” (NY Times) According to Northam’s communication director, Ofirah Yheskel, he is not intending to resign from office. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus originally issued a statement saying that they were, “still processing” the information about Northam but did not shy away from letting their view on the events be known saying these photos are, “disgusting, reprehensible and offensive." A delegate of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, Del. LaMont Bagby, describes the sentiments from the governor at their Feb 8 meeting as “apologetic and conciliatory”, according to CNN. At the same meeting, Bagby told Northam that the Caucus will be issuing a formal statement asking for his resignation. According to CNN, the Caucus’s official statement was, “We regret to say that we are no longer confident in the Governor's representation of Virginians. Though it brings us no joy to do so, we must call for Governor Northam's resignation." As of now Governor Ralph Northam has denied any rumors of resignation and continues to lead as he states he is the doctor that will, “ heal our differences.”
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