Although I don't agree with, nor do I condone racism, we all need to remember that there wasn't as much emphasis on being politically correct three decades ago. In fact, given that Gov. Northam wore blackface while in college, in the South, it was basically par for the course. That was the culture then. Thankfully, he grew up and hopefully has evolved since then.
I feel that if an alleged rapist can ascend to the highest court in the land to hold a lifetime Supreme Court Justice appointment, why should we call for the resignation of a Governor that only lasts a few years? Again, I don't condone racism. I do believe that Gov. Northam is sincerely apologetic for his behavior in 1984 and should be given the opportunity to serve out his term of Governor of VA. After all, the people of VA felt that he would be the best choice to serve their state. I apply this sentiment to AG Herring as well.
As for Fairfax, allegations of rape are quite a bit more serous matter and should be investigated.
Governor Northam should call together the African American leaders of his state: religious, political, business leaders, and make an abject confession and apology to them. Then he should humbly ask for their advice. If they advise him to resign, he should do it immediately. However, if they give him the chance to redeem himself by committing himself to enacting legislation and policies which would help the African American community, and if he would agree to seek and to be guided by their counsel during his tenure, then, with their permission, he could retain his office. In this way a disgraceful and disgusting episode could be turned into an opportunity for good, to the benefit of his state and the nation.
2
Back in 1970, I was the senior editor of our small New England high school newspaper. Of 900 kids, we only had three African Americans, and one was a fostered kid with ADHD from a big urban city. I wrote an editorial "welcoming" him but included a line about how hard it was to understand him, saying his urban speech was "akin to Swahili." The teacher assigned to monitor the paper gave me a lesson in propriety and proper journalism.I never forgot that lesson and have tried hard to step out of my white privilege to expand my worldview. Maybe I still fail at times, but to try is to grow.
1
College and extra-curricular activities are basically the end of childhood. Suddenly you're done and have to get out there and find a job, make a living...indeed, make a life. A "stunt" may have gone a bit too far, but really, what we're saying is that these (then) young people should have been prescient enough to know what the "norms" would be 20 or 30 years down the road. Maybe we should just stop publishing yearbooks
2
Lets separate two allegation, sexual assault and insensitive behavior 30 years ago. I believe that Governor and Attorney General should not resign. First of this allegation has not been investigated. Even if it is true, it was done over 30 years back. One has to see the activities and contributions since. Single incident from three decades should not disqualify elected officials. It is not a crime. One should see how these individuals have evolved over the years.
2
The real crisis is the people involved in dirty and lewd behavior cannot be accused except in lewd and dirty language which means that “decent” people are excluded from the conversation.
Every man who admits his accusations were “consensual” never spells out the actions he consented to perform. It’s always the woman who details what was done to her and the man is allowed unspecified and vague denials.
Thomas, Clinton, Kavanaugh, Fairfax, etc… can rale for years about their innocence because no one dares accuse in the same locker-room language that would be necessary to expose the horrors of the charges.
These men, and others like them, will continue in high places enjoying the prestige that comes with the jobs. But each of them knows that if confronted in prison by men who could articulate the deeds that they’ve all done, they wouldn’t last a day.
1
One reason why there are statutes of limitations--requiring timely plaintiffs and prosecutors--is personality change.
A human being starts when a sperm cell fuses with an ovum--forming ONE diploid cell (zygote). Being human is a process--of mitosis (exact duplication) until 16 (a morula); then cellular differentiation starts until adulthood. 98% of human atoms are replaced annually.
The same body is not the same stuff; it's the same process.
So too with persons--beings with personalities--integrated systems of mental functioning--Cognition (sensation/inference), Emotion (reaction to sensation or reflection), Motivation (appetites/ambitions/aspirations).
These are also the aspects of ideologies (value systems)--beliefs about reality, ideality and strategies to go from one toward the other. As ideologies change so do personalities. We say of macro changes "Born again"--not just about god stories--though they are ideologies too. Loss of consciousness and/or integration is loss of personhood (dementia etc).
Different person stages are of same person only if persons too are processes.
Holding very later stages liable for earlier can be like visiting sins of fathers on their children. It's a form of vicious vicarious liability. Later stages--of families or personalities--did not cause earlier ones--they did not "sin" nor let it happen.
"Sorry" is no proof of change. Nor is confession. But real regret/contrition is; it deserves forgetting more than forgiving.
3
Come on people!!! 1968? It's time to stop attacking people for something that happened over half a century ago!! Black face is NOT illegal and while it is outrageous by today's standards, it was never outlawed. Will we burn Shirley Temple movies next? This is nonsense. Leave Fairfax and Norment alone. The sexual assault accusation should be investigated. If true, it happened in 2004 by a 'superior' and is, actually, illegal!
2
I think someone might want to go review college yearbooks for the last thirty years (maybe even just the last ten years), to find out how common this really is. I would love to see statistics. Like is this common among the white people or is it once per yearbook?
@CA
Last year, Cal Poly SLO had a frat house hold a party where blackface was used by some of its members. The fraternity was suspended. On a positive note, the frat members attended a public forum where African American students voiced their hurt and anger, and the white students offered up their apology for making a stupid mistake. Virginia might take note of such a mature approach to resolve conflict.
1
Thankfully before all the top Democrats in VA are forced out of office, we are getting a more accurate sense of the situation. As a VA native and grad of U. VA. Law '78, I know the norms, and it was impossible for me to believe that GOP elected officials in VA had a cleaner record than the now disgraced Democrats. Photos of folks in Confederate garb, with Confederate flags, with nooses in their offices abound.
Let's offer amnesty to blackfacers who committed the offense prior to 1984, or before attaining the age of responsibility which, for American males, is 24.
The amnesty should be conditional on proof of proper behavior and good citizenship over the last 10 years.
2
I'm shocked, absolutely shocked that there was racism in Virginia 34 years ago.
4
I wish people would stop posting the outright lie that "everyone knew" in 1980 that putting on blackface to dress up as a character even if you don't intend any mockery of African-Americans marks you as an unrepentant racist for the next 30 years.
The movie "Soul Man" was made in 1986. James Earl Jones starred in it.
Now I realize that there were plenty of woke people back then who realized that "Soul Man" should have never been made. They are correct - it was offensive and should never have been made.
But that does not mean that EVERYONE who had anything to do with the movie "Soul Man" was racist then and has been a racist for the last 30 years and should immediately resign from their job because they are racists.
There ARE racists who govern as racists. It is ridiculous that we'd force someone who has not governed as a racist to immediately step down because somehow wearing blackface 30 years ago is an unforgivable sin worse than Republicans spending the entire last decade to today enacting racist policies to disenfranchise African-Americans and end civil rights legislation.
2
In the big scheme of things, allegations of sexual assault surely trump (hate to use that word) wearing blackface. While abhorrent, blackface couldn't have been all that rare in a state that was the capital of the confederacy. Only recently has it turned blue.
1
Party affiliation does not matter. Last I checked Richmond, Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy. These men all grew up in the racist South. It was common to speak and behave that way about black people with impunity. No surprise here.
Blackface is inappropriate and in today’s world, unacceptable. But where is the Democratic Party’s complete condemnation of Farrakhan? Afraid to upset part of the “base”?
4
Virginians desiring progress away from the GOP's version of governance will need to decide is they will accept apologies for what is now widely recognized as abhorrent behavior (black face) 30+ years ago, OR hold to a zero tolerance policy and relinquish control of government to the GOP that continues to practice racist policies.
This is an I.Q. test for seeming to be reasonable persons everywhere.
3
Circular firing squad.
With allegations this important, I don’t see why the votes of Virginia’s citizens should stand in the way of purifying state government. Just have everyone resign and let Kirsten Gillibrand appoint some women to replace them.
3
I would advise the VA. governor not to resign but to become an energetic champion of civil rights and voting rights in the state. Take down all the confederate statues. Promote education about America's history of racism. Support affirmative action for state contracts. Partner with the state's attorney general to do these things. Be bold. You've got nothing to lose and everything to prove. I live in Tennessee. Many of my neighbors fly the confederate flag on flagpoles in their front yards. The state has numerous statues depicting the founder of the KKK. The guy in the "White" House reminds us that, as a country, as a culture, we've got a long way to go.
17
@Peter Stone I'm sorry, but kids today are barely learning history. And you would prioritize something that happened 2 hundred years ago, around the world? Or would you promote teaching that slavery in any form is bad, still happening today, and has happened to almost every country/culture at some point in their history against people of all colors, including whites?
3
Of course the Fairfax allegations deserve due process. It is very likely that they cannot be proven or dis-proven. Although that may be unjust, when an allegation is a one off from years ago, and has absolutely no corroboration, (i.e. she never told anyone at the time nor has anyone else come forward) what can realistically be done?
There are too many bad actors in politics to be certain that every claim is legitimate.
1
Democrats must be the big tent party of inclusion that welcomes one and all who subscribe to a single unifying tenant: that regardless of personal background or private beliefs, one must act in a fair, non-partisan manner in the public forum.
Thus, it is not important whether one personally finds, say, abortion to be abhorrent, but whether that same individual recognizes the right of others to make those decisions for his or herself, and accepts and defends the primacy of settled law and precident.
It is less important to catalog an individual's shortcomings than to recognize whether that individual works in a fair and unbiased way toward a more just society.
The GOP would love to whittle Democratic support to a elitist core of fanatics who think they meet some impossible standard of purity that leaves no room for mistakes and foibles and the rigors of personal growth and maturation. Indeed, such persons do not exist.
Let the GOP be the party of cultural and racial purity.
Democrats must be the party for those who may not be perfect, but who struggle daily in the cause of social, economic and environmental justice and yearn to grow and evolve as they strive to do so.
2
I am not saying that all Democrat leaders are like this, but there is a certain cunning in this "eat our own" moral outrage: perhaps in a crowded leadership field, this can be used against one another to thin the herd for any position.
I won't forget how Senator Al Franken was thrown under the bus and railroaded out the door by many of his colleagues. That said, my disgust for them doesn't mean a refusal to vote for them in the 2020 general election against Trump.
1
Where was due process for Al Franken?
Goodbye, Northam, Fairfax and Herring.
1
How would you feel as an African American ? And as someone who grew up in Virginia under the cloud of anti-Semitism and soft quotas, I share your pain.
The Governor and Atty General posed for these photos. They sought the commemoration of their racism. So be it if it costs the Dems their respective offices ; they can run better candidates in the next election.
1
This whole episode troubles me on a number of levels. It highlights America's past of marginalizing racial minorities as "others" and how casual it all was. But as a racial minority I have to also ask how have these people evolved? Who among us has not done something utterly stupid but socially acceptable 20, 30 years ago? By all means start the conversation so we can understand how far we have come but if we continue this historical navel gazing NO ONE will be fit for office.
3
Politicians wait till they are caught before they apologize. It is disheartening to realize that these now middle aged politicians were so hateful to other races in their youth.
However it is easy to understand how they can wring their hands about the unborn and smile while they put little brown ones into cages.
No amount of education can change these individuals and the next generation represented by the white murderers in mass shootings have a deep hatred in there hearts for everyone not white, You either have character and compassion or you don’t. It’s apparent that the public have been electing the wrong people.
Virginia has an "Ethics Advisory Council" which should be asked to review the issues of racism raised against Gov. Ralph Northam, Attorney General Mark Herring, and Sen. Thomas Norment Jr. They are the proper body to decide if the charges are serious violations of ethics that should result in resignation. It's time for the matter to be resolved not through the media, but through established procedures.
Are you kidding me? Because several people put black paint on their faces over 30 years ago we are going to ruin their lives and destroy their careers? We have groups who keep trying to judge past actions by today’s standards and it just doesn’t work. But how selective they can be. They want to destroy every confederate monument but conveniently forget that Lincoln said if he could preserve the union and not free one slave he would do so. Let the past be in the past and judge people by what they do today.
3
But some of the African-American members of the delegation complained that Mr. Fairfax was being held to an unfair standard because of racial stereotypes about angry black men. … “He reached out to each of us individually, very apologetic, he is in dialogue with the legislative black caucus and African-American leadership in the state and they have been impressed with his sincerity while they’ve been very disappointed with what happened,” Mr. Kaine said.
___
Blackface is blackface is blackface. It CANNOT be explained away with a mea culpa. No matter how many decades have passed, and should - and rightly so - be found offensive, to anyone of color no matter their national origin.
Interchanging the words African-American and black is all to common in every article. There is already one dilatation for the fastest growing minority segment in the U.S.: non/white-Hispanic.
For my own edification, I'd like to know. It's an honest, non-inflammatory question.
1968! Fifty years ago! The Civil Rights Act was passed only three or four years earlier. Cultures require generations to change. Good grief, let's get off this self devouring psuedo - issue and get on to something else.
2
Reading through the comments, I find it no surprise that we have a few new faces strongly asserting that if we don't immediately call for Mr. Fairfax's resignation, then we are hypocrites because of the way we treated Justice Kavanaugh.
Ridiculous. Democrats called for an investigation of Kavanaugh. Republicans and the White House did everything possible to block the investigation. Kavanaugh own classmates said that he would often be "black out" drunk. There was plenty of circumstantial evidence, even provided by Kavanaugh himself, to warrant suspicion that he did sexually assault Mrs. Ford.
And Kavanaugh lied. He lied about “Renate Alumnius,” he lied about the meaning of "boofing" and "devil's triangle." He lied about whether he knew a Republican staffer had stolen documents about judicial nominations from the computer servers of Democratic lawmakers. He lied about his involvement in defending torture. The list goes on.
So, let's investigate Dr. Tyson's accusations. Let's hold a hearing and ask questions, while giving them both a chance to speak. But please stop with these false comparisons. Most of us can see right through them.
It's time for the DNC to step up, tell these folks and others, look, you were elected to do a job, and improve the treatment and opportunities of your constituents. Do that. We know you're imperfect human beings. Please make your best efforts to overcome your and our cultural legacies of racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, disrespect of the poor and disadvantaged, etc., and do the jobs you were elected to do. There are no perfect people in or out of public office. Get back to work.
1
This isn't the first test of Democrats pushing for strong ethics and the resignations of its own Democratic politicians. The first was Senator Al Franken (D - MN) who was forced to resign in January 2018 by his own party. As difficult as it is -- and it may leave an acting governor of the oppoing party in Viriginia -- I hope Democrats will set firm and clear ethical standards for the politicians who call themselves Democrats. In the short term, they may lose a state to the opposing party. But, in the long term, they will gain because they will distinquish themselve in sharp contract to that opposing party and its lack of ethical standards and behavior, and citizens will vote for their ethical integrity.
I am white, male and 65 years old. I never attended a party or event where blackface was worn. The closest I can ever remember coming was white makeup to be Count Dracula for Halloween. I grew up in the Southwest, though.
1
@WeHadAllBetterPayAttentionNow
Did you ever attend a party where a sombrero was worn? Where a Native American costume was worn?
1
This is getting ridiculous - now going back over 50 years for yearbook pictures. One must remember that Virginia still had segregated schools back in 1968. That change didn't happen until after 1970.
The news here is the overreaction of the immediate condemnation of Gov. Northam, rather than providing the opportunity for him to ask for forgiveness from those offended.
They were different times, and the actions are not without concern, but they are and should be forgivable. As to the Lt. Governor, that is a different story.
2
Why is this happening now? Think beyond the ain't-it-awful bright shiny stuff. And yes, it is awful. But wait, there's more.
Here's the probable real story.
Follow the money and the power. A shady but minor trumpist "news" site digs for dirt and, with apparent collusion from other dirty tricksters, coordinates an attack on Virginia's top two Democrats (the third one piles on voluntarily) so that Republicans can reassert their minority power over the majority.
Why? First, the party that controls state government in 2020 controls redistricting. Reps: continued gerrymandering; Dems: voter fairness. Second, Republicans kidnap the government despite the majority Dem vote to lock in "social conservatives" so that third, they can support the corporate cowboys who profit from Rep deregulation at the expense of the environment and future generations.
Side note to Senators Gillibrand and Harris: support principles, not personalities. You already squandered Sen. Franken; don't do it again. Virginia voted for these men's principles. Their political actions have shown them to be faithful to those principles. Let Virginia sort it out internally.
Sad conclusion: push these people out and the fall of our democracy is three giant steps closer. Is this alarmist? Yes, it is, and alarmists are always right eventually. Welcome to "eventually."
3
50 years ago I was a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill. While there may have been pockets of "blackface" behavior by white students (as ascribed to several of these VA politicians) on campus - it is a large University - the atmosphere at that time was zero tolerance for this kind of behavior. Civil rights and anti-war sentiment were a large presence on campus. Even then my memory is that the students were well beyond tolerating the kind of (pictorial) behavior practiced by Northam, et al. To ascribe his transgressions as "well, that was then..." is wholly inaccurate. Even "then", in my experience, students had no tolerance for such behavior. I do not have the 1971 UNC yearbook handy; I would love to take a look just to be sure....
Disliking or hating those physically different is not a natural instinct in humans; it is a learned behavior (misbehavior). The natural mind would extend empathy to all humans, but we are taught in society not to trust or like those who are different from ourselves. The world needs a paradigm shift in human thought if we are to survive as a species, and that shift can't come soon enough.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a linguistic "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
@RLB I’d suggest you learn some science before advocating a “revolution of reason”. Evolutionary psychology shows that distrust of the other is, in fact, a natural and deeply seated tendency, while empathy for those who are not kin is a cultural adaptation. As for “linguistic survival algorithm” - I don’t know what is, and neither do you.
2
Perhaps the lesson in these stories is for those who seek to lead to be very introspective about their lives and reflect on who they are in the present and who they were in the past. If they have skeletons in their closets, expose them and allow the people to decide if they still want to vote for you. None of us wants to feel like the victim of "bait 'n' switch". Come clean. Be honest. Let us decide. Not one of us is perfect.
1
Using today's standards to judge someone doing something acceptable to yesterday's standards is used by those that only want to create problems, instead of solving them.
Either all go on the basis of the political third rail or some type of "ante hoc' amnesty be created. That is, a real world form of a statute of limitations. Let's posit 25 years from the alleged incident and it has no "resignation" requirements and left up to the voters in the next election to determine its' effect.
Even St. Augustine got 2nd chance.
In 50 years this will all be part of a larger story of opposition research and mass media. It will be in the same chapter as the National Enquirer killing Trump stories and threatening Jeff Bezos with a multi-billion dollar divorce. Perhaps the chapter could be titled "It all started with Gary Hart."
To gain your bearing, think of all these stories as ethics. How great was the wrong, who was harmed, and how much? Then, what is the best way to correct the damage, or prevent similar future harms?
As an ethicist, I'd say the Governor and Attorney General both need to make a public admission that what they did was wrong, and that part of their motivation in going into politics was to help bring Virginia into the 21st century.
Northan got Medicaid expansion passed, an extraordinary ethical achievement for the state. On the other hand, he manipulated a gas pipeline decision in favor of an oil company, allowing it to be placed in an African American town...classic environmental racism. If he stays in office, he must do better than that.
What Fairfax did (if he did it) is eerily like what Kavannaugh did. Now they have hired the same lawyers for both sides. The charge is much more serious. Ethically, there may have been enough evidence to deny both of them the important job they were seeking...but maybe not enough evidence (many years later) to convict either one and put them in jail.
1
The problems surfacing in Virginia apparently have very deep roots in Virginia going far beyond yearbook photos. That this murk has marked a few politicians seems unsurprising, and one has to ask whether the present furor is an effective approach to a remedy. Probably not.
5
Will racism and bigotry bring the parties together to create bipartisan change for the good? Or will they devolve further into white supremacist atrocities? Very fitting don’t you think that this is happening in Virginia.
2
Is anyone in the Commonwealth of Virginia NOT involved black-facing?
Anyone?
1
The Democrats are in a no win situation.
The “I believe her” crew has their doubts.
The label everyone else a racist crew is confronted with a mirror.
The hypocrisy is on full display and it is the hypocrisy that people will remember.
12
That's why Al Franken is still a U.S. Senator. That's why Eliot Spitzer is still Attorney General of NY.
Oh, wait! They're not! You know why? Because Democrats walk the talk.
Leading Democrats are livid over the blackface incidents and the probable sexual assault — just as they were over Roy Moore, Brian Kemp, Trump, and Kavanaugh.
In contrast, Trump and the Republicans have looked the other way and been pushing a racist policy agenda that disenfranchises black voters, oppresses minorities, sustains environmental racism, and condones discrimination. That matters far more than 40-year-old abhorrent errors.
We don't see you calling for Trump's resignations or accusing them of hypocrisy. Your blatant political ideology and bias are clearly on display!
See
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-ralph-northam-and-others-can-repent-of-americas-original-sin/2019/02/07/9aef18ec-2b0f-11e9-b011-d8500644dc98_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.883fd890eca5
1
The blackface brouhaha is a distraction from the real institutionalized violent human rights criminality baked into American culture, that MLK, RFK, BLM and Colin Kaepernick have been protesting for over 55 years. Unarmed and often innocent American citizens are regularly and in significant numbers executed when exercising their civil and human rights, often just for existing in public, by law enforcement, stand your ground gunslingers, and Looney Tunes gun enthusiasts at places like Columbine, Vegas, Parkland etc.
Our corrupt leadership enables this unjust climate of fear and loathing and human rights atrocity, that is often racist, but not always. It's almost always explosively mean spirited though, primarily the result of a historical unhealthy gun love and desire to dominate and silence unarmed citizens they disagree with or just don't like.
Now that's sad, and unjust.
5
Fleeing the hardscrabble Appalachian life that brought tears to Robert Kennedy’s eyes, in 1963 my family piled our belongings atop our old Buick Roadmaster and Beverly-Hillbillied up to New York City. Our Green Book guided us to Blackfolk accommodations not just in the mountains of West Virginia but too in the streets of Washington DC!
Despite segregated schools having been ruled unconstitutional nine years earlier my greatest apprehension was to finally go to school with white kids! This didn’t occur until 1964 when NYC implemented a limited plan to integrate its segregated schools.
This meant that each day along with a contingent of my fellows we had to negotiate a mob of angry white parents not one whit less threatening than the Little-Rock horde they aped! So, to those who like to point accusatory fingers at some regional racist anamoly the vestige of who is raising its head in Virginia’s blackface contretemps I say cut it out. Malcom X’s observation that there is Up South and Down South is truer today than it was in 1964. Witness the, STILL, bastion of segregation called the New York City school system!
14
I’m glad I’m not a politician. How can one prove there was sexual consent, ever. It seems a woman can ruin a mans career with zero proof, only if you are not Trump.
3
And it seems like men can ruin women’s lives with rape and the only Whig of self respect in the public eye we are allowed is the dubious right to remain silent, which only enables that man to continue to rape other women with impunity.... but what do I know, I’m just a life ruining sexual assault survivor. If you are afraid of sexual assault survivors that says way more about you than us.
This hand wringing over the political scandal in Virginia is enough to drive one crazy. I take a blackface-wearing, even a N-word user, who comes to grips with his or her shortcomings and works tirelessly to make life better to ALL over a pious, even righteous person, who due to his or her political leanings will ignore or even encourage conditions that hurt a large segment of the population.
To the Democrats in Virginia horrified by their governor’s blackface episode 35 years ago I just say, grow up! Measure his worth by what he has done with his power. Has he helped your and your neighbors’ lives? Has he shown remorse for his actions and made amends? If so, please consider the power of forgiveness. If not, vote him out at the next election.
16
In the last election Virginia voted strongly to place three Democrats in state-wide office, and narrowly missed replacing the Republican majority in the House of Delegates. Now Virginia is faced with the possibility of reversing the election's outcome because of the behavior some thirty years ago of Governor Northam and Attorney General Herring.
As grievous and insensitive as Northam's and Herring's behavior may have been--completely apart from factoring in the general cultural climate and proclivities of that time and place--to demand both resign is, given the precarious political and legal situation facing Lt. Governor Fairfax, to turn over the state of Virginia to Trump-supporting Republicans.
It makes no sense to replace errant Democratic leaders, who otherwise have a good and progressive record on issues of importance to African-American citizens, with Trump-lining Republicans with their reactionary and bigoted history of insult and injury to minorities of every kind.
Virginia may deserve better than what they now have in office. Replacing them with Republican politicians, though, would be shooting oneself in the foot.
12
Well it is interesting that the saner voices are taking over the comments section here and in WAPO. I am seeing a glimmer of hope that rationality will win the day and the governor, AG and Republican office holder will not be hounded from office for actions about which others deem they should have been more sensitive many years ago.
Each was elected to the office they now hold and under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia can only be removed for specified bad deeds. Thank God poor taste is not one of the enumerated offenses.
That leaves us with the Lt. Gov. There are or at least used to be statutes of limitations for such offenses as this lady has only accused him in the last year. BTW WAPO and various Virginia politicians why didn’t you report it when you heard it last year? Similar question to the fire eating Sen. Gillibrand and other morally armed Dems—what Fairfax is alleged to have done is far worse than what was used to run Al Franken out of office or for that matter to pillory Kavanaugh (unqualified for his response, not for what happened as a teenager).
There will be plenty of time to evaluate Fairfax if he chooses to run for Governor in three years. Same for a certain Current Occupant whose day of reckoning is only 22 months away.
Our institutions have served us well for over 200 years. Let’s don’t sacrifice them on the altar of an impossible and imprudent moral purity. Let’s take a deep breath and move on.
6
Hold the phone if they go back just a few more years say the 50’s they could find offense segregation signs. Or even back a few more years to say the 40’s and the United States Army segregated service units or back a few more years to....well you get the idea. Sometimes things in the past are just that things in the past. Get over it. I was taught not to cry over spilt milk.
4
I grew up in the deep and dark south - North Florida - where my great-grandfather's tombstone in the "white" cemetery in Palatka proudly bears the letters KKK on its pediment, the words "God loveth a righteous man" adorning its crown.
The same man put up the money for the building of three baptist churches in the area. A musical family, everyone would sit around the piano and sing songs of the good old plantation days, including one in which a little black child's mother assures him that "there's a corner up in heaven ... for little pickaninnies."
Raised in the church, I was small when I asked why ours only had white people, when the song says that Jesus loves red and yellow and black children too. At 16 I left the church, not being able to square the gospel message with the treatment of children and women and people of any color other than white.
I look back on my family - most of them were good, decent people who were part of the 3rd, 4th and 5th generations born into the white superiority blindness that was the south.
How did any of us escape the blindness of our white world? It was everywhere and in every aspect of our lives - so pervasive that, for me, it took leaving and looking back to see the whole, horrifying picture.
I'm not surprised that those being called out for their youthful sins are defensive. It would have been better for them to say, "Yes - that was the sin of my youth." But how are they living their lives now? This, I think, is how they should be judged.
11
This is how the new Jacobins push the old guard out. Forget party politics: none of these men should resign. There is no attainable level of purity for the neo-marxists.
1
Yesterday, John Shigon published a photo of a "college professor" with a cup that said, "You can't fire me! Slaves have to be sold," as "evidence" of racism in '80s yearbooks. I wrote a comment on another column, because the Times closed all comments on this issue last night, including Shigon's. As someone who, unlike Mr. Shigon, was actually a grad student in the 1980s (Mr. Shigon was a baby in the mid to late 80s and has never been a grad student), I would like to tell him that I would suspect that the photo was either actually of a grad student, or the coffee cup was one the professor acquired as one.
Grad students then, it's probably little different now, worked around the clock and around the year, and their stipends were low enough to not have to file federal income taxes. It was frequent to refer to themselves as galley slaves or grad student slaves, and that happened at all universities, not just some. A coffee cup that asserted that they therefore couldn't be fired, because you get rid of a slave by selling them is a statement of that sentiment, and that's all it is.
If the cup offends Mr. Shigon, he should report it as such, not as an act of racism. The reading public deserves to know how hypersensitive the people reporting the "news" are when their intent in reporting is to accuse people of offensive behavior.
He owes that college professor an apology.
And the NYTimes owes us the integrity to publish my corrigendum.
9
Throw them all out. Why would anyone ever think these actions were actually funny? I'm older, grew up in the south and would have never dreamed of something like this that would so clearly hurt other's feelings.
2
As a survivor of rape myself, I’d like to respond to an earlier comment(s) in which someone suggested the victim likely is lying because she could have just kept her mouth closed since the aggressor did not have a gun. She was in a situation of clear and present danger. He had demonstrated a willingness to and capability of using force. As I see it, she had three bad choices:
1. Keep her mouth closed and be raped by an even more unpleasant method
2. Trick him and bite down hard and be beaten to who knows what end
3. Comply as much as she was able to oral penetration in hopes he would be satisfied and leave her alone
Considering those choices, all of which constitute rape, her choice of the third, least dangerous option does not imply she is a liar. I don’t know all the facts of the case but I want to clear that aspect up.
9
As surely as the sun rises in the east, by the time this is over it will be revealed that the entirety of the VA House of Delegates and Senate - both parties - will be implicated in activities now viewed as irredeemably racist.
8
I lived in Va. (until recently) some 30 years. My parents moved there from NYC.
As a white kid raised by fairly liberal parents, coming to the south in the late 60’s was culture shock. Children called me “yankee”. Schools taught that the civil war was “the war of Northern Aggression”. I saw my first “B” and “W” water fountains on Richmond’s largest street. Being a grand daughter or grandson of the Confederacy was a symbol of pride and many Richmonder’s were proud to be able to trace their heritage to this General on Monument Avenue. And let’s not forget, this is the only state I ever heard of that refers to a holiday as “Lee-Jackson-King” Day; what an embarrassment.
While I agree there is definitely a culture of fear being used to manipulate politics that threatens democracy, none of the events this past week surprise me.
If anything, it validates how I felt living there. Virginia is sadly still entrenched in it’s old Confederate roots. And while I don’t support destroying Richmond’s Monuments because “those who delete history are doomed to repeat it.”
But, it is seriously beyond time for Virginia to shake off some of it’s long held, generational racist underpinnings. To these men they probably had no clue, that is how they raise them “down south”.
It’s a little twisted to call yourself a Dem and condemn Trump as a racist but think wearing black face was ever ok.
4
““If you sin, you must repent for the sin,” said Mr. Sharpton, who wants Mr. Northam and Mr. Herring to resign.”
Odd how he isn’t calling for the resignation of Lt. Governor Fairfax, who may be the more egregious sinner. And when will Rev. Sharpton fully repent for his sins in the past?
20
Doing Blackface 30 years ago as a youth was and is still seen as offensive and in very poor taste today (if not even more so) but how can doing such a thing back then justify committing a far more heinous, offensive and morally unacceptable indictable offence that it is promulgating?
No decent person can or should justify Cannibalism today as the consequence of doing Blackface long ago!
Democrats are on the verge of consuming 2 of their own and perhaps ultimately themselves if they continue with the enhanced castigation of each other whenever the slightest impropriety is discovered.
They can't be consumed by every small impropriety (and we all mostly know which is which compared with those and that which can or should not EVER be tolerated or approached without the full consequences of the law, the public and the reputation , career and future that they lose ...if done.
It is too high a price and too strong a punishment for Democrats to consume themselves and shed their numbers over a Blackface incident 2 t o 3 decades ago.
1
They should all stay in office. Everybody has had their fun and in another week this will be mostly forgotten. To give the state to the Repubs, who made Trump their king, would be an abomination, absolutely ridiculous. Only the Sharptons who feast on this -- literally make their living from these things -- will care. Time to calm down and get sensible and let Trump ride it until he looks ridiculous even to Repubs.
6
Please again tell me why they can't they just say it was stupid and thoughtless, and carry on with promoting progressive Democratic policies? If that's not good enough, resignation doesn't seem sufficient--they need to undergo full re-programming.
6
We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!
4
Left wing outrage is always selective. You see, It's Ok for Ted Danson and two late night show hosts to do Black Face and no consequences but not The Governor of Virginia. Will the MeToo outrage against the Lt. Governor be the same as when Kamala and Corey were screaming at Cavanaugh? I don't think so. Will this woman who said she was attacked be believed like the hallucinating Dr. Ford was?
7
The one thing we can't do is have past racial transgressions be a horrific act when it was done by a Democrat, and a boys will be boys, oh well act when done by a Republican.
Wrong is wrong. The political party of the offender shouldn't matter.
4
Northam and the other people did not have these yearbook pages because they were white nationalists or American Nazis. They had them because it was a community standard at the time, at least for the party animals they were. What is shocking is that this community standard hearkening to the 19th Century was still present as recently as 1984. I don't recall a single instance of it growing up in Norfolk Virginia, and graduating high school in 1974. It would have been considered very poor taste. Maybe it was there and I ignored it. I must have been too busy studying.
This is insane. 1968 was half a century ago.
5
I am disappointed but not surprised that the pitchfork mob that went after Kavanaugh has not shown up for Fairfax. I guess that power takes precedent over principal for Democrats.
7
This whole thing in Virginia is already too much.
We're all living in America which has it's freedoms but we know we have a flawed past.
If you were living in Virginia in the past and happened to notice a year book with these pictures,maybe you would have been outraged and done something about it, but probably not.
Obviously, it wasn't some sort of crime back them.
Did you ever watch an Al Jolson movie singing Mammy or Toot Toot Tootsy in blackface. Were you so angry as to tell management of the theater that you were offended or try to have that movie outlawed. I doubt it.
Almost all of us are a product of our times and we didn't notice back then what we might be offended by today.
Times have changed and for the better.
I notice CNN and the current groups of panelists and reporters with greater percentage of darker faces than in the past. You can bet they hold there own. They are there because they are good at what they do, bright, informed. We ARE moving forward
Already, four decent men are being disqualified
because of something in their past.
Virginia is not choosing some sort of God to be it's governor.
Beware of the Salem witch hunt of 1692-3
Beware of the Joe McCarthy communist "hearings"in the early 1950's.
Actually, Governor Northam has a decent liberal record(social issues) in the past 20 years. I looked into this subject.
As a long time social liberal myself, He looks OK to me.
This issue has become destructive.
Time to stop all of this and move on.
4
@M.W. Endres --As a black male in my 60's, I agree with your post. Folks have taken this way too far and just need to chill out. The guys have been exposed for sins of the past and called out. By no means am I saying this was ok, but enough is enough!!
3
Maybe white people should figure out a way to show regret and apologize to black people for the horrible things that were done to their ancestors and culture, and are still done to them to this day. In an acceptable way. Maybe then we can start righting wrongs and moving beyond the dismal nonsense of racism. We could make amends with the past and move forward so much stronger united.
4
Slavery and servitude have been a feature of all human races.
White, black, brown, and orange.
There is only so much hand wringing to be done for the past.
If these people are not Kavanaughs you need to get over it and move on.
I would not feel any need to remove statues. If they are symbols of racism they remind us of who we were. Not who we are now.
Unless some are as intolerant and bigoted as the people they declaim.
Here's an aspect of these blackface cases I have not read expressed. In the case of Governor Northam, he committed the indiscretion when he was in his twenties, 35 years ago. I don't defend it in any way. It was despicable behavior — I'm talking about putting on blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson. This he admits to. Or even if he was one of the individuals in the disgusting photograph. Still it was not a crime for which one would go to jail or pay a fine. With a crime, if a person is convicted, jailed and serves his time, he is then considered rehabilitated. He can start life over again. My question is: how is Governor Northam supposed to have a second chance? Should he be branded forever? Or should we look at his life during that last 35 years and see what kind of person he is now? His behavior reacting to it all has been clumsy, that's for sure. But are we being fair?
4
Enough of this. Where are the women in Virginia state politics?
2
We need to just breathe! The immediate response to Northam was deeply concerning to me. Within a few hours the pundits were telling us how appalled we should be and people were distancing themselves from him as quickly as possible. I moved to Georgia when I was 17 and then I went to college in New Orleans. My friends and I would jump up and sing proudly whenever "Dixie" was played in much the same way one would get excited in high school when the team fight song was played. We were naive and very immature 18 year old girls. Am I embarrassed by this? Very much so! Do I regret it? Absolutely! Did I do any of it to express racists feelings or to belittle anyone? Absolutely not! I recently watched the original Peter Pan with Mary Martin and was appalled at how the Native Americans were portrayed. Was that done to be hurtful to anyone? Should we trash Mary Martin because she played a part in that? Please just take a moment and breathe! And then maybe consider judging someone by their actions over the majority of their life instead of casting stones over a very hurtful and stupid costume choice made decades ago.
6
Democrats are reaping the culture of unforgiveness, extreme judgment, and complete hysteria that they’ve sowed.
Congrats, everyone! Looks like we’ve all accomplished... nothing. It’s always great to see real political issues subordinated to utter nonsense like this in the news media. But, I wouldn’t expect anything better from garbage newspapers like this which helped elect Trump through non-stop coverage of unimportant nonsense. Hooray for our country.
5
These two Democrats are praying for each other!!?? How's that going to help? It's highly unlikely that "God"or any other non earthly agency has any interest in their previous regrettable behaviours or their increasingly tenuous political futures. Better to pay attention to the worldly advice of the majority of "God's" Democrats and reign immediately.
2
While we are second-guessing the appropriateness of everyone's behavior 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, I call far all people who have ever blackface'd themselves to send in their photos to the Times, for collating and publication.
Are we all evil people?
I don't think so. It's more complicated than that. And for many of us, there has been a lot that has changed since, both in society and in ourselves.
Yes, we have vicious racists and hatemongers in our society, most notably in the White House.
It is up to the introverts to recognize it in ourselves, for the rest, it is up to the integrity of society to provide leadership.
Now where's that photo?
29
@Marc
I think maybe I'm having a disconnect here. As a white man I can't imagine, and never imagined, dressing up in mockery as a black man. You say everybody does/did it. Even growing up in a very rural part of northern NY State, where we were isolated from and ignorant about a diversity of subjects and people, where there was a lot of racism, I've never met a single person, nor seen anyone who ever dressed up in blackface. Assuming your post is made in good faith, we must live in different worlds.
12
@Marc : I take you at your word that I believe you do represent those who through immaturity or ignorance may have done similar things in the past; without any more thought to it than a gag, a laugh, some stupid teenage prank. Fine. But I cannot help but feel; even if this is all true; that it speaks to a profound ignorance and lack of understanding somehow that is ingrained in the history and culture of the U.S. that ignores the sins and pain of racism of the past. Only when the U.S. finally recognizes how slavery played such a huge part of your nation`s history; and the real suffering it still causes to this day; will this sort of stupid behavior stop.
6
@Marc
To add to the two preceding replies, which I agree, one major concern everyone must consider is that Virginia is in the South and since the end of our US Civil War (1865), the Southern Democrats have had to make major behavorial changes. Do not be surprised if there are more Southern Democrats and some Republicans who will have the "Blackface" issue come up.
You may remember Megan Kelley getting fired for bringing up "Blackface" and she got skewed by the left and ultimately fired. She did receive $65 million. Megan tried to have an "englightened" discussion on the subject. Our society has become so entrenched in someone first being found guilty rather than first being presumed innocent, lack of due process. Mob rule!
It is time for our society to remember what Jesus basically stated, "those without sin throw the first stone." Based upon humans the past is what it was, and we look to the future. It was the Democrats that preached total perfection and now it is coming back to bite them. The Democrats in Virginia and elsewhere for doing "Blackface" many years ago should not resign. As for the sexual allegation, this should be vented.
3
1968?? 50+ years ago? Seriously? This is the definition of "slippery slope".
3
I think the DEMS have unleashed the fire of Zealot purity which will consume all in its path. Its time to let age old transgressions be forgiven.
How many teenager in 1984 were fully aware of what black face were. Could it be possible, that putting polish on ones face in 1980 to appear like Oprah or Michael wasn't the same intent as vaudeville in 1940
3
What is the context of the blackface appearance? If neither Northam or Herring has behaved in a racist manner subsequently let history lie. We are far too hung up on historical crime. This strikes me as a trumped up controversy to stick it to Democratic leadership in Virginia.
There's a Capital One ad with the slogan, "What's in your wallet?"
Today, we should ask, "What's in your yearbook?"
If teenagers and college youths are to be held accountable and responsible, even much later in their lives, for all their acts then lower the voting age, drinking age, tobacco-purchase age and other such legal matters that require you to be 18 or 21 or older.
The laws are there to help protect them from their own bad decisions. Or what adults who supposedly know better think is a bad decision.
Yes, a student at a medical school should know better, so please don't pick apart my comments above. I am talking about the others who did stupid things in college and high school.
3
Dems seem to have quite the problem with their own petard here. Interesting to see if and how they work it out.
7
No matter what one thinks of the puerile pictures that mock other races, one thing remains true: white males control the vast amount of the USA's capital in its various forms. They own the corporations that decide what to do with this capital and they also dominate the legislative process. Change that fact of our status quo, if you can, and you will be doing the real heavy lifting.
5
Oh, there’s a republican involved. Now I know it’s bad and now I know they should all resign. It was different when it was my team, but if both teams get hurt, then I’ll settle for a draw.
Our problem is we look at the party of whoever did something rather than what they did. The standard is whether its your team or not - that’s not exactly a worthy standard.
It would be nice if people maybe didn’t disparage or stereotype each other’s ethnicities, but I guess that’s a Little Too Radical for our stupid time. Let’s worry about damage control and electoral maps instead of learning why this former cultural norm is completely unacceptable. Kids are watching. Teach to avoid blame, or teach to respect and right from wrong?
4
Overlooking the opportunity to peform the moonwalk after a 35 year dance contest absence, it was Northam's insistent use of the adjective "horrific" before the noun "photograph" that signalled his insincerity. A priest burning himself alive is horrific. A dead child off the coast of Turkey is horrific. The Twin Towers burning is horrific. A black and white photo he chose to put in a yearbook "horrific", especially after advising the public about the perils of too much shoe polish on one's face? And as for Fairfax- who would ever sincerely demand that someone publicly accusing him of sexual assault "be treated with respect"? I would use all the power I had to scream my innocence from the courts to the press conference and through social media throughout. "Treat with respect"?That alone screams guilt. One may as well now resort to robots to represent the People.
3
Isn't this just the latest example where we use the values of today to judge people's deeds and actions from 30 years ago; 40 years ago; 60 years ago?
As abhorrent as it might be to people today, the fact that a photo of students in black face was even allowed to be published speaks volumes to how different our view on race and what constituted an act of racism was back then.
These politicians should stay until someone can show evidence that they actually engaged in racist acts based on the norms and values of the time. As public figures, this should be easy to do.
Finally, Governor George Wallace of Alabama was one of the worst racists of his day. The actions of the Virginians pale in comparison to what Wallace did in his day. But he did a complete 180, and before he died, enjoyed the political support of many in the black community.
5
Sorry, but I lived in Virginia from 1978 until 2003. In the 1980’s I attended university in Richmond, Virginia. In no way at that time was it considered ok to wear either blackface, or a KKK costume. Only some of the good old boys and their more-moneyed ilk thought that to do so was “funny”. It was quite obvious to me, and to other Virginians at that time that dressing in this way carried a message of both superiority and of not caring about the difficult history of the state.
4
So now Virginia citizens, what are you going to do about this lingering hatred in your midst, embodied by those you voted for? The letter from a northerner (perhaps how Democrats have any power in the State at all) paints a picture of Virginia in recent times...and it is not pretty. And now it seems in so many under the surface ways the past is very much alive in your State. How will this be fixed once & for all is the question?
1
So much understanding here in the comments. No doubt the attitude would be the same irrespective of party affiliation.
5
I feel sorry for the people of Virginia. To have the top 4 state legislators all either be racist or potentially sexist. The state of Virginia has 8.5 million people: why of those millions did they end up with the worst of batch? No doubt there were men and women of the same age group growing up in similar circumstances as these four who weren't racist or sexist. Elect someone from that group.
2
Using blackface in an attempt to intimidate blacks would be wrong. But using blackface in and of itself should not be considered wrong. After all, we use all sorts of makeup in movies. And makeup has been used in opera for centuries.
I have a confession to make. I love the music in Mozart's Magic Flute. I know this isn't politically correct. Various academics have criticized the opera as sexist and racist, the charge of racism stemming from the unsympathetic treatment of the character Monostatos who portrays a Moor with a sexual attraction to the heroine in the opera.
But when I listen to the opera, it is the music I hear, not the plot, which I regard as ridiculous. I don't Mozart himself took the plot that seriously.
As a society we seem to look for racism everywhere. And that blinds us to the rich tapestry of life, most of which has virtually nothing to do with race.
Why can't we move on? Blackface is no longer needed because we so many other forms of makeup that give more realistic portrayals. It isn't needed.
What it does do is distract from issues that Democrats should be talking about. For example, why does the US STILL not have a path towards universal health care? Why is the life expectancy of Americans at the bottom of the income distribution declining? Why are so many Americans in poverty?
This emphasis on political correctness 35 years after the event seems sanctimonious. And it reflects a party that is AFRAID to discuss the real issues.
6
I'm not even an American, but a 60-something Brit; so my understanding of American culture and history is probably inferior to that of most of those commenting here. But given that the civil rights movement was a source of huge conflict in the South through the 1960s, it's pretty obvious that these politicians will have grown up in an environment in which casual racism was commonplace.
In my own country in the 1960s there was still a popular show on the BBC in prime time called "The Black and White Minstrel Show". All the "black" actors were in blackface. I watched it with my parents (who loved it, incidentally). As a ten year-old knowing nothing of Jim Crow and very little of the history of British Imperialism it never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with it. When I went to college in the early 70s I was more aware, but still extremely naive. I'm quite sure that I was oblivious to a host of consciously and unconsciously racist practices that would strike me as totally unacceptable today.
My point being that I'm not a racist, indeed I'm passionately egalitarian, but I grew up in a place and time in which racism was normal. As a teen I told and laughed at racist and sexist jokes that would disgust me today. I'd hesitate to condemn Northam etc. purely for errors of judgement made 40 years ago when few of their friends, or even mentors, would have seen anything wrong with their behaviour.
16
Yesterday, I visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. It is deeply disturbing to hear of this confirmation that a cross-section of apparently decent American politicians once openly expressed racist beliefs. In the midst of public outcry, apologists propose that these public leaders have changed. Let's not forget that there were periods in German history when social mores allowed Jews to prosper and to live well within the fabric of society. Subsequent events made it clear that the time in which the Frank family enjoyed middle class respectability in Germany was not brought about by lasting change but only by a temporary inhibition of centuries-old suspicion and hatred. Meaningful change is something entirely different.
2
Many of the comments here assume that the choices Democrats make in Virginia will establish national standards. This should not be the case.
At a national level we have a larger pool of candidates to draw from; we have greater resources for vetting those candidates before elections. We can demand a higher standard of our elected officials at a national level.
I don’t envy Virginians this decision. I suspect they may need to wait out a generation of politicians before they can find *anyone* who meets their current, justifiably high standards. But they shouldn’t have to bear the responsibility for our national standards on top of the burdens they already bear.
2
Who is running in 2020? I will let you then who I am voting for. As an independent, I vote for the individual. I don't think any of these guys will be on the ballet by then.
2
Gov and Lt. Gov are done as to future prospects.
AG may have a future.
As long as he is part of the trio, he's stuck in the twilight zone.
His only option for a political future is to cut himself loose from the other two and hope that time heals.
By resigning he could even say that he was doing it for the party.
Even if he were to become governor now, he would be under a cloud that will not lift.
If he wants a political future, his only real option is to resign.
2
As far as I understand it, none of these men have committed impeachable offenses. The people of Virginia should decide, through whatever legal process is available to them, whether they want these men to continue to represent them.
Anything else is a failure of our democratic processes and institutions. We cannot have politicians being forced out by media outcries, even when some of the individuals, such as Northam, acknowledge their actions WHICH WERE NOT CRIMINAL, and we certainly cannot have politicians forced out of office based on allegations alone. This would jeopardize our democracy.
9
I wonder how many other Times readers, like myself, rejoiced when Florida's former felons regained the right to vote last year.
Voting is the means by which citizens exercise their responsibility to participate in their communities. Returning the right to vote to felons is a way of integrating them back into the community once they have paid their debt to society.
If they should desire to participate further in their communities by running for elected office I would welcome that, and in most parts of the country former felons are allowed to hold elected office.
If a man committed a crime in his youth, but served his time and reformed, if he rejoined the community and became civically involved, I would welcome that with open arms. I think many of us more Liberal minded people would. If that person were to engage in decades of good works and want to pursue public office, that would be a great, positive thing.
Isn't that something we should encourage? Isn't that in line with our values?
8
This is voter suppression - albeit retroactive - pure and simple. The Dems who started it now need to stop it by saying they support election results as the bedrock of democracy and the ultimate arbiter.
Meantime, all politicians need to stop treating elected office as a steppingstone. Serve out the terms your constituents have elected you to serve. Then, move on if you like. Uphold your oath of office. It’s very simple.
2
Just thinking outside the box here, but in high school the varsity football team (I didn’t play football) apparently so thoroughly disgusted the head coach in one of the latter games of the season that he decided to switch the JV and Varsity squads for the rest of the year.
Are there any unpaid interns or staffers who might be willing to just occupy a few empty chairs until the next election cycle for these people? Sort of like seat-fillers at the Academy Awards? If they’re unsure about any decisions they have to make, they can just stall by running off to South America for a while like that one Governor (I think it was one of the Carolinas). Sure, not much would get done in Virginia, but I get the sense not much is getting done right now anyway...
1
I am an independent who voted for Fairfax, Herring, and Northam. I enjoyed participating in the recent VA elections that thrashed Republicans.
Like many, I have a strong opinion whether Fairfax, Herring, and Northam should stay or go. I will not share that here. It is not as important to me as my conviction that they should have fair due process.
It seems that democrats might be turning away from their more recent off-with-their-heads antics. Time will tell and maybe I will become one. Here is hoping so.
6
In America the most heinous crimes can be committed yet the perpetuator despite clear evidence confirming his/her guilt, are free from prosecution due to a Statute of Limitations absolving them of any consequences by their action.
In America the most heinous crimes can be committed yet a Police Officer, often despite the clearest evidence confirming his/her guilt, is often not prosecuted or if a trial IS held , in 90% of cases ruled Not Guilty by a Jury (often for reasons not even relating to the evidence or the action taken, but because of prejudice and/or the flawed thinking of the role or position Police hold or are held in by many members of society)
Further to that...In the separate civil case regarding the Officer's "action" and damages are demanded, the City or Office responsible to the Officer often NEVER contest and will pay out millions in compensation to the victims family/spouse suggesting that someone is guilty of causing loss that demands millions in compensation which is paid out...yet the perpetrator was/is absolved of any guilt or there actions justified within the purview of their job/function.
YET...a respected high ranking Official or Politician can lose their job, reputation and security for dressing up in Blackface at a private party or function at college or university in their youth 30-40 years ago.
Whilst offensive and disrespectful it's not on par with REAL crimes that have been committed yet this carries a greater punishment than many of them.
2
The people of Virginia are going to have to make some decisions - and are also going to have to acknowledge that in the not too distant past it was apparently quite common and acceptable for racist imagery to be placed in college year books, for people to dress up and use blackface. The GOP lawmaker who was in charge in editing his college year book can't get off the hook by saying he didn't appear in any of the photos - clearly the standard was if a photo or comment was submitted to these year books, no matter how offensive and racist they were, they were published. I find this to be equally as troubling as the fact they were submitted. Why did these fellow college students feel it was acceptable to place these in a year book for all to see and for all eternity? The citizens of Virginia are the ones who need to decide what to do about this situation - but I also think they should be pragmatic. They can use it as a moment of self examination. They could have some earnest and honest discussions about the racist history of the state, and how these things hurt their fellow citizens. And they can ask themselves what will be accomplished by the Governor and Attorney General resigning -will they be happier with the GOP in control? Will the policies they seek now be put forward? Many people of a certain age in Virginia, if they are honest, probably know they too committed acts or made statements they certainly would be ashamed to acknowledge today.
1
Doesn't anyone understand that this is Virginia.
Dont misunderstand me. I like Virginia. it is a beautiful state and I have friends and relatives who live there. But Virginia's history is the history of the United States. And that history includes slavery. And we haven't really come to grips with that after all these years. There are generations of Americans who believed that people of color were sub human. And their discrimination lasted long after the Civil Rights Act. It was wrong. But it happened. And we will be hard pressed to find anyone who didnt do something that they are ashamed of and wouldn't think of doing again.
3
In the future, parents are going to be very, very careful about their children's Halloween costumes - especially if they hope for them to have a life of public service.
Ok, so now senior officials in both parties are implicated in past alleged racist behavior, which should hardly be a surprise. Either they all go or none go. Left is the sexual abuse allegation against the Lieutenant Governor, which needs to be investigated and fully vetted. Virginia’s past is nothing to be proud of — and even its present, Charlottesville as a center for demonstrations of racial hatred — betrays a troubling continuing undercurrent. Virginia has some work to do on both scores, but one doubts resignations are the whole or even part of the solution.
12
I fear for Virginia. Resignation demands based on 1969-80's reprehensible but old photos dragged up into the light is a symptom of a bigger problem. Reason has been replaced by outrage, fear, and shame as the primary mode of political discourse. Fake news? How can one tell when passion is the arbiter of truth?
I fear for Virginia when a single 30 year old photograph is enough to drive it into discarding its elected leadership. Reason tells us that early behavior cannot be an inevitable predictor of later behavior for to believe so clearly disregards the value of life experience, education, and/or rehabilitation. We know the reverse is absurd. If someone behaves badly today, a 30 year old yearbook of upstanding character would not be exculpatory.
Reason doesn't make certain that these leaders have changed. It does demand that we discover if it has. So when an old photo triggers resignation demands, they can be nothing but soundbites designed to create and then ride a wave of outrage. They feed upon and perpetuate this very damaging way our political system, if not culture, is operating, on emotion alone rather than with any reasoning at all.
The same can be said for Fairfax and Tyson. Without a single thought both have little but humiliation as the media entertains the public with their distress.
I fear for Virginia if not for all of us.
31
You might as well fear for reality, truth, women and democracy. Personally, I am in favor of each one.
1
When people are elected to public office they should only be removed from public office for criminal or impeachable behavior. Otherwise we risk undermining our democratic institutions.
The people of Virginia have elected Northam as their governor. For a limited number of individuals, (party leaders, news media editors...) to force resignations is to flout the voting rights of Virginia's voters. If Virginia's voters want Northam to resign then let them follow whatever legal process is in place for that purpose.
This is a basic principle and though I vote DEM I believe it applies across the board.
If we fail to respect our defined political processes then we risk descending into a chaotic situation. Everybody elected to public office will find themselves in a state of constant investigation. The smallest lapse (I'm NOT saying Northam's is small) of judgment will be seized upon to make distracting calls for resignations. Even false allegations of crimes will become very common because the allegation alone will be enough to force a person from office.
This would effectively be the end of democracy. It would be rule by blackmailers.
31
This would be something like the president shutting down the government on the say-so of a couple of fringe media "personalities". We cannot let a few people, no matter how powerful in their way, make decisions that overrule our democratic elections. even for a "good" reason. The voters in Virginia have to decide how to go forward.
As a lifelong Democrat, I’ve had it with the purity politics the party seems to have adopted, especially since there is a serious problem with hypocrisy about the whole thing—hypocrisy which is about to implode and destroy the party if the Dems can’t stop with their knee-jerk outrage even when the alleged transgression happened decades prior to its revelation.
It is egregiously hypocritical for the Party to condemn these men at the same time they go to bat to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their parole, as has happened in numerous states and is being promoted in more states. There is nothing wrong with this position. Ex-felons should be given the opportunity to prove themselves changed and responsible citizens. Forgiveness should be the standard, not lifelong scorn. In Florida and elsewhere, this decision was of particular importance to African-Americans.
The men caught up in the Virginia “scandal” should also be given forgiveness for choices they made 25 years ago or more especially since they have since then consistently promoted equal rights. Nobody should be judged and found forever guilty for the worst thing they ever did in their life. What have we come to? This is so much like that long ago episode in our history, which most of us have since denounced, when people were asked “are you now—or have you ever been—a member of the Communist Party?” Let’s remember history and stop this madness.
41
I cannot believe that the comments making light of these racist actions keep coming, keep getting all this support, keep rationalizing what was done. Is it so impossible to recognize that these actions reflect our country’s racist and slaveholding past, and continuing inequality and bigotry? Blackface was wrong in 1999, 1984, 1884, 1854, 2013. It’s part of who we have been as a nation. A little honesty and humility might be in order, to begin to see a way out and up from where we have been.
9
@Lenore
Yes it was wrong, But that doesn't mean that Northam should resign because of an incident that occurred 35 years ago. There is no evidence that he displayed racial animus thereafter. We have all done things that are wrong in our life. He could have handled it better, but I suspect that he was quite in a state of shock and flummoxed as to how to deal with it. We are all fallible, and none could withstand the scrutiny of every utterance or action we may have ever engaged in, especially at a young age. I'd like to see the same scrutiny of all those who are on the bandwagon demanding his resignation, a frenzy of lemmings.
4
@Lenore - Blackface is wrong.
But it's not an impeachable offense. It is also wrong, and an affront to our democratic institutions for party leaders and news editors to try to force out people who have been elected to public office. The people who should decide whether Northam and his team stay are Virginia's voters and ONLY Virginia's voters. If one of them commits an impeachable offense, then let the law take its course.
Anything else is destructive of Democracy.
2
I have written elsewhere that far to many Anericans older than 45 have harbored racist sentiments during their lives. Attitudes of society and individuals changes over time. If we try to judge present leaders by their behavior of 20 or more years ago we might have trouble finding leaders qualified to govern. we need to judge people by their present attitudes and behavior.
12
It's not really fair to use today's social standards with what happened in the 60s-80s, when social standards were totally different.
In the 60s to early 80s smoking cigarettes in the office was standard, being gay was a crime, women were discouraged from leadership roles, drunk driving was not a sin.... And of course blackface in certain regions of the country was common.
It's great that we as a society have evolved and gotten better. But is right to punish those who behaved differently 30-plus years ago when social norms were radically different?
30
They were not different in 1984. Blackface and KKK hoods were wrong then and they’re wrong now
2
NO. He didn't use a profanity to "describe her claims." He used a profanity to describe her. For god's sake, stop protecting him.
11
I believe that the allegations against the Governor of Virginia are too insignificant to force him from the governorship to which he was elected by the people of Virginia. As to the allegations against the Lt. Governor, the accusations of Dr. Vanessa C. Tyson, she waited 13 years, until 2017 before mentioning the alleged incident to anyone. Anyone who is an adult who doesn't report a major sexual crime to anyone for 13 years has waived their rights to attack the alleged perpetrator. I say this about every single adult who is not under the control of the attacker, and this lady was not under his control.
You can't have it both ways. If a person wants to be considered worthy of acting as a major member of society, they must be able to stand up for themselves when something evil happens to them. If they can't do that, and wait many years to act, society must abide by the legal statutes of limitations for bringing actions. If not, why not eliminate those statutes of limitations for all crimes and civil wrongs and start listing to cases where the witnesses are long dead or their memories faulty.
As to the wearing of blackface, just look at a list on the internet of all the people who have acted in blackface and you'll see how ridiculous it is to hold people responsible for offending current individuals with acts that were done thirty (35) years ago.
Finally, the Democrats will throw away the coming election with their zero tolerance policies.
15
And have we looked at leaders in other states? Is this limited to just Virginia?
4
Finally, maybe, this country is beginning to realize how deeply embedded and pervasive discrimation against people of color has been. These politicians in Virginia don’t appear to be racists as many understand and use that term, but their “youthful follies” show how so many of us white folks have failed to understand the demeaning and harmful impact such behavior has on those who are not white. This is not about “political correctness.” It’s about realizing the message such actions convey. These men are paying a price for what they did when they were much younger, but it does not equal the price so many nonwhite people have paid for being seen as less than equal.
7
Entitlement. White privilege. Male privilege. Racism. Sexism.
Can anybody add them up and not wonder whether we need to save our culture by supporting brave, compassionate, honest and strong women into every possible position of power? And keep doing it until this staggering ship is righted?
They are systemic, endemic, toxic and fatal for our country.
7
People wonder why so many millions of Americans have abandoned both parties and are now independents. Suddenly now that Democrats are involved, there are calls for due process. And calls for context and forgiveness and redemption. All of which are valid. Every US citizen, regardless of status, deserves due process. But it is a severe double-standard. Dems seem to have sometimes abandoned civil liberties. And does racist behavior matter or not? Or does it depend solely on the political party of the person involved?
Washington Post deemed nearly every allegation about Kavanaugh as newsworthy and published them, with less corroboration than allegation against Fairfax. And unlike Dr. Ford, accuser versus Mr. Fairfax has date, time, location, etc. And in contrast to Dr. Ford's allegations, accuser versus Mr. Fairfax is alleging an actual crime. However improper the behavior described, still not clear what Dr. Ford alleged vs Kavanaugh is a crime since based on what she said, all clothes remained on & there was no sexual contact. But Washington Post spiked the story against Mr. Fairfax until they were forced to deal with it when smaller website reported it.
This constant double standard of treating people differently based on their political party runs the danger of weakening and diluting all charges of racism and sexual harassment and assault. Democrats Gil Cisneros, Keith Ellison, etc., somehow justified intervention to mansplain that the woman "misunderstood."
10
It troubles me that pictures of blackface 35 and 50 years ago are seen as more important than rape.
11
I think Mr. Northam would have done better if he simply said, 'I did it, it was wrong, it was part of the culture I was part of at the time. I have changed since then. I apologize, and ask to be judged by who I am now and who I have been when I ran for office.'
17
@EdBx - That is pretty much what he said in his video apology which you can find on his Twitter feed on February 1. As far as I know it has not been completely reported in the NYT. So I've transcribed it and copied it below.
---
My fellow Virginians,
Earlier today I released a statement apologizing for behavior in my past that falls far short of the standard you set for me when you elected me to be your governor.
I believe you deserve to hear directly from me. That photo and the racist and offensive attitudes it represents does not reflect the person I am today or the way that I have conducted myself as a soldier, a doctor, and a public servant.
I am deeply sorry. I cannot change the decisions I made nor can I undo the harm my behavior caused then and today. But I accept responsibility for my past actions and I am ready to do the hard work of regaining your trust.
I have spent the past year as your governor for a Virginia that works better for all people. I am committed to continuing that fight through the remainder of my term and living up to the expectations you have set for me when you elected me to serve.
Thank you.
---
It seems to me he has accepted full and unequivocal responsibility for actions he describes as "racist and offensive".
I strongly encourage readers to go to 1st sources, such as individuals' Twitter feeds or videos of their entire speeches. Even high quality news sources such as the NYT often slant information their way by skillful "editing".
14
I wish al Franken had called him and said"stop right there", but he didnt and I see gov northam as a deer csught in the headlights,, not knowing how to extricate himself from the glare of the likes of the purity squad. this man brought Medicaid and amazon to Virginia. nuff said. think his misinterpreted views on late term abortion is what really caused the photos to emerge. and BTW, maybe the kluxer was a woman. he apologized and Michael Jackson tragically with plastic surgery tried to appear white. enough already. Oh, al Franken really was 'a Giant of the senate' and I miss him. Kirsten Gillibrand, not so much.
I've been thinking about this for days... I'm not sure the rest of the country is aware just how things were in Richmond, VA in 1984. I'm from the north but went to Richmond, VA for graduate school. After graduation my family went to the Tobacco Company Restaurant for dinner, where we shared the restaurant with many high school students going to their proms in the counties around Richmond (Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield). The teenage girls were all wearing hoop skirt prom dresses that looked they were from Gone with the Wind and the boys were wearing Confederate Uniforms, some wore dress uniforms and some wore field uniforms, complete with hats.
My family and I were surprised and disgusted by the attire and found it inappropriate.
I find it strange now that the people of Virginia are "shocked" about the blackface and other racist things in the news since in 1984 no one appeared to see it or reject it.
I think if all the people who attended these proms or wore blackface were honest about what life was like in central VA in 1984, it would affect many, many, many more Virginians.
Things in Richmond, VA have changed a great deal since 1984 but to make real change, I think everyone first needs to honest about who they were and what they wore in 1984.
192
@NYWIVA as late as 2000, my wife and I (visiting Vicksburg MS) encountered a similar scene with boys dressed as Confederate Officers and girls as Southern Bells. We were checking in and came upon this scene of a cotillion - with Confederate Battle Flags around too. Things have not changed much at all.
28
@Terry McKenna so are you saying that those boys can’t honor their forebearers? The confederacy wasn’t just about slavery there is a lot more to it than that. In particular when one sees the behemoth that the federal govt has become since 1860...
6
@Dom
I'm sorry, but I for one believe the attack on Fort Sumpter was an attack on the United States of America. I also believe that if R.E. Lee was not half the man that Sam Houston. One stood firmly on the side of the USA, and the other was from Virginia.
3
You can hate the sin but love the sinner. Forgiveness and healing for all of us would work better than casting out a man who made a mistake. Give him a chance to make it right. The Democratic Party needs to avoid setting up high expectations for "perfect Democrats", high expectations could lead to big disappointments. Let the perfect Democrat throw the first stone.
16
@Bill Evans: I agree. But it bothers me that initially he said he was in the photo, and then said he wasn't. That's more troubling to me than had he stayed consistent with his story and simply apologizing.
2
So, even a list of succession up to depth 4,5 may not be safe these days. Something is wrong, but this might be a good occasion to double-check the one for the US Presidency.
5
We’re in the midst of a civics lesson on race relations in America, especially in the Old Confederacy. I encountered it first-hand when I arrived at Duke University in 1967 for my first academic job. The Duke housing office listings had mostly red stars indicating “whites only” and job postings in store windows carried the same discriminatory message. There was even a Ku Klux Klan billboard outside of Raleigh. One would have hoped such blatant racism would disappear in the decades since, but Jesse Helms and now the political leaders of Virginia have proved otherwise. We may never eradicate race prejudice, but we can start by eradicating the symbols like those in the photos, Confederate statues, and the “stars and bars” on state flags that lend it public support.
10
Sliver Streak with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in blackface mimicking stereotypical black behavior of the times. We all laughed.
I don't know how we should treat politicians who grew up in that era whose similar behavior gets unveiled, but it seems to me we need to take it with some perspective of the past and realization how most of us have changed in the intervening decades.
The past does count and those who committed insensitive acts need to prove they have cleaned up their acts and beg for Grace. In the meantime, there are boatloads of racists who actively practice their hatred from positions of power. It's a tough call, and why don't we clean up the house of the present before we dig up old skeletons?
16
@Plumberb - "Perspective" does not seem to be one of our strong points at the moment.
7
@Plumberb:
Cleaning up the saturation of persistent racism in the PRESENT is the fundamental first step towards expungement of the sordid past, which still persists to justify institutionalized racism.
Frankly, any hope for genuine, fundamental, and lasting change in the South is about as likely as Santa Claus becoming real.
Sad. Bigly sad.
It isn’t a crisis for Republicans, as the title implies. This one is all Democrat.
12
@Larry fine people on both sides
I'm a Republican, and I would love to see the top three Democrats get toppled in Virginia and a Republican to assume the governorship, but let's slow down. Digging up dirt from 30 years ago isn't a battle that either side should want to get into. All of us have made mistakes in the past, but most of us are fortunate enough to not have the past scrutinized and dug up. Perhaps these three should resign, but trying to judge the past through the eye of the present is a dangerous game.
18
It's not okay to have ever posed in Blackface or in/with someone in KKK robe. And yes, it was a while ago, but they were adults! Not children at the time. An adult in medical school posed in this picture. And now, after all this, was almost ready to moon walk on stage while he was being questioned about it. Is that the sign of someone who understands the gravity of what he did? This is a person who is making decisions for the public. They need to represent everyone. And who cares if most of their policies are progressive. This sends a message loud and clear that this behavior is okay on some level. When you represent the people, it's never okay.
9
@Sarah:
Well stated. Unfortunately, when one is essentially marinated in racism from the womb and on into adulthood, truly, effectively experiencing a sea change in one's beliefs is extremely unlikely. Consequently the attitudes and mores are continuously passed down, consciously and not, unto the generations to come.
Sad. Bigly sad.
2
No comparing to Trump and saying he is worse. That is WAY too low a bar.
5
Weel, it is absurd for the GOP guy to suggest that he can distance himself from the racist photos. He was the MANAGING EDITOR. He saw everything-or should have-and he could have cut anything he wanted.
Let's face it- that was VMI in those days.
Having said that, Fairfax is the Big Story right now. The woman has come forward and identified herself. Her statement is full of detail.
National Dems are calling for an investigation-but who would do that? The charge is that it happened 14 years ago in Massachusetts. Is it a Boston PD matter?
Fairfax is not up for anything that would put him in front of a Committee of the Va House. Of course, there might be some sort of Government Oversight Committee but the GOP runs the VA House and they do not want to be seen as a driving force here.
What a mess.
5
why didn't Dr. Tyson speak up earlier?
How fair is that to the electorate?
1
@David, she did speak up earlier. The Washington Post refused to report it, even though, unlike several Kavanaugh accusers, including Dr. Ford, Dr. Tyson had date, time, event, location, etc. It was only after a smaller website for the information and published it that the Washington Post finally had to deal with it instead of suppressing the story.
16
@David,
She did. An aide to Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) confirmed Wednesday that the congressman learned details of an allegation of sexual assault against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D-VA) over a year ago.
8
@GRH - I'm not familiar with the details. Maybe you are. At the time that she spoke up earlier, was she identifying herself publicly or maintaining her anonymity? If she was maintaining her anonymity did this play any part in whether WaPo's editors might have chosen not to report it?
In the early '80s I moved to Richmond for grad school. I majored in the arts. It would never have occurred to anyone in my (primarily white) peer group to dress up in blackface. The only way I can understand this perverse "antic" is to imagine it through the lens of those privileged, entitled young white men, whether Republican or Democrat, who found themselves in med school or perhaps business school--i.e., in positions of eventual power.
What drives such a perverse need to flaunt this power and privilege? What kind of relief valve did it serve for these students? Weren't they already fortunate enough?
5
@day owl
Exactly. They owned the world and they knew it.
3
The voters of Virginia should decide whether Northam should resign, not pontificators in the media or democratic officials out of the state.
5
@dba:
It's all too apparent that the voters involved in this situation are themselves still mired in what can only be described as willful ignorance.
One hopes that as new generations rise to take the place of their elders a degree of enlightenment may come to the front. Then again, it's those same elders who will be raising this offspring, so my own optimism for the rejection of racism is likely misplaced.
Sad. Bigly sad.
I am a Democrat, and I believe that they should all resign and the sexual assault should be taken seriously.
There is no excuse for racism or sexual assault. As a party, Democrats need to take the same stand against these issues whether those accused are Republican or Democrat. If Democrats are truly against these issues, and take them as seriously as we preach as a party, we need to take a stand against these actions no matter the political preference of those accused.
If these were Republicans, the Democratic Party would be outraged. I'm ashamed of those who have not spoken out.
9
@Katie - So if you believe they all should resign for acts that are not considered impeachable offenses, then does it not matter that this would be denying the voters of Virginia the representation in government that they have chosen for themselves? This basically steals the election results from the voters. Do you think perhaps the voters of Virginia should have a say in this?
1
Is it really a crisis ? Maybe " accusations gone wild" can become a video series for the new left . It was a political opportunity to depose an old white guy but the new African American liberal turned out to have worse current day behavior. Now it is just a wild set of yearbook black faces and comedy skits that were not funny but now are just career ending offensive for politicians.
If people care to print and talk about misbehavior it is there - the press hides it for convenience for some political figures they like a lot.
Shows you that if you dig enough all politician have some dirt and yearbooks from 30 years prior is desperate digging.
3
@Confussed:
What almost certainly eludes you -- and shall always -- is the simple truth that those who feel racism is a acceptable under ANY circumstances are the same folk who will inevitably pass on these utterly unacceptable attitudes to their own offspring, perpetuating the toxins.
Ironically (or, rather, pathetically) such folk are conveniently ignorant of their roll role in propagating and sustaining such antagonism in our society.
There was once a saying that would be particularly useful in these times:
"United We Stand, Divided We Fall" . . . Perhaps distasteful to you, this is intended to apply to ALL of us: ubiquitous unity of men, women and, yes, children, regardless of color or creed. So long as we persist in denigrating any class or group of our citizenry, so are we The Problem.
As it is, we as a society have begun to take a slippery slope, driven by the politics of exclusion.
Ah well, inevitably all republics eventually fall, collapsing under their own weight of inner conflict and societal vilification.
As Rome went, so shall we.
Sad. Bigly sad.
The Va Pilot published a letter from a fellow EVMS 1985 graduate who said he not only never saw his yearbook, he never picked out any pictures for it. Quite likely pranks were pulled.
I, too have dressed in black face. Once for a skit at a large Baptist church and again for a skit at my Jr. High. Segregation was the law. Now, I have the most adorable (biracial) grandkids in the world. IMO
14
Enough already! Blackface at one time, while in bad taste, was all too common but put into context, forgivable in my book as an outdated anomaly. Now a KKK outfit is quite another matter and never forgivable because it never meant anything other than murder and terror. OK...let’s acknowledge our past mistakes and, barring any recent recurring racist behavior, let the Southerners who profess contrition and have shown a pattern of support for progressive legislation, move forward. Let's GET OVER THIS and move on because there's work to be done and we cannot turn every white man below the Mason-Dixon Line into an enemy.
10
If people who turned out to be democrats were wearing blackface in the 80s, imagine what the less enlightened southern population was doing in the 80s. And who really cares? Lousy judgment in your 20s doesnt outweigh the subsequent 40 years..
8
This seems like the perfect storm here.
Social media justice, generating more heat than light, has little room for context; nuance is always drowned out by the strident, in 140 character intervals.
Let's turn back the clock though. The movie "Soul Man" came out in 1986, in which the main character C. Thomas Howell dressed in blackface to take advantage of affirmative action. (True, the film torpedoed Howell's career...) But it wasn't the only film to use blackface as comedic fodder around this time. Eddie Murphy's blockbuster comedy "Trading Places" (1983) had a blackface scene with Dan Aykroyd. Neil Diamond's performance in "The Jazz Singer" (1980) - the film set in the present, not the 20s. George Peppard's blackface scene in "The A-Team" in the early 1980s. Liz Taylor in "Young Toscanini" (1988). Gene Wilder' in "Silver Streak" (1976). Pat Paulson on the Merv Griffin show (1974). Bernard Bresslaw in "Carry on Up The Jungle" (1970). Lawrence Olivier as "Othello" (the film) in 1965. Step back another 15 years, the floodgates really open. We also forget that blackface minstrel shows continued into the early 70s in some parts of rural America.
Does this make what Northam did okay? Of course not. It was shameful. But everyone has done regrettable things when young. I don't know the man, but I think it's safe to say Northam has evolved, as most of us have. We should judge him for that - positively.
Sometimes I think the Democrats would rather be "right" than in power.
22
As a long-time resident of VA, I doubt that any white powerful politician over the age of 40 who was born in VA could avoid this issue. I would include Democrats and Republicans in the mix. My son went to Robert E. Lee HS, in Fairfax County we still have the Jefferson Davis Highway, the Alexandria high school is named after a anti-integration Alexandria school superintendent named T.C. Williams (yes, Remember the Titans!). That's just the start: the official name of the M.L. King holiday was the Jackson-Lee-King Day until 2000, when they split them into two holidays (that there is still a Jackson-Lee Day speaks volumes). I could go on.
There's enough dirt to throw around and if one starts it may never end. It also explains why the Republicans (with the exception of Trump who has no clue as to Virginia's history) are so quiet: the next landmine going off may have anyone's name on it.
25
@Phil
" I doubt that any white powerful politician over the age of 40 who was born in VA could avoid this issue"
That is rather the point.
Except to some, apparently the conclusion to be drawn is, "So let's just not worry about it." Whereas others are concluding, "Exactly. So throw the bums out."I
1
Perhaps instead of all of us, the media, and DEM party insiders deciding whether these men should resign we should leave it to the will of the Virginia voters who elected them in the first place. After all, aren't these men THEIR representatives?
Might not we ask the question, what do Virginians want?
24
This is why the GOP has been fairly quiet on this. Plenty of their own have pictures they want to keep hidden.
19
I disagree with the first half of your comment. Schadenfreude might be fine in private, but it makes for poor (bad?) optics in public. If I were them, I would keep my mouth shut too.
If the president was a great leader or even just a good one, he might offer some thoughtful non-partisan perspective, especially as someone who is frequently accused of racism.
9
@JR:
The first word in your comment is the fulcrum. IF Trump had any sense of genuine ethics and maturity, and IF he wasn't out to benefit nobody (NOBODY) except himself, we'd be living in a different world indeed.
Sad. Bigly sad.
2
Faulkner said it best: The past is never dead. It's not even past. This is what Virginians, in fact all Americans, need to wrap their heads around.
I live in Northern VA, which as a suburb of DC is basically a different state. But VA is still the "old south" in its soul. Richmond has made some progress, but every time I go there and drive past the Museum of the Confederacy, I realize that things haven't really moved ahead. As for the Tidewater area and rural southwestern VA, it's like they are stuck in the 1950s, clinging to "tradition" that accommodates the necessities of modern life but views social mores (such as cultural sensitivity) as unwelcome intrusions of "political correctness."
VA is the home of race-based slavery in the US, enacting laws early on that severed whites and blacks in terms of indentured servitude. And VA was the capital of the confederacy, a legacy it seems unready and unwilling to fully condemn, much less let go.
Virginia Military Institute (VMI), which Dr. Northam attended, was the first state supported military school in the nation and is still a state school. Only 6% of VMI's student body is black compared to 9% of active duty commissioned officers who are black; 17% of all those serving on active duty are black. The military has been seen as a route to success in the south since the Civil War -- a path that remains pretty much whites-only. Is it any wonder that VA leaders are seemingly clueless on the true meaning of blackface?
19
St. Patrick's Day is next month. In this era of Political Correctness I urge all people to not risk wearing green on that day as it may come back to haunt you 30 years from now.
16
I don't really think that Northam needs to resign. If we disqualified everyone who has ever made a racist statement, or participated in a mockery of other races there would probably be no one left to serve. Truman was an open and avowed racist but was able to get beyond that for the good of the country when he ordered the integration of the armed services in 1948.
What really causes me alarm is the fact that graduates from this medical school may have black patients. What level of care can we expect from people who hold us in such contempt. I will do everything I can to avoid providers from this medical school.
98
@JES
Can we see a list of the doctors who graduated from this school. Are maybe they can come forward and speak out about mistakes you can make that hurt others.
@JES
Agreed! Can we afford to wash out all who made transgressions from High school or college. Is Northam a good man now? If so we risk losing a strong leader. Or how about 3 top leaders. Is the price of purity worth the risk of a republican coming in. I thought the DEMs would have learned the lesson with Al Franken. We are in a fight so lets not shoot our own.
Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good
7
We have a country who has policies both spoken and unspoken which are steeped in racism. Yes, it matters when a politician doesn't know their actions are racist, even decades ago. As a small child, I wouldn't have painted my face black, or posed with someone wearing a KKK robe. People grow and change, yes, but from our politicians, we have to accept better. Not everyone has racist pictures of themselves as a child. Perhaps that's not true for whites in Virgina, and maybe that means we need to see more non-whites in government then. But just because 9/10 do, doesn't mean we accept it.
3
Love The New York Times! How many instances in this article does it mention Dr. Tyson?! Being a Dr. of course, adds to her credibility! As a sidelight, I graduated with the first spearhead Class of Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn back in 1968! I recently perused our yearbook, and even though African American Blacks were just about fifteen percent of the graduating class, our fellow brothers and sisters were prominently displayed! In fact, I couldn't help noticing that one of our brothers photos was featured on a whole page, in a confident pose, looking forward to his future! He eventually became a noted theologian! I bring this anecdote up to point out, just like the people in Brooklyn, and only Brooklyn were welcoming to Jackie Robinson in 1947, that spirit of Brotherhood continued through the so called turbulent 1960's in the hearts and actions of teenagers! Values supposedly elite Virginians couldn't even replicate in the 1980's!!!
3
This is what "progress" looks like? Anachronistic purity purges based on decades-old transgressions that result in convulsive turmoil, overturning election results? It rather looks like the projection of 21st-century practices and beliefs onto another time. Have these men spent their lives supporting segregation or opposing civil rights? If not, then how can the blackface episodes not be seen as idiotic lapses in judgment when they were young?
20
Let me say up front that I am very disturbed by anyone dressing in blackface. Even more disturbed by KKK robes. And even more disturbed by allegations of sexual assault.
All of these incidents need to be investigated. And then we need to decide whether an apology and a life of better living suffices or whether the sin is unforgivable.
But we also need to recognize that some of these accusations are being brought by opposition political operatives, and that there is a very busy partisan network out there looking for anything to take candidates off the table without a vote.
Do not forget that, during the Kavanaugh hearings, President Trump said "these accusations can be brought against others as well". Shortly afterwards, a fictitious sexual assault claim was lodged against Robert Mueller.
We are going to have to have a serious debate about what level of proof is required before someone is railroaded off the campaign trail (or out of office). And, as stated above, what "human errors" can be overcome and which we simply will not stand for.
The standard needs to be applied to both parties, as well. Are Steve King and Brett Kavanaugh are going to keep their positions while others are deemed unworthy because they engaged in a teen stunt that was fairly common at the time?
I would argue that discriminatory actions today and corroborating actions over time should hold more weight than a single event years ago.
14
Standards are for independents.
3
Enough already with the ridiculous reactions to blackface photos from anyone in their teens or twenties, some 35 to 40 years ago. We have to consider the totality of these politicians life and how they conducted themselves thereafter. A decade ago, yes. But neither democrats nor republicans should be forced to resign because of incidents that happened 35 to 40 years ago.This is insane. There should be a complete stop to these demands. Convene dialogue sessions to discuss theses issues, and move on. If you start to investigate every politician in the Virginia government who is over 50 or 60, republican or democrat, I'm sure you'd find more such incidents. There are more important things to focus on, such as the real harm perpetrated by Trump and his administration and republicans in congress.
19
I don't think we should judge cultural mistakes made in the 1980s using the mores acceptable today
He says he was wrong and has apologised
let's move on
10
The historical relativism card is a bad one to play. Racism was wrong in the 1880's and the 1980's. Not just today.
1
Men, men, men. I'm not proud of my gender.
As to Fairfax and Dr. Vanessa Tyson: Our default response must be to believe women when they come forward. Part of the judgment, particularly when there is little chance of witnesses or corroboration, is to assess the motives of each party and the broad evidence regarding sexual assault.
The preponderance of evidence supports the claims of women in sexual assault cases.
As to her motive: In this case, as in most cases, the accuser has no apparent motive other than what she has stated. She is exposing herself to great humiliation and attack. There is no clear benefit to her.
As to Fairfax's motive: Obvious on its face. His career is at stake.
The encounter itself is corroboration. He couldn't deny it because there very well could be witnesses who saw her with him and saw her enter the room. Once there, I completely trust her account. It is much more likely that the current environment empowered her to come forward than it is for her to suddenly see a consensual act as a sexual assault.
He should resign. The blackface incidents are horrible, but impersonal. Broad harm, but no acute harm. Her pain is as personal as it gets.
7
I am so glad that the New York Times is printing articles like this one. Being from the south, I know racism is alive and well. Our president has made it so that his veiled racism is OK to a lot of people. What happened in Charlotte was wrong. It was one opportunity one very big, grand opportunity for him to say so, to do the right thing.But it is not OK. Ever. And any person black white green purple that doesn’t speak up when they see it, is silently saying that it is OK. I will not be one of those people. Ever.
4
Northam and Herring were young adults when they pulled these stunts. They weren't 12 year old kids. And this was in the 1980's, some twenty years after the Civil Rights movement. Norment was a young adult at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. And they believe all the scrutiny is unfair?
We all had youthful indiscretions. But most of us did not believe that black face or KKK costumes were funny. They weren't funny then, and they aren't now. So let me tell you what really is unfair scrutiny. While these white men were yukking it up in black face with their buddies, I was a young woman (and ethnic minority) in my first few years of legal practice. Every thing I did was scrutinized, and scrutinized again. Place an exhibit on the wrong counter? Horrors....
News flash -- those of us who aren't white males are unfairly judged in this country, every single day. And we are simply trying to be private citizens. We have not voluntarily placed ourselves in a position of power, where our acts affect many thousands (or more) of other Americans. We should be judging Northam, Herring and Norment, regardless of their party affiliation. At some point, probably the first time in their entitled lives, they need to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. There has to be some point where entitled white men no longer get a pass. And it is way overdue.
4
It is infuriating to me that Trump is injecting his opinions into this. That man has more sins on his conscience than 50 Northams put together. What right does he have to call out anyone in this type of situation?
12
I'd like to comment on a different aspect of the issue of whites in blackface. The issue must be understood in a larger context: blackface is not unique in the use of crude make-up by whites to impersonate non-whites as a subtle or not so subtle means of establishing white dominance in our culture.
Even today, fans of the Washington NFL team dress up in "redface" to cheer on their team with the racist name. So do fans of any number of other teams with Native American themed mascots. What justification do these "fans" have for their racist appropriations? How can the media tolerate, even wink at what they do?
And then there's the "whitewashisng" of non-white characters in movies and TV - Johnny Depp, for instance, played Tonto in the 2013 movie remake of "The Lone Ranger," Ben Affleck played a real-life Hispanic character, Tony Mendez, in the 2012 movie "Argo", Scarlett Johansson was cast in an Asian role in the 2017 movie "Ghost in the Shell," and Joseph Fiennes was cast as Michael Jackson in a 2017 edition of "Urban Myths."
If Virginia's Gov. Northam and A.G. Herring are to be condemned and urged to resign for having worn blackface as young men decades ago, what should be the fates of those in the media and in corporate America who are responsible for similar outrages today? They don't have the excuse of foolish immaturity. Should they be held to account, forced to end their careers? Or is there a double standard here, and if so, how can it be defended?
8
This is not about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about entrenched attitudes and behavior that is going to keep coming to light.
2
What level of purity do we demand from our public officials, judging them on who they are today against the mores of a different era combined with being in their youth. We've taken politically correct to an extreme - can't we just let them beg forgiveness, shame them and then give 'em a break and move on? The Democrats are holding themselves out as the morally righteous party (oh please), so these guys must all resign for the party to remain on the high road.
6
If these guys are bad, get rid of them. Cut your losses.
The point of these offices is SERVICE, and we would all be better off if elected officials put service to their constituents above party loyalty.
I think of police officers who should expose racists and those who abuse their power. The same with any coworker, really. Instead of protecting the company, or in this case the party, the goal should be protecting the respect of the office, and the duty they owe the governed.
3
Time for a truth and reconciliation process in Virginia. Sounds like the whole government has some shared guilt here.
2
Every leader, read as elected officials, needs a Deanna Troi, before responding to a crisis or decision. Unfortunately, we have not yet evolved to merit such a resource. It is almost as if an utter lack of introspection is a requirement for public office. The inclination to use introspection would completely obstruct the art of spinning the truth. And, that would never work. Evolution is a very slow process. As a nation, we have the maturity of a four year old. We want power. We want it now. There is good and bad,nothing in between. Frankly, I think we were older decades ago and now getting younger and younger. Before long we will be in diapers. What a mess.
This suggests that Virginia should be relegated to the stagtus of Territory, until the current generation of white men has past. Another solution: African American or female candidates only?
I think it is a mistake to label this Virginia's political crisis, it is a cultural crisis or reckoning for the United States as a whole. As we continue to come to terms with previously accepted, if disgusting, behavior from a previous era (figuratively speaking) some degree of forgiveness and tolerance will be required. However, sexual assault is crime and should be prosecuted as such.
2
The comments are filled with a robust debate about whether this an overdose of moral outrage. It is true, doing something like this could be (and probably was) a stupid insensitive mistake. To me, that’s not the problem. The problem is that these men only made it into office by relying on overwhelming support from black voters. They decided to con those voters by hiding this until now. Despite the fact that they remember it clearly and now say they are deeply sorry and condemn the action. It’s cruel to ask a black person (in fact any person) to put their trust in you at the ballot box while you knowing the hide the fact you did this. Given the history in this country, a person of color had the right to know if they are voting for someone who once dressed in black face or as a klan member. If it’s not a big deal, let them decide. I think the Democratic Party is not supporting these people because they know they need to work hard to earn the trust of black voters and this totally betrays that trust. That’s the profound disrespect that I’m worried about.
Prediction. The Republican will not resign.
2
Whenever Democrats are in trouble because of their moral double standards, they tend to find a republican who displays the same trait. A double standard call it equals of sorts. Now the Dems have the excuse they need not to press for resignations of all 3.
I must confess. I am enjoying every minute of this dark comedy. The hypocrisy of the progressive left is finally out.
4
This unforgiving, off-with-your-head, PC culture in the Democratic Party, where only ideological purists are worthy and everyone else must be banished forever, means Democrats don’t have my vote. And I’m a progressive. It is abhorrent and there is nothing “good” or sacred about it. It is just another symptom of the rot at the heart of American politics.
I could never vote for Donald Trump, but I also cannot in good conscience pull the lever for a judgmental zealot of any stripe, even if they are a Democrat.
When Democrats lose again to Donald Trump, and they will if this is their M.O., those Democrats who have been calling for the resignation of leaders because of something ignorant they did 30 years ago will be to blame.
3
Blackface is an ugly part of our history, but to trash two men for what they as young men at a parties decades ago is too harsh. Look at their entire careers and make a balanced judgement. There should be sort of informal statute of limitations for vulgar acts.
For Fairfax the allegation needs to be closely examined. While judgement on his case isn't being done according to a court room "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard there needs to be at least reasonable evidence.
2
If you wanted to design the perfect situation to test the left’s adherence to its principles, you couldn’t do better than these three hapless Virginia politicians.
Where’s pel-mel the rush to judgment? Where’s the earnest calls of “I believe her?” Why the meetings to decide what to say? What’s with all the caution?
The hypocrisy hangs as think as morning fog on the James River.
2
In my mind I can hear chants of 'we believe survivors' and see crowds of privately funded protesters attacking politicians in restaurants, but my eyes do not see this in Virginia......why is that?
Why do the 'believe survivors' faction not haunt the capitol of Virginia, scream and tear the doors off their hinges in their righteous indignation over accusations of sexual abuse by a politician?
Is it to do with the phases of the moon? Will they all come out and do it towards the middle of the lunar month?
2
It is not so long -- less than four years -- since lots of people were defending a Yale employee who defended blackface. It is very gratifying to see the national tone finally changing.
It's ridiculous for the Times to paint this as a crisis for Republicans. Norment doesn't seem particularly concerned. He's 72, the events happened 51 years ago (51 years!!) and there's no demonstrated connection between him and the photos.
But most importantly, these are Democratic standards, self-imposed. Republicans just don't view events under these circumstances as earthshaking moral litmus tests. It's actually pretty silly.
3
I just checked my 1968 college yearbook and found classmates dressed for Halloween as Mexicans (sombreros), war protestors (peace symbols), native Americans (headbands with feathers), farm couple (corncob pipes), and on and on. Some of it a bit tone deaf, but I don't think meant to hurt anyone. Perhaps we should all take a deep breath?
3
I would hope that these actions be considered unacceptable, regardless of party affiliation, and that no party be "the party" of such despicable actions.
That said, such glib remarks from a person who is casually racist, and proudly discussed his infidelity and sexual assaults while also being the leader of the Republican Party? Please, have you at long last no shame?
2
What? The South is racist? Who knew? Politicians are beneficiaries of networks, and networks exist solely to maintain privilege and carry about abuses of power with impunity.
Please stop feigning surprise or outrage. Any party that does not have clauses for dismissal is not a party worth voting for. The Dems need to stop calling for his resignation and simply boot the VA caucus from the party entirely. Don't ask, ACT.
Tit for tat, and with the US Senate, House, and 49 more state governments, we've got a long way to go.
Although they have often been lumped together in the media, i think there is a stark contrast between the incident of Northam wearing blackface and the incident of Herring. Northam was either dressed in minstrel blackface or as a member of the KKK, in an intrinsically racist photo that was taken when he was in his late 20s. Herring dressed as a musician he liked when he was 19 and meant it as a costume. While that is not acceptable today, in many parts of the country a 19 year old in the 80s would not have seen an issue with using some shoe polish to make a costume better. The first situation calls into question character and warrants a resignation. The 2nd seems more like an innocent mistake and somewhere that the apology suffices.
12
Everyone should put to bed the notion that a Republican would become Governor of Virginia in the event all three of Northam, Fairfax and Herring were to resign. The Virginia Constitution (art. V, sec. 7) gives the Governor the power to fill vacancies in the offices of Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, with no legislative approval required. Thus, if says, Fairfax resigns, Northam would appoint a replacement who would become Governor if Northam then resigned, of if Northam resigns, Fairfax as the new Governor would appoint his own replacement as Lieutenant Governor, who would then become Governor if Fairfax then resigned.
tl;dr: No Republican is going to become Governor of Virginia until at least after the 2021 election.
7
The three Virginia electees should resign only if trump resigns. He has done worse things, by far.
9
Am I seeing more interest in taking two Democratic men to task over long ago displays of racial insensitivity than there is in taking the Lt Governor who is African American to task for making improper sexual advances? Issues of race and gender at the heart of the matter here and how this plays out will tell us which is the greater sin, offenses against women or offenses against race. Isn’t this a replay of the 60’s and 70’s?
7
I'm so mystified by this Puritanism. Are the people reading this story so perfect that they've never done anything immature or dumb in their lives, especially in their youth? Surely no one is perfect. How would you like your personal life closely scrutinized in public for the slightest clues of "questionable" behavior, with the ensuing humiliation and vilification by the mob, about obscure random events you probably don't even remember? I'm sorry but this smacks of George Orwell, "1984," and "thought crimes." This also smacks of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If you are personally traumatized by the fact that someone, somewhere, randomly did something remotely questionable, then you have hyper-sensitivity which may approach the level of psychological disorders. I'm a member of a minority group, but I don't get personally offended by random folks expressing something offensive to my group, we live in a free country where people shouldn't get prosecuted for their speech or thought, no matter how odious others find those individuals -- to say nothing of youthful immaturity.
15
@Eugene - "Are the people reading this story so perfect that they've never done anything immature or dumb in their lives, especially in their youth?"
It would seem so, wouldn't it?
2
If Northam's actions from the time of the yearbook to today show a changed person, show that he's worked against racism during that time span, then I say let him atone for the sin and let's all move on.
I believe people have a capacity to change. Northam should be using this as an opportunity to create state wide acceptance and anti-racism programs to make good out of a bad situation.
6
Everyone past a certain age is guilty of some form of light racism.
We do not need to go overboard on this. If anything, it’s a reminder we evolved for the better.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, instead of Santa Claus they have Saint Nicolas on Dec. 6th bringing presents to the children. Many people have played one of the 3 black helpers of the white saint. Today of course, the optics of this are really bad.
We can’t retroactively apply today’s views on events decades ago unless it was already a poor choice at the time.
11
@Liz, has it ever occurred to you that maybe that is what this is about, getting rid of "everyone past a certain age"? It's no secret the fight about whether Pelosi should be speaker was all about age, this newspaper's treatment of 'AOC' as more powerful in the House than the Speaker when in fact the opposite is true is another, the Great Recession at a lot of companies was about replacing Boomers with Millennials by the time it was over, and the editorial pieces supporting that by this newspaper are still available by search.
The Press went on a toot to replace all of its staff with "digital natives" another code word for firing Boomers. Those running this scandal, and it really is the Press which is keeping it alive and trying to expand it, are not the civil rights activists of the early 60s, who supported making sure the elderly were cared for and didn't starve. They're pretty much the opposite. As the song says, "I want it all, and I want it now" is the new mantra. To do that someone needs to walk out on the ice floe.
1
@Liz What exactly is 'light racism'?
All racism is bad and hurtful to many people.
I went to integrated schools in the 1960s and 1970s-- so I am past a certain age-- and I cannot imagine doing something so offensive. We knew it was wrong then, too.
@SC You’re no doubt a better person than me who was already sensitive to a lot of cultural wrongs many kids or young adults didn’t question until later in life. I gave the example of the St. Nicolas helpers in the area where I grew up, but there were other things too.
The important thing is that we moved on and continue to make progress.
We are turning ourselves into a mob in order to prove that we too are not witches. Why not stone them while we are at it. These blackface incidents betray character flaws in these two men. They need to apologize. But what they have done is not sufficient to drive them out of office.
When a powerful person uses his power or position to engage in sexual assault, he needs to be fired and prosecuted to prevent his abuse of power and commission of crime. But what these mend did in the past, however sinful and immoral, is not grounds for driving them out of office. This is something that they did in the past, that can be atoned for. They have not abused their power, they betrayed a character flaw.
What is really happening, is that politicians are trying to earn points with the public by proving that they are angrier and more morally pure than these flawed men, and that they are more against racism that everybody else. The Bible rightly teaches us forgiveness, and we are soon to learn why.
9
“What we have is a very compelling and detailed statement of a serious, serious charge by a respected professional, and we also have a very unequivocal denial of that charge from someone we know real well,” Mr. Kaine said.
So, let me get this straight.
During the Kavanaugh hearings, Sen. Kaine, you had a serious charge from a respected professional, and an unequivocal denial from a Judge you knew well enough to vote for his confirmation to the DC Circuit Court, but you immediately chose to believe the accuser.
Why not state that you absolutely believe the accuser in this instance and demand that Fairfax resign?
Could your refusal to cal for his resignation have anything to do with identity Democratic politics?
Nah, you wouldn't be a hypocrite over politics, Sen Kaine, would you?
6
I cannot imagine anyone over the age of 12 (that's generous, since the age of reason is 7) during the last 60 years not being aware that blackface is racist and insulting.
For college students and med school (!!) students of age after Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s--even if they grew up within systemic racism in the South--to still think blackface was "funny" is breathtaking in its tone-deafness among "educated" white men. My entire generation of cousins was raised by first generation Eastern Europeans, most of whom where racist and anti-semitic due to the way they were raised. But, we are second generation Americans, and while 2 or 3 of my oldest cousins, now in their 80s, still harbor the prejudices of their parents, most of my 30+ first cousins were far more influenced by the Kings and the Youngs and the Lewises and the Alis and the Humphries and the Kennedys and the Johnsons, Eishenhower and the National Guard, and thousands of other leaders who opened our eyes, albeit often too slowly, to the unacceptable hatred of differences in skin color, choice of religion, and ethnic culture.
That these men of Virginia, all of whom were privileged with the education to know better, attained the rank of leadership in that historic state, is as pathetic and frightening as the gut-wrenching election of Nov 2016.
What on earth makes privileged white men so full of hatred toward men and women who think and behave differently from them? What on earth are they so afraid of?
5
It's wonderful that Democrats take these things seriously. It's awful and hypocritical that Republicans do not.
The main reason these offenses seem minor is because we're so accustomed to Republicans doing far worse and suffering no real consequences.
The solution is not to give these guys a pass, it is to hold Republicans like Trump accountable--and to hold accountable their protectors, such as McConnell.
3
I worked with King at Selma, I worked for gay rights. I only say this because I could have made the same mistake. Starting off as kids we dress up to be somebody else. We imagine ourselves as a different self. My wife when she was young would dress up as an Asian, she had the gear from her father who fought in WW II in the Pacific and in the Korean War. I can remember my mother making a wig from yellow yarn so I could dress up as a girl for a party. Later in my early 20s, my girlfriend and her sister dressed me up as a flapper for a party at St. Barts on Park Avenue. The amazing thing was I really felt the part - while dancing with the boys I really was a girl. I don’t know, dressing up as somebody else may actually give you some empathy for them. I dressed up as all kinds of alternate selfs. I might even have dressed up as an African America if it hadn't been so much work. If I had, I would have intended no disrespect. There is so much work that needs to be done to help minorities move forward. I want to see something substantive done, not energy wasted on this nonsense.
5
The only "crisis" that I know of going on in Virginia is which the media is creating. I don't believe the average voter is experiencing a crisis and government is operating everyday so there is "crisis" except that which exists in the minds of reporters.
4
Sad but not surprising that none of this could be addressed when it occurred in the 1980’s, when conservatism and the stock market reigned supreme. A time so many seem to remember fondly for all the wrong reasons.
1
I am not a conspiracy theorist and I also am not familiar with the details of Virginia's political landscape, but the name of the game here seems to be bump off Democrats until you get to a Republican that can redistrict Virginia in time for the 2020 election. Reminds me of former Senator Al Franken resigning almost immediately after Roy Moore lost his senatorial race -- there's a feeling of "you took one of ours, we take one of yours." And let me throw into the mix McConnell refusing to bring Merrick Garland's nomination up for a vote when he was nominated by a sitting president with 8 months left in his term! Our democracy is being engineered in many insidious ways.
3
There is a great deal of culture that is implicit, unexamined and deep. Yet it shapes and drives what we believe and do. As a culture we are changing but it's still a long road ahead before implicit racist and sexist culture is rooted out. In the meantime people who have grown and changed prejudices such as this will, unfortunately, pay a price. Myself, I would be inclined to look at what people have become in their mature adult years and judge them on that basis.
3
I’m saying PEOPLE CHANGE. Just because you did something 20 years ago does not mean you are still doing it. I don’t think people should be judged for something 20 — 30 — 40 years ago unless you can prove he is still doing it.
3
“credible”
Officials using this word should provide relevant examples of what they mean by credible.
We also need examples of sexual misconduct that they do not think are credible or that would not rise to the level of disqualifying the accused from holding public office.
When ambitious politicians, exquisitely attuned to public opinion, weigh in on matters that can destroy someone’s career and derail her life, we should all be careful.
1
Fairfax is accused of a serious crime.
Northam and Herring are accused of not being thoughtful, well-educated idealists in their early 20s, before decades of service that is consistent with the values of their party, their constituents, and most importantly, with the marginalized communities shown disrespect by their earlier behavior.
In many ways, Northam and Herring are not an embarrassment for the progressive movement, but pretty good news.
Or they would be, if progressives were not so profoundly ignorant about what it is they are trying to accomplish. The idea is for society to broadly join in. The idea is not for those who were raised pure to defeat those who were not.
Or, put it this way: of the 60 million who voted for Trump, do you not hope against hope that in 30 years, some of them will be stalwart progressive legislators?
Yes, they both should have known better. How is that the point? They both HAVE known better for a long time. Do we want change or not?
4
Ok - if we are going to continue to judge elected officials on past offenses and ask for their resignations without due process or without even taking into account the context of the non-illegal acts and their behaviors since and currently, then let's be very complete with our "moral" outrage. I suggest every elected official from the mayor of a city or town on up have their past scrutinized. And, of course, we will dispense with due justice if someone or some organization shows produces a picture in a yearbook or any other picture or video or reveals printed or audio statements for that matter that hint of racism and/or immorality. If judged in this manner and they are presumed guilty - have them resign immediately! Because after all, Americans only support the most "moral" (you pick a definition) leaders.
The current situation in Virginia politics only reveals the mentality of many of our politicians and of too many Americans - show me drama, because I don't have the time nor the compunction to understand/discern the real challenges our nation faces.
4
@Craig Crebar, you mean like a U.S. senator who previously worked as a lawyer for Big Tobacco, an industry that peddles cancer and disproportionately targets vulnerable people, communities of color and the third world for their sickness? Seems to me she is one of the Puritan movement's leaders, and the New York Times is bullish on her run for President even though they are well aware of her anti-immigrant stances from her years before becoming a U.S. senator.
Instead, she led the charge against Al Franken. One thing I can't fathom at all is the people saying the Democratic Party is doing this because they're scared of having double standards. Seriously?
If you don't live in Virginia, please don't tell us what we have to do regarding this unfortunate situation. People grow and become better people. While I was stunned about the blackface worn by Northam and Herring in the '80s, I know who they have become -- thoughtful, progressive leaders in my state. They have my support. Regarding Justin Fairfax, until there is corroboration of the accusation of forceable sodomy, he should stay in office. An accusation is not proof.
155
Yes, so true. He has admitted to the sodomy. The only question that remains is whether was consensual (he) or forced (she).
5
@Lynnzie you are absolutely correct. I, too, have grown very tired of being told what we should and shouldn't do by the national media. The governor and attorney general are examples of just how much white Virginians have changed, especially those of 50 and older. They should not resign!
6
@Lynnzie
I was born in Virginia and I disagreed, this stuff has gone on too long. We need to admit it is wrong today and it was wrong when it happen. This is what keeps racism alive and well, it' s time has come.
I am proud of my Virginia history that tells us how the early Virginian fought for freedom. Let's do the right thing.
1
We need to evaluate a person on the totality of his life, with the more recent actions and thoughts weighted more heavily than the past. People can and do change, and sometimes the changes are enough to redeem themselves.
7
While I think the reactions to the blackface incidents is over the top, I feel the Democrats have no choice but to terminate the employment and destroy the futures of these two men else they prove their party's harshest critics correct in that the only standards they have are double standards. Democrats cannot use any perceived slight with their interpretations of the intent of the guilty only when the "guilty" are Republicans. That being said, using what one was like three to four decades ago as a measure of whether they are currently pure evil or not is blatantly disregarding every facet of humanity and I personally find it to be the most distasteful form of cynical politics. But things should be applied equally to all people, regardless of their identity is now apparently me indulging in privilege and exposing my secret inherent bigotry.
As for the way they handle the Lt Gov's accusations, I also feel Democrats have no choice but to loudly and unequivocally demand his resignation, coming so close on the heels of the Kavanaugh circus where they decided due process is just plain wrong because believe all women and cannot risk it with someone in government (despite personally feeling that due process is a fundamental right that we need as a society). Anything less just proves their ONLY concern is political gamesmanship.
70
@Jason M
In total agreement with you. Cory Booker just lost so much of his aspiration of president by saying he has better things to do then to address Tyson’s claims against Fairfax. And it was so strange what he said. It was I have more important things to do. I have to get Northam to resign so Fairfax is Governor. Booker’s statement will forever haunt him.
19
The Democrats absolutely wanted Due Process for Mr. Kavanaugh.
It was Mr McConnell who made sure that No Process Would Be Due.
20
@Jason M: Following your reasoning, Fairfax should now be appointed to the Supreme Court! Why should Democrats be punished much more harshly than Republicans for the same offenses? That is double standards, imo!
19
Given that an obscure right-wing news outlet released the news that has led to this current round of Democrats eating their own, it seems we’ve played right into Republicans’ hands. The current Democratic obsession with lifelong purity of thought and deed has led to this. Haven’t we all done or said something in our ‘20’s that we deeply regret and yet we’ve grown and developed since those days?
24
Maybe in the context of 1968 Virginia but certainly not in 1984 anywhere! Especially at 25 with four years of med school under your belt.
4
@Jim. The media were not forced to pick up information from an obscure website. Haven’t we all done something - nope, not something racist. The Dems will no longer be able to hurl the charge of racism.
@Jim, it's become common to say that Trumpian Republicans are shredding the Constitution and making a mockery of the Republic, something I actually do believe as well.
But an, "obsession with lifelong purity of thought and deed," which carries with it destruction of someone's career Plus eternal vigilance from columnists to make sure it is never resumed, is the essence of why "Congress shall make no ex post facto law" is not only a phrase in the Constitution, but has been adopted in toto in both international humanitarian law and international human rights law: Making something punishable now, and applying it to the past is supposed to be anathema to the rule of law.
Democrats and a gleeful press are the ones shredding and making a mockery of the Constitution on this one. A Sirius XM host on MSNBC today referred to what Northam and Herring did as "crimes". When corrected, he doubled down, insisting they were crimes against black people. There you have it. Crimes are what the press says they are, punishment is what the press says it is, and justice doesn't include any rights for the accused or any prohibition of ex post facto law.
I can't make up my mind whether we're living through our version of the Reign of Terror, the Great Cultural Revolution, or the Inquisition, but this is social media's real effect on a society: Easy for adversaries to tweak, easy for us to self-destruct.
It can get as bad as Burma, especially with the support and megaphones of the Press.
This is terribly petty and immature of me, and I'm sure this will be unpopular with far more mature readers, but until Kavanaugh steps down from the Supreme Court for sexual assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, and McConnell steps down for absolutely beaming with pride in a picture with the Confederate flag, and so long as someone like Steve King in Iowa continues to have, well, a job at all... the temporary moral high ground Democrats might enjoy from a timely set of resignations from these 3 Virginia officials is 100% MEANINGLESS.
Moral standing means nothing any more, with this current administration, GOP, and "President" running roughshod over character and principles and dignity and compassion and civility and professionalism and decorum and women and immigrants and minorities and LGTBQ and literally everything and everyone else I personally hold dear.
If there were ever a situation where the ends justify the means, I'm "there". Sorry.
34
@Jeff You know Kavanaugh was never convicted of assault, right?
@Jeff except for the fact that Justice Kavanaugh NEVER sexually assaulted anyone. Every single accusation was proven false. The accusations were lies spread by the far left media
Look at all the "Reader Picks" comments! They are all in support of letting these men do the job they were elected to do. I'd like to see a poll of Virginians. I have a feeling the results would be similar. They voted for these men to do a job based on the policies they advocated. Now the voters want that job done. But a right wing radio show dredges up dirt and DEM party insiders push to deny the citizens of Virginia what they have voted for.
This is NOT democracy at work!
16
Between the sexual aggressor and the clueless moon-walker I choose clueless. But I think the best choice is the attorney general who shows the proper remorse and leadership.
11
Now that y'all have romped and stomped through the Democratic leadership. Have you checked out the Republican leadership that set up this debacle? Have you put them through the same scrutiny. Or is this exercise only for the Democrats and the Republicans get a bye - right into governing the Commonwealth of Virginia by pulling every dirty trick in the book. Going after one party? Start looking at the other party also, they are the ones who everything to gain. Lee Atwater and Roy Cohn are high fiving like crazy as they roast in the fires of hell.
12
When I see this kind of distraction and manipulation of the public by the media I despair for our country.
12
We just might find out that all of the Virginia State Legislature has worn Black Face. What then?
Do they send in the National Guard to run the State?
This is sounding more and more like what was taught in history class when I was a kid. That this is common behavior down there, for white people to consistently harass, cajole, use derogatory words and otherwise make fun of Black people. Whether these men are Republicans or Democrats is not the issue. And I think that Black people have been harassed in every State in this country, not just the South, as I was taught.
If I were the Republicans I would not get too smug. We will probably see a lot more being revealed about both sides before this is over.
As far as Fairfax and Dr. Tyson is concerned there should be an investigation. Just not one like they supposedly did for Kavanaugh. That was a faux investigation if I ever saw one.
Good luck Virginia, you are going to need it.
10
The odds that many prominent GOP folks have seriously racist stuff in their younger years (or current years, look at Steve King, congressman from the Confederate bastion of IOWA) are very very high. Heck, Corey Stewart, son of Minnesota, thinks all things Confederate is peachy keen. He dragged out all the dirt he could find when he ran against Tim Kaine for the Senate.
I'm tired of the double standard here, I'm tired of IOKIYAR. Let's dig up ALL the dirt and let the dialog that we need to have about race in America begin.
5
Lovin it! Again proving that the ones that cry the loudest about "racism" and "sexism" tend to be the racists and sexxxists.
5
Re: "...Mr. Norment, who has been a state senator since 1992, was managing editor of the yearbook, called The Bomb, in 1968, the Pilot reported. The paper said that on one page of the yearbook, a student poses in blackface at a party, while another page features a photograph of two men in blackface holding a football..."
When I read 'bout folks... wearing Klan robes, nazi decorations, blackface, etc., 'N, makin' LAME excuses for said 'school' activities / 'social' atmospheres, as career-convenience demands, I'm reminded of pro_life Republicans getting / getting, caught, out, re the abortions they / their wives, mistresses, 'N, mistress-patients*{},require, as a result of most or all such dalliances, being...'birth_control' free, in modest adherence to another, ('Gospel, 'O, The Forced_Birther') theology_checklist item!
1
#IBelieveHer
5
Have you ever appeared in blackface, whiteface, yellowface, brownface, a Ku Klux Klan outfit, a Confederate uniform, a Nazi German uniform, a Soviet Union military uniform, an al Qaeda/ ISIS/ Taliban/ IDF/ Saudi uniform?
2
In 1961 we had civil war slouch hats, one for each side. In 1990 I bought a Soviet officer's hat in Berlin off some Afghans. Probably played an Indian in grammar school about 1958. Any of that count? Don't fret; I don't live in Virginia, and I am not running for public office anywhere. I am retired, and intend to stay that way until the day/night I die. Sorry Walmart and Mickey D.
1
@fFinbar
Everything that you say and do as an adult can and should be used against and for you.
Some of "we" are naturally born with black, brown and yellow faces.
What kind of "Indian" did you play?
My earliest known white ancestor was married in the Virginia colony in 1640 where he died in 1670. My earliest known free-person of color ancestors fought alongside the patriots during the Revolution. Two of my white ancestors served with and knew George Washington.
My black enslaved ancestors were in Georgia 1830/35 where they were owned by and bred with my white ancestors. My brown Native ancestors were living in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia 1830/35 where they mated and married my black and white ancestors.
When and where did you and yours enter my continent/country?
1
All politicians are idiots, regardless of the political party! They actually belong to ONE party, the "Frat" party and that needs to end! Throw all the bums out and bring in people who take their jobs seriously and aren't swayed by pretty girls or lots of money!!!
3
The Revolution devours it's children.
5
This might be a good time to suggest that Virginia secede from the union once and fo all.
3
Northam's conduct is far different than Herring's. Northam used a photo of himself in blackface on his yearbook page. He also entertained in blackface, which won him a talent contest.
1
Note that a GOP Virginia state senator called for Northam's resignation yet that same state senator edited a college yearbook full of racist photos and slurs.
11
After attacking President Trump and trying to create a story from perhaps something that may be found, every politician, their family and their friends are now fair game. People are offering huge sums for dirt on everyone, so in the end, we will all pay.
Going forward, it's going to get much harder to find someone who is willing to run for any office and put their family and friends through all of this.
What someone did seven years ago or more, unless it was an actual crime, should be off-limits in politics or only people with no shame or decency will allow themselves to be on any ballot.
4
Going in costume as Michael Jackson or some rap star is NOT blackface.
4
I was in Virginia in 1985 with a friend. We wandered into a Train Store in Alexandria and the owner soon took us to a back room with a complete layout of the Nazified square in Germany showing toy soldiers in Nazi regalia listening to a mustached figurine Hitler look-a-like with Nazi flags flying as a train headed to God knows where. The owner warned us of “Mongrel children”. I reported this to my cousin who worked at the Washington Post and, many months later, this location was busted as a headquarters for the KKK. My friend at the time was Jewish.
I have never visited Virginia or “The South” since then as it is still a bastion of racism. What is shocking is that this is not known by the general populace, just as Trump voters seem to not know the reality of Trump’s border.
Wake up America and start a dialogue based in reality rather than political fiction. Isolating a systemic problem through shunning does not work.
7
Of course it is much worse for 2 stupid college kids to put black dye on their face than for a grown man to sexually assault a woman. She was probably asking for it, she probably was wearing suggestive clothing, he was just "one of the boys".
It's amazing the hypocrisy of the dems.
6
Both Fairfax and Northam were in their mid 20s. Herring was still a teenager.
What a curious distraction from the fact that the bigger news story that Dems in the House will be broadening & deepening their investigation of Trump & Co as foreign agents re Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Is sexual assault or blackface ok? Of course not. But the timing on all this does give one pause.
4
Today there are Republican politicians in office who privately think that blackface and certain forms of sexual assault are just fine. We will never see photos of them doing it, they will never admit to it, and they will never resign.
7
Because we all know Republicans aren’t racists or serial sexual molesters, right, Mr. “President”?
5
Please make sure that even the sexual assault investigation is thoroughly investigated. After all that never took place with Al Franken, whose main accuser worked with Roger Stone to take him down. And I'm not sure about the other two women who claimed his hand slipped below their waists when they cozied up to him to have him in their photo...
If Trump is correct that Virginia will flip because of this trainwreck trio of Dems, doesn't it also stand to reason that in the next election the White House will, too, given that 45 stands accused of paying off a porn star to keep her from discussing his alleged cheating ways a week after the birth of his fifth child by his third wife, whom he met while cheating on his second wife (well documented), whom he met while cheating on his first wife (also well documented)?
7
https://pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/article_d4ce7700-2ae3-11e9-ace9-ff7814740140.html
The Republican, throwing stones is worse! Tommy Norment's Yearbook picture!
1
For context: Has Mr. Tom Brokaw (age 79) a journalist, news anchor, and author since 1960 lost his job after his "brown grand baby and assimilation remarks?" Someone with 58 yrs in the media should know better. Right?
Have any of the Covington Catholic High School boys been disciplined or expelled?
So why are the Governor of Virginia and the Attorney General being raked over the coals for something they did in their early 20s?
Don't think what they did was good. I came through college about that time and I never would have considered coloring my face. I'm from the North, but live in Arlington, VA.
My response is "That's the South!"
If disclosed in the 1980's bet Northam and Herring wouldn't have made even the local news.
As the Democrats see the possibility that VA will be handed over to the GOP coming into 2020, I bet the media-driven furor evaporates.
I think Justin Fairfax' situation is different. How do you go from kissing to having oral sex with someone, I believe he said they met (1st time ever), in a bar, is beyond me. I don't think I would have even tried to kiss, but that's me.
Mr. Fairfax and Ms. Tyson have impressive educations, but it seems to me they were both rather dumb. There was even the risk of AIDS transmission via body fluids.
Prior to this I really respected Mr. Fairfax and thought he would be a good successor to Mr. Northam---now not sure.
I believe Big League Politics has a strategy, agenda, and objective for the disclosure and the media goes along.
1
@Don Alberstadt
"Have any of the Covington Catholic High School boys been disciplined or expelled?"
For what, exactly?
5
"Misdeeds?" Yes, if all prove to be true, these are things that these individuals wish they hadn't done, and in one case may not have done. This is important. You don't hear Trump apologizing for crotch-grabbing.
So do we want to send these men the way of Al Franken (who I personally hope will run for the senate again, and who I think would win)? And although I'd vote against them, I hope that Senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake might also run again. The ethical people resign.
And we're stuck with Thomas and Kavanaugh and worst of all, because he's presently at the top, Trump. They get caught and brazen it out and are in power.
How do we combat attacks like the one now happening in Virginia? The method of whatever Roger Stone-type operative that set this mess in motion is cynical and despicable, but obviously effective.
My own thought is that we'd better find a way to circle the wagons. A couple of guys apologize in a way that to me seems sincere for something they did 40 years ago. Another guy has been accused of something awful, but we don't fully know yet what actually happened.
I'm not a person of color and I'm not a woman, but I can imagine myself enraged by constant injustices and utterly focused on this. BUT, the proportion of white men within the Democratic caucus is set to drop from 41% to 38% next year, while the same percentage is set to rise among Republicans from 86% to 90%.
1
The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is...the Democrats for the most part feel horrible about bad behavior and misdeeds and the Republicans seem to wear them as a badge of honor. Al Franken stepped down because of something inappropriate he did...Steve King is till allowed to be part of the governmental process while being a white supremacist. Brett Kavanaugh was an alleged sexual bully, and got appointed to the Supreme Court, and we have a self-proclaimed sexual assaulter in the office of the president. Bad behavior is bad behavior, but the GOP seems to conveniently look the other way when it is one of their own. Not saying that what Northam, Fairfax, and Herring did was not despicable, but Trump should not be allowed to weigh in on situation in Virginia at all!!! People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!
1
Where do we draw the line? Today, there's outrage at UNC Chapel Hill, after someone discovered a blackface picture in the 1979 - that's right, 40 years ago - yearbook. UNC just had a huge fight and removed a statute of a Confederate soldier. But Chapel Hill was called "Pink Hill" by Sen. Jesse Helms, and elected Mayor Howard Lee, the first black mayor in North Carolina. In "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee," the author makes the incidental point that Columbus and his two brothers were brutal killers who shipped hundreds of Caribs back to Spain to be sold into slavery. Of 500 in one shipment, more than 200 died and were simply thrown overboard. Sure, some places no longer celebrate Columbus Day, but when are we going to rename, for example, Columbus, Ohio, and thousands of other places?
We - black or white - can't atone for all our past sins or those of our forefathers, so we must base our outrage on the present. Herring and Northam are progressive political leaders who have worked for the betterment of all people. In contrast, Donald Trump's record is of a shady, unscrupulous, manipulative individual with a history of sexual and racial abuse. Those two extremes make my point clear.
211
@emartin
The line is being drawn for us, sir. It appears that the sins of the past are more relevant than the policies of the present, never mind the possibilities of the future. What we are witnessing today is the McCarthyism of our generation. It's been around for a while and who knows when it will end. Good luck.
27
@Rick Morris
Nonsense. What we are witnessing is that the good old boys who thought they could do exactly as they pleased, take whatever they wanted, and hurt whomever they wanted with impunity - their days of unquestioned entitlement and power are coming to an end.
6
@DW Nope. I finally see it now. It’s McCarthyism. It’s self-destructive. It doesn’t help anyone, much less people of color.
5
It's troubling to me that the website that published the Northam yearbook page is owned by a consultant to Corey Stewart, who ran against Northam in 2017. I haven't heard or read much about what looks like reprisal for Stewart's lost bid for the governorship. I'm afraid that this type of tactic is going to be yet another tool for undermining democracy and driving an even deeper wedge between factions.
2
"The company’s chairman, Jarvis C. Stewart, was hoping to sit down Thursday with the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has come to Richmond to discuss racial reconciliation at Virginia Union University, a historically black college here."
It's the end of civilization when folks turn to Al Sharpton for guidance on race relations.
9
This is just the beginning. Right now, Democrats are busy digging up information about past misdeeds of Republicans and Republicans are searching for long forgotten information about drug use, cheating on exams, sexual misdeeds, and the taking of bribes by Democrats. This should keep the news media busy for years.
2
"Virginia Braces for More Turmoil After Misdeeds of Its Leaders"
In the interest of journalistic objectivity and credibility, shouldn't that headline include the word "Alleged" before the word "Misdeeds"?
1
Repent, sinners [quoting Al Sharpton, who probably never sins].
But seriously, how can we hold up our heads as progressives, if we let these men stay in office?
3
Very nice touch that these three pro-abortion Democrats are praying for each other.
They'll certainly need these prayers later.
2
If I were so unfortunate as to find myself a Trumpist, I like to think I’d still have the sense to stay well clear of the whole topic of Christian hypocrisy.
4
So what are we going to learn about Kirk Cox's background?
1
Did you notice that female legislators and executives have never been accused of wearing blackface, sexual deviance or conspiring with Russians, fixing elections, poisoning the water in Flint, etc? I'm voting for a female candidate whenever possible.
3
Great, Virginia Democratic legislators and others, hand the state to the GOP. They will sit back and laugh, blithely keeping caps on their crimes and misdeeds, while the Dems play confessional roulette and devour each other in the holier-than-thou hunger games. Can't wait to see the first one to fall because he called Sally a doodie-head in second grade. Let's use some common sense here. Criminal acts or true racist speech or sustained behavior are cause for concern. Thirty year old Halloween costumes? Not so much. Remember, he who is without sin, cast the first stone.
3
So our most honorable and civic minded President is taking shots at the Democrats who wore black face and a black guy accused of sexual assault....but wait now Republican Senate Majority leader Norment is in the mix as having...er..questionable fun at the expense of people of color...and then there were some accusations involving racism and sexual assault following dear leader around if my memory serves me well.
I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and stop pointing fingers. There is a good chance that there are more powerful men in business and government that have done racist and sexist stuff and if the strong winds of change sweeping the country (Did you see all those ladies in white the other night? Did you listen to what Stacey Abrams was saying?) keep blowing they will be falling out of the trees like apples in late Fall.
The voters in the last election clearly preferred democratic policies and rightfully elected officials to execute and uphold those policies. To ask people to resign over 35 year old "insensitive" incidents (not speaking about Fairfax here) is misguided, especially if it would give power to the GOP who is actively trying to disenfranchise minority voters.
Democrats lately tend to get too caught up in personal moral purity and Republicans will happily pass their insidious and racist policies.
169
@Jeff
I agree that decades old transgressions shouldn't be dredged up and used to shame those who have become better persons. I believe that for any politician regardless of party. That has not remained the issue however.
If the democrats want to uphold a "zero tolerance" platform then they must apply that philosophy equally, even in the face of handing over political offices to people they can't stand. To do otherwise suggests that their "zero tolerance" is merely a blunt instrument used against political foes.
3
While it is entirely within the realm of possibility, if not likely, that all three of these people have committed reprehensible acts, this whole situation has the stink of a hit job. A well orchestrated series of scandals launched with malicious intent. I cannot bring myself to believe that this series of inappropriate acts just all happened to surface at once. SHould this be a factor in how the public responds? I really do not know but I have a feeling that this may just be the first shots of whit may become epic back and forth mudslinging between our major parties nationwide.
3
The headline is a bit misleading. These misdeeds were committed long before these people were leaders. And since virtually no one noticed or expressed outrage for 45 years, in what way are these not victimless crimes? Racism is evil, but not all racially insensitive acts are racist. This sort of "scandal" diminishes the power of the word "racist".
2
“Being offended by someone/something”...the fastest growing spectator sport in America.
10
@Patrick alexander: Ah, the good old days when white men could do whatever they want without any consequences.
3
@Anne...not at all what I wrote or intended. It appears that you’re offended. Tough!
3
@Patrick alexander: Fair enough. Although it does seem you're implying it's somehow wrong or silly to find people dressing in blackface or playfully as KKK members to be offensive. My point is that this behavior continues until people are called out and face natural consequences. And historically white males have been able to be racist and sexist with few consequences. So, I don't see this reckoning as problematic.
When Clinton did his misdeeds, a generation of Democrats lost their moral standing by justifying his actions. It came back to haunt them decades later in the form of the Trump Presidency, against which they could not muster a coherent moral argument when it mattered most.
Now - don't, don't, don't give up the moral ground on this. Democrats - fire these guys, don't go for the short-term gain and barter away the immense gain in moral standing you have earned from the era of Barack Obama.
It will come back to haunt you for generations.
49
@KS … I don't agree. Life is about learning lessons not about perfection. If we only elect perfect people with a history of perfect actions we won't have anyone to vote for. I will take an apologetic Democrat over a Republican any day … the Democrat's lesson was learned … most Republicans are still in the undeveloped stage!
17
@KS
Nope. False argument.
Republicans were all good with Trump, and didn't care about the moral argument. Supposedly they cared all over the place, when it was Clinton with a consensual relationship, but with Trump, spying on underdressed teens at a beauty pageant was all good.
19
@KS And all of this shows that there is another "haunting" still going on: the haunting of the Democratic party by its "Solid South" past, all that cooperation with racist Southern lawmakers for decades until the civil rights movement of the 60s and then the Nixon Southern Strategy. A cooperation that cast a blind eye on all kinds of atrocities committed against black people in the South, including lynchings.... All these people need to resign.
5
We need to develop ways of valuing politicians (and other leaders) who apologize for past wrongs and make sincere reparations. This is especially important in our societies, American and Canadian (my country) which have histories of racism and sexism. Many of today's adults grew up in cultures where these ism's were taken for granted or dismissed with jokes. What matters is what happens when you learn better.
We need to recognize the courage of one who turns their life around, and works for the common good. A truly reformed public leader has much to offer. Let's see some models, and create some standards.
14
Is this the best we can do? It's time for the Democratic party to expand our pool of candidates beyond middle class, cis-gendered, neuro-typical, church-going, predominantly white men who are successful in their careers. Many good people are afraid to run, because they don't fit the traditional mould of "electable" Democrats, or they cannot financially keep their campaigns going against a corporate funded opponent, either in the primaries or in the main election.
2
Democratic politicians are two-faced in more ways than one.
2
All should resign. Form a trio named The Virginia Three. Do a review Off-Broadway.
"..A timely statement of where we are today.." "..Hits all the notes!.."
4
Really? Are we really going to go back to 1968 yearbooks in search of reasons to try to ruin politician's lives? How much crazier is it going to get before the Politically Correct Mob decides to end their witch hunts over costumes and yearbook photos? The sexual assault accusation is different because sexual assault is actually a crime, unlike costumes and yearbook photos, which may or may not be in poor taste but are not crimes. The sexual assault needs to be investigated to determine what actually happened. The costumes and yearbook stuff needs to just fade away--that can of worms is bottomless.
5
@Sophie Sorry Sophie you democrats set the standard with the Kavanaugh hearings. Now you have to live with it. Perhaps democrats should also stop running around calling political opponents racists when they aren't.
1
@Don Actually, Don, I am not a Democrat, I am a Republican and this witch hunt that is going on right now is going to damage both parties and have a very negative impact on our whole country.
Trump thinks that the revelations of state democratic lawmakers could lead to republicans taking over Virginia's legislature during the next election?
Interesting logic...
These democrats acted racist in the 80's and so now let's to vote for the party of Donald Trump, a man whose racist rhetoric emboldens today's American racists?
4
The people of Virginia will decide if any of these men are unfit to serve, two for being so clueless as to wear a blackface costume some 25 years ago and one for a yet to be substantiated sexual assualt claim.
I think it foolhardy for anyone to start associating a particular political party with either of these behaviors, particularly those who live in glass houses. Trump above all having no moral authority to be tweeting about both racism and sexual assault.
The unabashedly racist Jesse Helms was a democrat from 1942 to 1970 before he became a republican. His beliefs about race and more importantly his actions to suppress civil rights did not suddenly change when he converted to the republican party for the next 30 years.
We should weigh the merits, flaws and evidence against people in the full context of their actions in life before instantly walking them to the gallows. If in the end the people of Virginia deem them unfit then so be it.
5
It's funny when white men in their 20s do stupid things, they're referred to as youth making youthful mistakes. Adults should be held accountable. A 25 year old in med school is not a youth.
5
Trump predicted that "the commonwealth would return to the Republican column in the 2020 presidential election."
Oh, I see. If someone is elected and turns out to be a sexual predator or a racist, then they should be booted out in the next election.
Right, Donald.
6
This is a reckoning.
The people of Virginia deserve honest, decent, honorable government and not this cadre of racists, misogynists and apparently liars.
That includes the extreme rightwing Republican party of Virginia which hasn't missed a corrupt trick in decades trying to suppress voting, gerrymander their way to a majority, impose "vaginal probes" on pregnant women, prevent thousand of poor Virginians from accessing healthcare and at this moment is probably searching yearbooks, land deals and other documents for information to weaponize to topple the Democrats.
What's missing in this partisanship is the welfare of the people of the state, long miserably served by decades of corrupt leadership by both parties which care more about private development and enriching themselves and their donors than our everyday lives.
This is something that politicos, lobbyists, spin doctors and Al Sharpton can't solve.
The system in Virginia is broken.
Virginians must demand something better than this travesty.
35
it is a tragedy for sure but I have to believe the Republicans are waging asymmetrical political warfare.
This is a matter for the voters of Virginia to sort out.
5
@Jim
The ol', "vast, right-wing conspiracy" again, eh?
Sorry. All three of these guys did it to themselves...unassisted.
2
No, that is not what I am saying. The problem is all due to their doing. Just that if they were GOP, the wagons would be circling. The Dems have to take the high ground and condemn unconditionally.
Governor Northam says that putting color on his face was wrong and apologized for it. I am glad to hear it, as well as the attorney general's apology. I think their attitudes were widespread I Virginia, and that they should not loose their jobs now that they have apologized. Move forward, Virginia.
6
I thought he disavowed his apology and admittance of guilt.
1
Two questions seem to emerge for Virginians:
1. Do they place faith in those who made mistakes of insensitivity in the past, or do they relinquish power to those (Trump, King et al.) whose racism and sexism is very much in the present?
2. Should we consider that those who have made such past mistakes may evolve to become among our best champions for erasing racial and economic inequality (for example, consider complexities in LBJ's notable accomplishments on civil rights and the Great Society, but also very much a white Texan of his time)?
4
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is a Democratic Party specialty. In one fell swoop, the Democratic leadership of Virginia will be purged. Thus returning the party to where it feels most at home, in the political wilderness.
4
Recently a well-educated male colleague who often defends the president and vigorously supported Kavanaugh accused me and by extension the Democratic Party of applying double standards and taking the moral low ground when I said each case like those roiling Virginia needs to be viewed separately; if I lived in Virginia, I’d still want more facts versus a rush to judgment; and, relevant to Northam and the AG, a person’s lived life over time deserves the greater weight before deeming him/her “racist”. On my colleague’s part, he apparently saw no racism in Trump’s life, including in Trump’s “birther” campaign, and saw no discrepancy between his support of Kavanaugh and his belief Fairfax needs to go now. He also seemed unmoved by my pointing out my cautious approach to judging quickly was not shared by most Democratic Party leaders.
My point is: this is where America is now, squabbling over the dying body of the reason and fact based democracy our founders hoped for, where we’re all like voters on The Voice, casting our first stones with ease and impunity.
3
I forgot the politicians name - but he once marched for school segregation, was absolutely on the wrong side; learned, changed, and became strong advocates for civil rights.
I'd rather look to Northam's actions and history than the one photo, as bad as it is.
3
Former VA resident here. I skimmed the article but I'm up to date on what's happening. First I want to point out something. The last governor VA elected, Bob McDonnell(?) embezzled millions in state money for private jets and vacations. There wasn't even that much media coverage IN VA when that happened.
Second, the governor has apologized. His recent actions as governor have demonstrated that he seeks to improve the lives of the mid- and lower-class. Knowing VA, this applies to both rural farmers in the western side, but also the poverty that's rampant in the metropolitan area of VA Beach and Newport News. I fear that the people who benefit most from the current governor's policies are going to get swept up in the defamation rhetoric of something from 30 years ago, and ultimately hurt themselves if they insist he is ousted. I believe that Northam should stand firm, insist he apologizes, but not waver. This is the Rs version of digging up ancient tweets and pinning actions that happened a lifetime ago in a modern setting.
If there is evidence that his actions persisted beyond the yearbook, then maybe he should reconsider his position. But as it stands, a picture from the 1980s is hardly something worth judging a man's present actions on.
197
Who knew the 21st century was going to be such a challenging one? Virginia can make a fine example of itself by doing the forward moving, honorable thing to do: let these fellows go as soon as possible, and move ahead to replace them. It's just not that hard to do, once you acknowledge that it's the only right thing you can do.
1
You really, really truly want to investigate Northam, herring and Fairfax for long ago past bad behavior? Fine, you have that right, go ahead. But with limited resources as well as a sense of fairness in the time line, I suggest you put those investigations on the back burner and finish investigating Trump and his buddies FIRST. Let these three do their jobs in the meantime.
1
What's wrong with Virginia? Do voters not give due diligence to their candidates? Party power politics? Lousy opposition research? Politicians still living under the old rules?
It's certainly a perfect storm at the top. It's also a microcosm of how men were allowed to behave. What these men have not learned is how to get out in front of their past. Had Governor Northam given a speech - before reporters reminded him - about how he realized what he'd done and made a decision to work to eliminate racism, he'd be fine. Redemption can only happen when one admits to the fault and learns from it. Denying and bullying ends badly. Hubris ended his career.
Justin Fairfax may have misbehaved just that once but he never thought to apologize to her afterward. Or now. He's over, too.
I'm sure there are men in Virginia who have managed to get through school and careers without harming others. Consultants should do a better job of vetting.
1
What do you know, the Washington Post has journalistic standards. Although they are selectively applied, there are standards none-the-less. Perhaps in time the even application of these standards may take place. This is encouraging.
"(The Post did not publish a story at the time because it could not corroborate any of the accounts.)"
1
This is all a sorry mess. Not much new here. The dignity and rights of women have been ignored all over the world forever. Think how long it took here in the U.S. for women to enter the bastions of male education and to get the right to vote.
Too many men see sexual demands as their right. Add power and money, and its all too easy. Now with a president who flaunts his sexual prowess and with two Supreme Court Justices given a pass on serious attacks on their integrity, anything seems to go. However, finally, cultural insensitivities have become unacceptable in a working democracy.
What next? I look with pride at the large number of women who are entering politics. I’m proud of Nancy Pelosi whose strength and values have won her reelection for decades. I do believe more citizens have the ability to tell fiction from fact. I look to women for leadership that will help modify capitalism without rules to a system that restrains greed for the common good.
2
I think back in the 1980s, white college kids gave much thought as to the significance of being in 'black face'. I don't think there was any malicious intent. I recall in the 1960s watching a minstrel show in my home town with white men in black face making jokes about all kinds of folks. As I look back on that time, I (as a white teen ager) didn't understand the significance of that episode. We used to tell jokes about Italians, Jews and Polish people but not anymore. I don't even think we can do "blonde" jokes. I think the Governor and Attorney General should apologize and we all move on. As for the Lt. Governor - let me have his day in court.
4
If we can never forgive or be forgiven for the sins we committed 30, 40, FIFTY years ago, then the Democratic party is no longer the party I registered into decades ago. This is just insane!
Look to the current and recent conduct of these people (regardless of their party) and let the past bury its dead. Let the voters of Virginia sort this out.
And, by the way, let he or she who is without sin cast the first stone.
1
The problem with Democrats is that they have acted on the zero tolerance doctrine so many times before that now they will seem inconsistent if they don't do in this case as well. However, maybe it's time they relook at that policy. People change as they age, and there are people who formerly were devout racists, even klansmen, but have had an epiphany and are simply not the same people anymore. And these people are accepted into the fold, as they should be. Simply because someone did something racially insensitive in their youth, or even makes an insensitive racial remark (like Bill Maher did), Democrats should not be so quick to throw them under the bus. Are they saying that there is no redemption?
We are currently involved in a war where the enemy is not just an opposing party which is trying to overturn rule of law and remake the country in their fascist image, but also their allies the Russians. It's time that we stop attacking our own for past mistakes, and focus on the people that are actively trying to destroy our country.
3
"If every male who in his early 20's who committed an act that crossed a line of one sort or another, then the pool of candidates to lead the government today would be mighty thin."
Then lets have an all woman goverment.
2
You can’t make this stuff up! The guy who said you can grab women by their privates and has a history of racism in his business life and uttered every racist dog whistle in the lexicon more than once is claiming that those in the party opposite who have but one such related incident in their past will cause voters to return to him and his political party as a result. There is no logic to be followed in that statement but this is the depth s to which he has taken all of us. No one escapes the debasement. I find this sickening.
4
If every male who in his early 20's who committed an act that crossed a line of one sort or another, then the pool of candidates to lead the government today would be mighty thin. Many of the best would be prevented from making any contribution to society either through their reluctance to subject themselves to the retrospective microscope or by the condemnation of the social police for any infraction at any time in their life. Their should be a rational investigation and conversation about the allegations made against each individual. But it is a conversation that I believe would make many others besides them very uncomfortable if they had to answer the same questions. Politics is easy to spot with the intense public scrutiny. But it is no different than business, sports (or apparently medicine). We cannot focus on these individuals as a way of ignoring the culpability of society. Any solution should uncover not just their sins but the sins of the society that universally tolerated these behaviors.
And then, these individuals who crossed the line in the past should also be evaluated for their actions since that time. Whether they are the same individual today or have grown into individuals that have rejected such behavior throughout their adult life. If they have worked for a greater good for the past 35 years that should be weighed as well in any decision about what punishment to meet out. After all, we wish to be a nation of redemption and forgiveness.
6
@Common cause I draw a line. Clearly there are hypocrites galore who attempt to seek advantage in a moment such as this, and I hate them for muddying the waters with grand-standing pearl-clutching. But I do draw a sharp line between those who *actually violate* another's boundaries, and those who get caught up in a juvenile photograph. Al Franken was not Roy Moore. Governor Northam is not Dennis Hastert. Fairfax has got to go if claims are true. So does Trump if those allegations are ever proved true. You are a different animal when you overpower someone's personal boundaries.
2
I suppose we might have to have many more women in government - perish the thought!
1
@Common cause: There are many young adults who don't dress up like the KKK or sexually assault people.
1
I’m not sure what the answer is to the mess in Virginia. What I do know is that Donald Trump a serial abuser of women is in the White House, Steve King a stone cold racist is in the House, Brett Kavanaugh accused of rape is on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is appointed for life, King continues to get re-elected and Trump is around for at least another 2 years. Doesn’t say much about the type of individual that we continually elect in this country.
18
Warren calls for Northam to resign in less then 24 hours because he wore blackface at a costume party in the 80’s. Northam said he dressed like Michael Jackson. And he has a couple people in his year book - one in blackface and one in a KKK outfit. And this obviously was for some costume party too. It’s a cotume party!!! The Hollywood left has done the same many times since!
Warren has been pretending to be an Indian her whole life! This for preferential treatment to advance her career. What worse!! Who should resign!
And now she has reservations about Fairfax. Let’s just wait and see. She is more of a farce then Trump.
11
Losers all! Herring and Northam should resign! I give Fairfax leeway because he has the right of due process and should defend himself against his accuser's allegations. For Northam and Herring, it is the smarmy excuses they both gave for blackface. Northam sounded like a blackface regular and Herring's attempt to blame his blackface on Kurtis Blow is ridiculous. Both demonstrated poor judgement. Virginia now appears worse than Alabama and Mississippi. If I were Bezos, I would move Amazon Headquarters 2A to New York or to a more enlightened (no pun intended) state.
6
@Lynn in DC
Give me a break. Dressing in a dopey costume in one's youth is worse than sexual assault?? And negates everything else in a person's life??
It's exactly this kind of mentality that is killing us in this country. The eagerness, the zeal, to humiliate and tar people. Why don't we just demand that they all go around wearing a scarlet letter. Millions of people would clearly be on board with that.
1
Gov. Northam, Lt.Governor and Att. General are all sinners.
What else is new? We are all sinners, but we need real leaders.
Why don't they admit they are sinners and work at repentance?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(We let Trump get away with misdeeds, but reject Democrats!)
Repentant, humble leaders might actually become better leaders!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See sinning admission benefits by "School of Life":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fSziIcP5k
3
Oh, please! Nothings says “irreverent” more than a college party. I remember in the late 70’s hearing about colleges having Jonestown parties where they mixed grain alcohol and purple Kool-Aid in a big container and led people to the container to drink a cup.
And, of course, college life in that era was heavily influenced by the irreverence of the zeitgeist of the time: SNL, Animal House, music (e.g.: ‘Some Girls’ by the Stones), punk rock (e.g.: The Dead Kennedys), etc. Wearing blackface at a party back then would not have stood out from the background noise.
It seems more than a little nit picky to be singling out anything from that era.
9
@NorthernVirginia
It would be only "nit-picky" if it weren't destroying people's lives and careers. But it is. It's the new McCarthyism.
35 Years ago, a 19 year old used a blackface for a costume party and now somehow he has to pay for this "sin", presumably his whole career should be ruined? This is beginning to smell of the USSR purges...
25
Trump once again displays his hypocrisy in criticizing Virginia's leaders. Trump is an admitted and accused womanizer, thief, liar, lecher, bigot, and on and on and on. When he goes, maybe it would make sense to look at all leaders, Democrat and Republican, for skeletons in their closets. The Attorney General is by far the worst of this group if investigations prove he is, indeed, guilty. Sexual molestation of a woman to any degree is vile and deserves punishment. But dressing up as a admired and extremely popular black man (Michael Jackson) is hardly an insult. The country's gone nuts. Should we punish children playing cowboys and Indians, no matter their race, for doing so. We're all human and all of us act inappropriately, sometimes at a more severe degree, at times.
8
What's worse, America:
A Governor who once went too far in impersonating Michael Jackson 35 years ago,
or
A President who goes out of his way to support the continued reverence of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson today?
Which one is more offensive?
Which one should continue to hold power?
12
@D.A.Oh
I missed the reverence thing. When did Trump revere Jackson?
2
@D.A.Oh Doesn't matter. Victims, Inc., have ginned up the outrage, and now we need heads to mount.
2
Try using the interwebs if you want to know about something you "missed."
Though I'm not sure how you missed Trump's defense of the white supremacists in Charlottesville a year and a half ago.
So try this article from Business Insider, August 15, 2017:
"Trump equates Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with George Washington in bizarre press conference"
1
Virginia is an awful racist and hateful place. Ban Virginia by not traveling there, don't spend your tourist money in slave state that goes back 400 years. As a nation we are better than as this!
6
I don't see any reports of women with histories of sexual assault and wearing blackface. Hmm. Maybe elect women?
5
@Cate
Patience, grasshopper. Women will make their own mistakes. Elizabeth Warren already has. I'll bet there's lots in women's pasts that would fail present scrutiny. It's just that up until quite recently, none of them was politically powerful enough to warrant the interest.
Illustration: San Francisco used to be a pretty rough and tumble ethnic town. Nancy's been around for about 75 years. Time to do a deep search of all available information sources to see if she disparaged, say, the Chinese back in 1952.
Heck, this stuff is just beginning.
1
As the Seattle P.I. (online only) reported this week the few anti-democracy people behind this racist and sexit propaganda run a hard-right website that supports people like predator Roy Moore.
Their goal is get rid of democrats in power. Are WE THE PEOPLE stupid enough to let it work - again? Not me and
I hope not you or democrats.
You can read the articles in their entirety here:
https://wwwh.seattlepi.com/news/article/A-tiph-from-a-concerned-citizen-helps-a-reporter-13585192.php
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/education/article/Racist-yearbook-photo-went-unnoticed-by-busy-med-13591054.php
12
You are grouping an accusation of sexual assault in with an accusation of someone wearing blackface. Let that sink in a moment.
31
You can't expect any rationality from the SJW universe.
1
There should be a statute of limitations on stupid comments or deeds, and it is time to move past it. Being racially insensitive in decades past does not necessitate continued insensitivity. It is time we start to believe in education and redemption for a stupid act. That is not saying that a true criminal act should be forgiven. Convict someone, impeach them...but let us not run people out of a rail because they were stupid when they were younger. There wouldn't be enough rails.
14
Let the voters decide. Do the investigations, follow the law, but let these officials DO THE JOBS they were elected to do until they can’t.
Republicans praise the KKK today.
They never resign.
This is Virginia’s problem, or Virginia’s opportunity.
I have faith that they will do the right thing.
Speaking from Illinois, where we are used to governors going to jail for financial misdeeds, I will wait and see, and, it’s none of my business anyway.
85
@Beegmo
Thank you! As someone who lives in the most crooked city in the most crooked county in the most crooked state I agree! Illinois politicians say the right things but tend to be as crooked as the day is long and the state is a financial basket case. I’d rather have VA politicians who made their mistakes early, apologized, and apparently have been actively working to better the lives of their constituents TODAY!
6
@Beegmo Yeah, and they're all Dems.
1
This whole scenario is like an unnecessary act of self-immolation on the part of the Democratic party. Specifically, because it’s being taken out of context.
At what point does a comment or exhibition become a racist or derogatory expression? Is the blackface of Al Jolson and those before acceptable or understandable for the era? Sure. For in fact, there were those academicians teaching that there were differences in people. So, what is the outrage based on that’s different in the early eighties? Nothing scientific for sure. It was still being taught by the likes of the Calton Coons with the origin of the races that there were differences. So that creates muscle memory of superiority that many still maintain. But the teaching moment that we’re all missing is the findings of the Human Genome project at the turn of the century wherein it found that there were no genetic differences in anyone enough to classify them as a different race—hence, all people regardless of color or origin are humans—all he same—NO RACES. That’s the teaching moment and line of demarcation of new evidence!
5
Anyone calling for Northam to resign should also be calling for the removal of all statues depicting civil war military personnel.
They are much more ubiquitous with greater impact than a college yearbook. And the idea behind both is in the same league.
7
I agree that Mr. Northam has not served himself well throughout this debacle. His initial apology, followed by his defiant denial, seems to make no sense.
As for Mr. Fairfax, he says the account conveyed by his accuser is wrong. Who's to say he's lying or she's lying? It could be two individuals having very different perceptions / memories of the same incident. So should he have to lose his job because of it? I personally don't think so.
As for the AG, all I can say is, I would hate to be held to account today for my behaviors decades ago when I was 18.
In this instance, I think Democrats need to lighten up. This insistence that people have a pure and perfect past is unreasonable. What matters more to me is how the person is conducting himself/herself today, and whether their behaviors are positive, morally sound and effective.
11
If these men were republicans, the NYT and commenters alike would denounce this and call for resignations. But, instead, this is somehow different. It's not. They are all bad.
The ends DO NOT justify the means. Just because resigning might help Trump is not a reason to stay. We're better than that.
9
@kz Do you hear any Republican politicians raising their hands and confessing their past sins against African Americans as did Mark Herring? Do you really think it's because there aren't any? No, I didn't think so.
All this fuss about allegations of unreported sexual misconduct and slight racial slights shows why mob justice is not justice at all. You would think people would have learned that from the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, but no.
I hope Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, and Mark Herring stay in office. They should. Don't be like Trent Lott who was bullied from office for a supposedly offensive remark. Or Al Franken who suffered the same.
Give people the fairness and judge them by their actions over a lifetime. One or even a few lapses in judgment should not condemn anyone.
7
The Democrats just happened to get caught. Let's not pretend like the Virginia Republicans are altruistic.
8
Anyone who feels holier-than-thou on this subject should consider what Jim Schutze wrote: "I looked into white faces but looked only at black faces. [...] I could read emotion and intent in a white face, but my eyes stopped at black. I filled in the blanks with stereotypes."
https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/yes-ditch-rebel-memorial-no-dont-be-sanctimonious-about-it-11548771
1
Donald Trump and the Republicans who get up on their moral high horses around racial and/or sexual misdeeds may quickly find themselves face down in the mud.
4
Did Blackface demonstrate intent of malice? Or was it a foolish and insensitive attempt to be funny.
2
Resign, as soon as Trump does. Trump’s conduct makes the Viginia’s leders look like saints.
4
@Jack
But Bill Clinton got a free pass from all you Democrats. Pathetic.
1
Let Virginia figure this out for themselves...of course,it's appalling but the typical MSM needing to drum up attention and click-bait, is more repulsive. Ask yourselves Virginians, and esp people of color, what have these three done for you lately...therein will lie your answer.
Only within this decade, I want to remind people, that Obama was still 'evolving' about same-sex marriage..people CAN and DO change.
2
In its day, the Ku Klux Klan was one of the most significant hate groups known to man. The worst example of terrorism on US soil in the nation’s history.
May God forgive any man or woman who dresses up in their robes, thinking it’s a joke.
4
Sorry Virginia, there is no Santa Claus. Maybe Mrs. Claus?
1
Virginia is a mess.
1
Why are 1980 behaviours being judged by 2019 values? Is that really fair? Why didn't you speak up back then? Or is this the way liberals get to be ageist? Go back, do your history, see whether or not it was accepted back then, then make your judgements. Otherwise, you are asking politicians to be timeless gods, which of course they are not. They are only human, just like you.
4
"I do not fear the return of the fascists as fascists, what I fear is the return of the fascists dressed up as democrats."
-Theodor W. Adorno
4
While you're hand-wringing about that, the fascists are running DC. Wake up!
“GOP Virginia senator oversaw yearbook with racial slurs, blackface photos”. That’s the title of the latest article in The Hill. What now?
3
Trump thinks this will make Virginia go Republican?
Because they'd rather have officials who AREN'T ashamed of blackface and dressing up in KKK robes? That doesn't make sense.
7
@SusanStoHelit
Trump likes men who sexually assault dozens of women then brag about it on tape, not men like Kavanaugh and Fairfax who insist they didn't do it.
Why is what Trump predicts deemed newsworthy---to borrow words from his own limited lexicon--he's a partisan hack--of the lowest order.
2
@jdawg
I think the media should report it when Trump predicts dire consequences for politicians accused of committing crimes and horrendous behavior Trump himself glories in.
Maybe some of his supporters will wake up and smell the hypocrisy.
If the governor has truly changed and can convincingly explain that,isn’t that the ideal result? Don’t we need reconciliation rather than punishment?
5
Perhaps it’s time that all Virginia legislators, and Virginia voters, publicly admit their poor choices, indiscretions, and just plain bad behavior of the last forty years. Then they might sit down together and discuss how best to forgive and understand themselves and each other, and what that means in regard to the positions they hold in society and government.
3
DT seems to believe that most of us are as dumb or dumber than he is. Does he really think anyone in 2020 will forget HIS lifetime of misdeeds? Even more importantly: will anyone forget what Republicans (in Virginia and everywhere else) have said and done to dismantle American democracy in recent years?? We remember and will remain vigilant.
2
It is just so horribly destructive to the people of Virginia and the people of America for a grown adult woman to wait 15 years to bring these horrendous charges against Fairfax, even though they may be absolutely true and valid.
Waiting 15 years is not acceptable.
More than "justice delayed, justice denied", for a grown woman to choose her political timing to bring these charges is a miscarriage of justice.
2
@David
I couldn’t agree more that “for a grown woman to choose her political timing to bring these charges is a miscarriage of justice.” It’s simply “not acceptable” that Christine Blasey Ford waited so long “to bring these horrendous charges” against Brett Kavanaugh.
Now, what were you saying about Virginia?
2
With Democrats like Kirsten Gillibrand who needs Republicans to sabotage themselves. She is cutting the Democrat nose to spite the face. Call out the immoral Republicans for the men they are now. Instead she is calling out Democrats for what was or was not in their past not for the principles and work as men now. Maybe, she reckons a Republican Speaker would be better as Virginia's Governor. She is running for President. I will never vote for her. She is sanctimonious to a fault.
5
These 3 need to resign immediately.
3
Is that the conclusion that your intersectionality star-chart has led you to?
The Times seems to be devoting a lot of coverage, and prime home page articles, to this story. At some point, readers are wondering why.
Does it really merit this much coverage and priority of place, given all the other breaking major political news right now? And news that directly affects the lives of New Yorkers and others around the nation?
Meanwhile, Trump is engaged in corrupt activity on a daily basis, the Feds are subpoenaing his campaign, Mueller is taking testimony, people are dying in Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan, and Europe is perhaps on the verge of disintegrating as a political and economic entity as we know it...
Isn't the media itself really creating news by endlessly churning this story? Maybe that's why it "shows no sign of ending"?
"Virginia braced on Thursday for sustained political upheaval as the crisis of personal conduct ... showed no sign of ending."
13
You might have nailed it. This a ploy by Trump to get the attention off him. Virginia is his new shiny object: look over folks. He's playing us.
Dear Don: I hate to break this to you, but you won't be around for 2020 because your treasonous and corrupt acts, ahem, "trump" these miscreants' otherwise heinous misdeeds.
3
Regarding Northam and Herring's one-off uses of blackface to impersonate black celebrities, one might reference the Wikipedia page:
"List of entertainers who performed in blackface," which is littered with many very popular performers.
And though they are mostly white -- including stars of stage and screen like Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra -- one can find just in the opening alphabetical section (A-C) the black legends, Louis Armstrong and Dave Chappelle.
Almost none of the people on this very long list made a career of performing as caricatures of people of another race by mockingly wearing their skin color, which is the historically racist form of wearing blackface.
Far worse would be, in this day and age, performing at rally after rally in a fake skin tone spreading a message of hate that non-whites and non-Christians mostly come to America in order to threaten the lives, livelihoods and lifestyles of the white, Christian rallygoers.
Regarding Fairfax, let the public discovery play out just as it did with Brett Kavanaugh.
I expect to hear Lindsey Graham vociferously defend all three men any day now.
3
Have we lost our minds? We are naval gazing... we do not vote in Saints. We are supposed to vote in capable people. If they mess around, as everyone has faults fine. These are not life and death issues, or even dangerous. They are trivial and in bad taste.
When was the last time some real accountability is done to folks in positions in power what are decisions made, the s/t and long term impacts, quantify their contribution while in office.
Anyone in business, in the military, or outside of political bureaucracy has to account for accomplishments and readiness. Reading these articles of catty gossip, gets the population focused on meaningless topics, that have very little impact really. It should stop. Leave it to the Enquirer...the Times is stopping way too low, for too long.
Let's see things pick up.
4
Hey Virginia! Elect women!
4
When I was 5 years old on a family trip to Florida I accidentally entered the girls’ bathroom, and two African-American girls about my age laughed at me. My puerile 5-year old reaction was to mutter “you stupid blacks” under my breath as I walked away. My parents heard that, and boy what an earful they gave me! They lectured me for hours about equality and respect, told me the history of slavery and all the gruesome stories of abuse and discrimination. I felt shamed to death.
I was only 5, but I remember that day vividly, especially my feeling of shame and guilt. Any child can do or say stupid stuff, but it’s up to the parents to educate, teach and correct their child to become a better person.
It makes me wonder what kind of family did Gov. Northam grow up in, and what kind of friends did he hang out with. Didn’t their parents teach them anything about respect, equality and the evil of racism?
5
Heads Republicans win.
Tails Democrats lose.
America has a wonderful political system.
8
@Socrates Well, heads Fairfax loses, anyway.
But is this a systemic flaw or a moment of collective hysteria?
2
Dave
Professor Tyson is being represented by the same law firm that represented Professor Blasey Ford; Lt. Gov. Fairfax is being represented by the same law firm that represented Judge Kavanaugh. You can’t make this up.
As a Democrat, what bothers me is that some declared presidential candidates, especially those who were members of the Judiciary Committee, who believed Professor Blasey Ford are doing a dance around Professor Tyson’s accusation, but hypocrisy is what we should expect out of politicians.
8
This Virginia Democrat would far rather be called a hypocrite for allowing these leaders to stay than to have to endure more pain under Republican control. There won't be too much left of the state to govern if they get back in charge.
145
@Slavin Rose, Ditto here. The context has definitely changed as the news of FOUR tainted political leaders emerged. As for Virginia, it will be most interesting to see what similarly ugly pictures emerge from old yearbooks all across the country.
3
@Slavin Rose
He should appoint a new Lt. Gov, then resign.
boys will be boys. so, lets all get over our feigned surprise.
3
In the early 1980s I knew smokers who were still refusing to accept that the practice was harmful to their health even decades after well-publicized medical consensus had emerged on the facts.
As someone who had never smoked I nonetheless had always been surrounded by smoke and it did not bother me much at the time.
Once society grappled with the issue however I was no longer continuously exposed and lost my ability to ignore it. I became acutely aware of the odor. I now noticed smoke and it irritated me in new ways.
This is the transition that has to happen on these other much more important issues. First the problem becomes less pervasive, then you notice it more when it happens.
Sexual assault and racial disenfranchisement were always deeply wrong but people immersed in them just were not always aware of the harm they were doing.
Mr. Herring has made this transition and now seems to understand and genuinely regret his earlier racial offense (which never seem to have included joking about the KKK).
Mr. Northam and Mr. Fairfax are still in denial. They fail to demonstrate the personal strength required to admit your own guilt to yourself and the world, to dedicate yourself to making amends.
2
I believe that it is strange that these issues related to the Governor and Lt. Governor come to public view so close together, rapidly followed by the Attorney General. All Democrats.
The result of this "crisis" is that three resign ing will lead to the Republicans taking over the state government. The GOP is rolling on the floor laughing at the High Minded folks calling for the resignations.
The question is. will the Democrats end up cutting off their nose to spite their face?
190
Convene the long-standing Democratic circular firing squad! Yeah, that’ll work for us. If you’re looking for totally upstanding individuals with no blemishes, you shouldn’t be looking at politics or business. (Apparently not in churches or universities either. Or the medical profession. Maybe we should all take that guy’s advice whose name escapes me, “Let anyone who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
24
@Ken Sadly, Ken, I very much fear they will do exactly that.
6
@Ken Not to mention that Northam was a registered Republican until 2004. And that the GOP Senate Majority Leader oversaw, as its editor, an extremely racially charged yearbook from VMI in 1968. Lots of blackface in it among other dastardly items.
16
None of them should resign. The only reason so many are calling for their resignations is that Democrats may actually consider it. Republicans, like Trump and Kavanaugh, wouldn't consider resigning and therefore their misdeeds are acceptable. Old, old actions must be considered in the light of decades of public service.
12
@Ronald D. Sattler Actually a Republican Secretary of State in Florida just resigned within the last ten days after a similar blackface issue came to light.
3
Without going into a long explanation, if Northam resigns, the only winner in this, in the long term, is Trump and the Republicans.
It's not brushing aside what any of the leaders have done (or not) but it has to do with the need of the Democrats to keep as many Democrats in office in as many elected offices across the nation as they can.
When the Democrats control the Presidency, Senate, and House then they can dictate moral authority on the state level. As long as Republicans control the Senate and Oval Office, all Democrats are doing by forcing him out is cannibalizing themselves.
Think long term, Democrats. The war, not this battle.
8
@Joe "It's not brushing aside what any of the leaders have done (or not) but it has to do with the need of the Democrats to keep as many Democrats in office in as many elected offices across the nation as they can."
This a sad and cynical way to view ethical and personal responsibilities of elected officials. I am a Democrat too, and I say let's try for a higher standard. We will never recover from Trump's moral rot if we don't.
1
Okay, Virginia. Assemble a panel of stakeholders. Get them to a table, any table, with Herring and Northam to talk this out and proceed in a reasonable and just manner. Show the country how we can solve our problems with communication and fairness. Share your findings and solutions.
I'm sick of issues being hashed out in the media and in the court of public opinion, which can never be just.
8
@Sherrie . WELL SPOKEN!
1
It's difficult for Democrats to compromise on such issues now - what happened with Clinton in 2016 shows the dangers of such compromises. Dems turned a blind eye to the Clintons' misdeeds in the 1990's, so in 2016 they were stuck with a candidate who could say nothing about Trump's groping of women and say little about Trump's financial wrongdoing.
Dems must not have "compromised" candidates in 2020.
3
Governor Northam has a good record (socially) for the past 25 years.
He and his wife(also with a good reputation) have decided to stick it out if possible.
The governors competitors for the office of governor are also not so perfect according to recent news.
Decent people of both political parties deserve a second chance if they have demonstrated over time, that they are deserving of the second chance.
A disturbing picture showed up in his graduation year book and it's uncertain of how it got on his page.
In the 33 years after all that, Ralph Northam M.D. worked up a good socially liberal record.
He is careful with the money of the people of Virginia (Fiscally conservative) and that's another reason that he will make a successful governor of that state.
Hang in there Governor Northam and wife, Pam.
The state of Virginia could do a lot worse.
5
All members of the House of Delegates in Virginia should be asked questions on the same topic for the past 35 years. How can we forget it was just a short time ago that we had "Charlottesville". And remember the president saying that there were good people on both sides. This is still the state of Harry Byrd. This is still the state that created all the private schools to avoid integration. There is a long history in Virginia of this kind of thing.
2
Do you remember what was required to take a photo back in the day? A lot. A camera. Film. You didn't want to waste the 12, 24 or 36 pictures on each roll. Sure we behaved badly, but you had to have someone around with a camera. Except for the kid who was into photography, most people travelled without one.
Now with the ubiquitous phone taking pictures all the time of everything.
Can you imagine what will be available in a few years when the iPhone generation is in power?
3
At the head of the United States we have even more severe issues with Donald Trump, Michael Pence, and Mitch McConnell.
Why are you obsessed with Democrats doing wrong when the top three Republicans are guilty of misdeeds far in excess of what these three men are?
Seriously NY Times, are you actually trying to destroy the American experiment?
8
@Joe Sabin
They did horrible things. Party doesn't matter. People matter. Not all stories have to be tied back into anti-Trump propaganda.
1
@kz That's not the point. The point is there is no continuous coverage of the horrible people I mentioned.
2
The Bard wrote, "Use every man according to his desert, and who shall escape whipping?" Dig deep enough, almost certainly, everyone in the line of succession is flawed. It is time for judicious pragmatism. If the Governor, Lt. Governor, and AG all deserve whipping, the Democratic Party should ask itself whether it truly wishes to govern. The voters picked a democrat. Do not disregard that choice.
5
I'm liberal, I'm female, and I support women's issues. However, unless Mr. Fairfax had a gun to the accuser's head, I don't see how he could force her to do what she said he forced her to do. She could just bite, or use her teeth, and he would have let go of her head. I can't believe that she was "forced" as much as she felt emotionally coerced, maybe? It just doesn't add up. She might have felt pressured, but that's not the same as being forced. We women can't afford to blame men for our own inability to stand up for ourselves. That will hurt the women who really are victims.
11
@A. Marie
Yikes. This is a scary argument that puts all men/women in a position of power and who use their influence to coerce sex under the guise of "consent" in the right each and every time so long as their was no "physical" force.
If that were true, Clinton also did not sexually assault Monica. And, Louie CK didn't cross the line.
Not a great argument. If these were republicans I dare say I think you'd have a change of heart.
2
@A. Marie "She might have felt pressured, but that's not the same as being forced."
Accused rapists use this same excuse in court.
4
@A. Marie: I guess you didn't read the comment from the ER doc who recited a long list of injuries he has treated in women who "just bit down," ranging from broken jaws and eye sockets to lacerations and internal organ damage. We have no idea what he said or did to make her feel so helpless, but the violence visited upon women who resist is certainly real.
2
It’s time to admit that politicians aren’t any more moral than the rest of us.
2
Do you hear the deafening sound of condemnations and call for boycotts by state and local Democratic politicians? Neither could I. They can spare us all the faux outrage and calls for boycotts if Republicans commits similar misdeeds.
1
Surprised no one has scoured yearbooks of GOP legislators to see if they have a clean history. This mess originated with Breibart news. So where is their counterpart doing same?
11
Well, if this is the way it has to be then I would advise the Democratic Party to start digging up
dirt on every Republican down the line of succession for this seat. It shouldn’t be hard to find something embarrassingly incriminating.
9
William F. Buckley, Jr. once said he’d rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the telephone book than by the faculty of Harvard University.
Virginia Democrats would be well advised to try the same thing.
6
"The Post did not publish a story at the time because it could not corroborate any of the accounts."
How can any news organization corroborate what happened between two individuals in the privacy of a hotel room? Absent an eye-witness or surveillance camera footage, this will always be a he-said, she-said story.
1
@Rajkamal Rao But the Post giddily published the Ford accusations in the Kavanaugh case without collaboration or an eye witness. Bias perhaps?
2
As a Virginian I am horribly embarrassed by this behavior but I voted for Mr. Northam not so much for him as his DEMOCRATIC POLICIES.
If all three men resign we would have a REBUBLICAN governor. This is not what we voted for!!!!!!! We need at least one democrat to stay and learn from their mistake.
324
@RTC This is misguided at best. Ignoring this makes Dems no better than Trump and others who defended what happened in Charlottesville.
This is unacceptable. We a better than this people!! Tolerating this behavior makes us complicit in the white nationalist/racist/bigoted agenda...I cannot believe we are falling for the same thing Republicans fell for by voting for Trump!
The end DOES NOT justify the means...Please!
This is the sad and depressing state of American politics....HELP!!!
19
That’s the GOP plan: dislodge the elected Democrats and install a GOP Governor.
48
@RTC
As I say to Republicans about Trump, and those supporting these immoral and indecent men (and immature--did Northam really need his wife to tell him that it was inappropriate to even respond to the question about whether he could moonwalk in an interview over an issue that threatened his political future?), and I'd say to you as well: the end doesn't justify the means.
4
Using his logic, the White House will return to the Democratics in 2020.
8
Dems,have Apple write a perfect specimen of a candidate, who can do no wrong, see no wrong, never has made or will make mistakes, and is perfect in every way. In other words, not a human.
21
@Íris Lee
Bingo! But don't count on all the sanctimonious, ILliberal pc warriors now baying for blood to understand it.
Pretty soon there'll be nobody left to run for office at all.
1
So the three top executives of my home state are facing excoriation for their stupidity (and possibly criminality), but when the Current Occupant engages in similar behavior, it's just another day at the office. Welcome to Bizzaro World.
128
@Christina Koomen It's not a fun experience when your state government is a dumpster fire, is it? (I used to cringe whenever entering my state and seeing "Mark Sanford, Governor" on the welcome signs.)
Let's not rush to judgment on three complex, varying sets of circumstances. If we do, the Democrats simply become a circular firing squad.
We should at least consider the possibility of the difference between someone who put on blackface to perpetuate racial stereotypes and someone who did it to simply impersonate a prominent black personality for a costume party or Halloween. The former is certainly racist; the latter would seem to fall somewhere on the scale from innocent to very bad taste, depending on the specific circumstances.
I don't recall anyone dressing up as Michael Jackson at a Halloween party I went to 35 years ago. But if a person had, and had put on brown make-up, I would have questioned his judgement but not necessarily ascribed racism to him.
We also should place any such conduct in context. How has this person conducted him/herself since such a decades-old incident occurred?
I assume that someone is looking through the yearbooks and histories of Republican leaders in Virginia, not for the sake of "gotcha" but to affirm that racist and stupid
past deeds there are not confined to one party and to make this more of a teaching rather than partisan moment.
As for the Attorney General, let's see if any more evidence emerges, including whether any other women come forward against him. I know that most women making such allegations are basing them on real experiences, but we can't condemn someone simply based on uncorroborated accusations.
12
@Thunder Road Exactly. I went to more than one Halloween party in the 70s and 80s where some buffoon dressed as Superfly or a rapper or a black pimp in the name of humor. Everyone, including African Americans, laughed at the dork and called it idiotic not racist.
All must go. They showed great disrespect for the people they represent. Surely, there's someone down the succession list that has not engaged in such atrocious behavior. If not, hold a new election.
A Virginia-girl (by birth and my first 27 years) who wants to be proud of Virginia's FUTURE.
2
@A Reader
Someday, in the future, something that you did, as a normal thing, will likely be considered as a horrible bit of behavior. Maybe it will be ascribing cultural appropriation when you aren't of the culture. Or maybe it will be a mistake you made in your early adulthood.
40 years of history show that the governor has shown good character since that photo. To act like he must go because once he was a fool is stupid on our part, and will only put in a Republican, likely someone who would not be ashamed of such a photo, nor learn from it.
1
The only plan B in this situation is to thwart the will of voters, and turn it over to the party whose leader, with the continuous support of his party, violates ethics and decency with impunity every day.
A party captured by the extreme right, that will likely attempt to serk impunity for treason.
Our thirst for justice is being manipulated by sources with an ideology that has NO empathy with or for ordinary people of any race. Only the fetus deserves protection of any kind.
Our ethics are being used as a WEAPON against us.
Rest assured they do not reveal scandals for the benefit of justice, but for power, by hook or by crook, by any means possible.
The ONLY feasible Plan B without becoming tools if the right, is to ask for forgiveness with strong commitment to healing - and to find a way to offer forgiveness.
THAT is how we will be true to our moral sensibilities, and distinguished from the corruption and hypocrisy of the right.
We do not have to play by the childish and dusingenuous rulebook of the right when dealing with our own sins!
Seek forgiveness. Recommit with strength to the future while learning from the past!
Use our power to unite and heal through policies that serve the greater good.
8
Remembering 'The Opera': When Louisiana House members wore blackface and whiteface
by Elizabeth Crisp
The New Orleans Advocate
February 6, 2019
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_68e73922-2a5d-11e9-9924-ef427abb8ebe.html
3
Everyone who went to see the movie Soul Man -- made in 1986 -- and everyone who watched it on tv instead of immediately turning it off -- is hereby an unrepentant racist who must never be in any higher level position at any company.
There is something truly off about all this reporting. The hypocrisy of those who have themselves dressed up in costumes offensive to some ethnic group or another is truly beyond belief.
Here is how every single normal person would treat this. You have a good friend of another race or ethnic background who has never shown one ounce of prejudice or bias. You find out that 30 years ago in a yearbook he or she dressed in a costume as someone of a different race. Do you immediately cut off your friendship and tell the person she should have "confessed" that she was always an unrepentant racist or anti-Semite or anti-Asian and still is?
Nope, you understand that a costume 30 years ago has nothing to do with what kind of person she has been for the last 30 years.
However, if the friend had been doing and saying racist things since you have known him or her, you would believe that the costume reflected her or her values.
If we have lost sight of that truth, then anyone throwing stones better make sure they aren't living in their own glass house.
75
What about redemption.
Northam is a success story of someone who evolved over time.
There is not a racist bone in his body.
Democrats, stop eating your own!
55
Kavanaughs accuser couldn't remember where or when the 'attack' occurred
Fairfaxs accuser knows exact time and place and told friends immediately.
In the first we were told the women must always be believed. She is white
In this case on these same pages we hear lots apologetics for Fairfax and grumbling about the accuser. She is black.
How deep the hole virtue projecting Democrats have fallen into..a trap they constructed for others.
6
I think most women, if they’ve read about the victim, would find her story credible. I think what resistance we’re seeing is because of partisan politics and misogyny. Now if it were a woman of color accusing a white man, that would be a different story. We might even see republican men crossing the aisle to believe the white male democrat.
1
@Lane
I didn't find Dr Ford credible at all - too many inconsistencies in her account plus the alleged event occurred nearly half a century ago.
I don't yet know if I find Ms Tyson's account credible. I want to think more about it and Mr Fairfax's response as well. I am troubled by @Martini's comment below "most women, if they've read about the victim, would find her story credible." Shouldn't the account itself be credible or not regardless of who the victim is or what she does for a living?
1
Now we know that the top Republican leader in Virginia was the editor of the yearbook full of blatantly racist pages. The editor! The one who personally made sure all those pages kept being racist.
When will he resign?
34
@RJ
Why? Will that bring a sense of relief and serenity to Brooklyn?
"Misdeeds" indeed. Two are immature and indifferent actions, in which no one was injured except the feelings of a defined group. But such outrage by the holier-than-thou set. The other is an allegation of a violent sexual act, but as the alleged perpetrator is a member of the previously noted aggrieved set, all sorts of rationals are set forward to deny the validity of the allegation or to insist on the benefit of the doubt to the accused.
Where are the #MeToo vigilantes?
Why is Fairfax being treated like Clarence Thomas and Vanessa Tyson like Anita Hill?
Why is it when a white woman alleges a sexual offense against a white man, she is believed, but when a black woman makes a similar allegation against a black man, she is accused of false memory syndrome or just a person making unsubstantiated claims?
Why aren't all those "diversity" identifying women coming to Tyson's defense?
The hypocrisy of "liberal Democ RATS" is the other side of the equation (=) to the lies of the "conservative RepubliCANTS."
3
I agree that it looks bad. The democrats are investigating but NOW has already demanded Fairfax to resign. There really is enough evidence for Fairfax’s political career to be over and I believe/hope Dems will come to that decision quickly. Northam should also be toast. Herring is the only one who came forward on his own and has shown believable remorse from an ignorant and embarrassing mistake he made 39 years ago, as a teenager.
22
I'm very active in the Democratic party. I know and work with dozens of people personally, and hundreds online. Everyone I know is calling for an investigation into Fairfax. These are very serious charges, and the woman deserves to be listened to in a respectful manner.
Your perception of events may be colored by a tendency toward whatever causes you to engage in name-calling. It isn't a very mature perspective.
1
@San Ta: I'm a white woman, and I believe Dr. Tyson.
This is quite a full plate of issues, but why is perspective missing from so much of it?
There is not, nor should there be any attempt to brush aside the ugliness of wearing blackface or a KKK robe, not even from the past. But can Governor Northam do anything more than apologize? What was the long-lasting effect of these pictures and admissions? Were people harmed physically, economically, or pschologically? Or is it just another disappointing straw on the overburdened camel's back that is American racism?
Though no one seems to be connecting the dots directly, it is Brett Kavanaugh's ghost that hangs over this, or at least the idea that someone is as responsible for what happened over 30 years ago in their youth as they are for their actions this morning. But, again, perspective. Offensive pictures and distasteful activities are a far cry from allegations of physical molestation.
What have Governor Northam's actions been in his political life? Has he behaved and legislated like a kid in blackface or has he moved forward from that disgraceful moment and embraced enlightenment, and invoked policy that reflects that?
If the only offense has been a shameful moment of youth, then is anyone qualified to be governor in all of Virginia?
249
@David
Northam has a lifelong reputation that is good, not bad. If he had multiple questionable incidents - then yeah, kick him out. But he doesn't. He's been a good representative of his constituents. That should mean a lot more than who he was when he graduated medical school as a young adult.
191
@SusanStoHelit
It's difficult to find a balance in your scales-of-justice. Northam seems to have a good reputation, but I cannot get past all the equivocating that immediately followed the exposure of that yearbook. Who are the two guys in the awful photo? Who put the photo on Northam's page? And why is it first surfacing now? Time to own it, Governor. It is you or it isn't you, it was long ago and frankly, you were a living, breathing product of that culture. Your failure to take responsibility for this is most telling.
4
@David
David and Susan - Brett Kavanaugh has that lifelong excellent reputation and still Democratic senators lambasted him for unproven and unbelievable assertions...where is the Democratic passion to believe ANY woman when it comes to Dr Tyson and Democratic lieutenant Gov Fairfax? It is curiously muted, to say the least. As for Mr. Northam and Mr Herring, there is a clear qualitative difference between dressing up and sexual assault.
12
The current tendency to judge adults by actions they performed decades ago is very troubling. We even forgive and parole all but the most heinous of criminals, including murderers.
To take it a step further we now have reached a point that we are judging people by today's standards for actions committed in an entirely different time. Society and culture were different.
I would like to think that all but the worst of us have grown and progressed in 35 or more years.
26
@Concernicus: It was 1984. Society and culture were not that different. It was 2 decades after the Civil Rights Movement. And, yes, they can be forgiven. They question is whether they should maintain positions of power.
6
Believe it or not, yes society has changed a lot. 35 years is a long time. Baby Boomers need to start admitting to themselves that they are getting old.
2
Northam chose the photos for his yearbook page. He was 25. Whether it was him in the photo or not, he chose a photo of someone in black face and someone in KKK robes. I feel like he glosses over this and is busy defending himself in the most backwards ways. He chose the photo to represent him and his time at the school. His remorse seems more about the death of his political career.
7
What a conundrum for our country. How about this. Any past non-criminal transgression that is not revealed before or during an election campaign for voters to consider in their choice of leaders is not grounds for resignation or calls for resignation. The voters should be the jury for any candidate credibly accused of racism and misogyny or moral turptitude and those accused of but not tried and convicted of past crimes. Elected officials should be held accountable for what they say and do while in office, even in their private lives, and we have plenty of work to do there. Exhibit A, Donald Trump. What is appropriate now is for the national Democratic Party and the Democratic state legislators in Virginia to condemn the acts and publicly censure the elected officials. And move on. If they stand for re-election, the people will decide their fate.
4
Completely agree. Democrats cannibalize their own time and time again. Compare these three to Judge Roy Moore and Trump. The GOP embraced them. No regret or apologies.
Well, we Lefties let Al Franken go over a stuypid prank that
has no malice in it. The GOP let Kavanaugh in despite support for a woman he traumatized while of college age.Her testimony was ignored. The three in VA are accused of worse deeds than Al Franken's. Their careers are already over, whether they stay in power or not. So, I'd encourage them to remorsefully resign for the good of the party and the country. Symbols are symbols. Trump is already worldwide shaming symbol of a minority influence. We gotta up the ante for Left leaders, though we cannot expect Pence's purity in politics.
Did I say that? It is amazing that in this hopefully, decent nation Trump is tolerated.
1
Stand strong Governor Northam. You may go down in history as one of the giants if you are the one that brings an end to this obscene national frenzy of dubious accusations.
The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
32
@Mike Murray MD: How is it a 'dubious accusation'? It's on his yearbook page. He admitted to it before denying it.
5
A photograph is not a “dubious accusation”, it’s proof.
5
He can bring it to an end by resigning.
The blatant racism and sexual misconduct by Donald Trump have forced the Democrats to "go high" with a zero tolerance for such misconduct. It seems there is no excuse for Gov. Ralph Northam to remain in office given his multiple racist offenses--posting a picture of the two most racial-laden Jim Crow images in his medical school yearbook as well as admitting to using black face in a dance competition. He must resign if the party is to have any moral standing. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax situation is dire, but must be adjudicated before he, too, should be asked to resign. The weakest case is that of Attorney General, Mark Herring, who honestly admitted to using black face in college and was forthcoming in his apology. Whether that rises to the level of the others is debatable. Perhaps an independent ethics commission should be established to review these cases and make a recommendation. That would take it out of the hands of warring political parties and provide an unbiased assessment and recommendation.
3
‘Going high’ blatantly lost the 2016 elections. It is an utterly stupid, ineffective and counterproductive strategy to continue! The correct proverb is to fight fire with fire.
There could not be any exceptions here. Democrats or Republicans, these bigoted folks should be forced to resign, regardless of political fallout. Period.
I call on everyone (Democratic Leaders and Liberal Media) to firmly condemn this.
Raging Liberal
4
There’s a problem with the Democratic Party. It’s not blackface. It’s not sexual assault.
It’s moral outrage.
Democrats are addicted to to it. And the problem is similar to any other addiction: It rots you from within. Soon, no one will be left to lead the party, because no one has lived a life that stands up to the moral perfection Democrats have come to expect.
There is a way out. Democrats must view a person’s life in totality, not from one mistake. And that mistake must be viewed in context and not automatically assumed to be worthy of political and public exile. Can Democrats in this day and age take a deep breath and go through this deeper analysis? If they want to survive as a party, they must.
388
@John
"Democrats must view a person’s life in totality, not from one mistake."
That's exactly what they're doing with Elizabeth Warren and what they did with Hillary Clinton.
15
@John: Sexual assault is outrageous. And many good people have never dressed in KKK outfits or blackface and many people have never sexually assaulted any one. It's really not that high of a standard.
17
@John - I think a fair amount of the outrage is actually being driven by hypocritical right-wing trolls, who know this is a fantastic weapon to use against Democrats.
75
The timing of this just can't be coincidental. Right?
5
Blackface is bad, posing playfully as a KKK member is awful, and sexual assault it the most egregious. The first two situations are undeniable. The third's accuser is quite believable and if she's telling the truth, then I expect more women to come forward. Predatory men tend to have patterns; there's rarely one victim. And the woman is brave; she has little to gain and a lot to lose by coming forward.
3
They seem like democrats in 1828. Clear them out, as many as possible.
2
Not the most palatable source, but facts are facts how many CA and NYC celebs have appeared in public and even hosting television shows in recent years in blackface.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6679399/Jimmy-Kimmell-Jimmy-Fallon-Billy-Crystal-Judy-Garland-Ted-Danson-Joy-Behar-blackface.html
And they were all roundly castigated for doing so.
1
@Maggie
Enlightening link. While I'm not usually a big fan of the daily mail, you can't really deny all the photographs. And honestly, I watched Tropic Thunder and never thought twice about Robert Downey Jr. in blackface and getting an Oscar nomination.
Maybe it's context and nuance? Maybe it's just that we like most actors and despise most politicians? I'm not sure. But actors are meant to entertain us, while politicians are there to enact policy. Big difference.
What I can say is that I wasn't super upset about college kids doing something stupid in the 80's. They were callous and insensitive, but they didn't physically harm anyone. Do they get a pass? No, but it's also wise to look at their actions in the last 30 years. Are they the same stupid kids they were then?
@Anita Larson
But no one claimed that the fact that they wore it demonstrates that they are unrepentant racists who should never be in the public eye again.
Although I know that Republicans who have spent their days spewing racist attacks and specifically defending the most racist actions of marchers in Charlotte and saying that racist people are "good people" claim that dressing in blackface 30 years ago is a much worst crime than what was committed in Charlotte.
1
It appears African-Americans in "whiteface" was never a "thing" in VA.
@Slann:
It was in Louisiana. I just posted in another comment a link to an article in The Advocate about a long tradition of Florida legislators of both parties wearing whiteface and blackface at an annual event. It was a party. It was all agreed upon. It was in jest. It was humor. It was for fun. But none of that is allowed anymore in the current neo-McCarthy climate. Here's the link again, though I don't know if the NYT will allow this comment to post:
https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_68e73922-2a5d-11e9-9924-ef427abb8ebe.html
4
Aaargh! Please forgive my typo -- I wrote "Florida" in there when I meant "Louisiana." I'm reading too may different stories at once! (NYT, please give us an 'edit' feature. Thank you.)
3
Governor Northam is a Pediatric Neuro- Surgeon.
Suppose you child suffered a terrible skull injury
and needed to be operated on immediately
and only Dr. Northam was available.
Are you going to tell him that because he is
a "Racist" you won't let him save your child ?
Virginia, forgive and forget or face Political Chaos.
23
The characterization of wearing blackface as a "misdeed" is over the top. It's not a crime. It's not fraud. Merely poor taste.
64
So we are now applying today's PC standard to something from 35 years ago. What's next? Are we going to replace all the "n" words in Mark Twain's novels by "African American"?
47
@You get what you vote for
Mark Twain, last I looked, is not in the Virginia government.
1
I’m a millennial and its odd to hear apologists saying that these offensive photos and behaviors don’t count because they were “35 years ago”, or the person was “younger then”. A lot of boomers have written in saying they would never have done that kind of thing 35 years ago and I believe them. I’m young and I know better. What do these excuses say about boomers? What do they say about young people?
33
One of the things you'll learn is that you're not going to be the same person you are now after 35 years have passed. You're just not. You don't understand, because your a kid. You will understand once you're a grown-up.
37
@CCW I'm a Boomer and recall what America was like in 1984 and it's absurd to hear excuses suggesting that people didn't realize how offensive and hurtful such conduct was back then.
12
@CCW
If you had watched the movie "Soul Man" you will find that even people like James Earl Jones did not automatically decide that every association with blackface meant that everyone associated with it was an unrepentant racist. Some people understood then that it was racist and some people understood then it was racial insensitive. No one accused James Earl Jones of being a racist for not immediately condemning everyone associated with the movie he was in.
That doesn't mean that ALL instances of blackface are okay. It means that context matters. There is a difference if it is a Republican Senator who has spent his entire life spewing racial hatred or a Democratic Senator who has never promoted racist policies and has worked to do good for people of all backgrounds.
11
Maybe it's just me, but the fact that a politician did something in bad taste 30+ years ago does not equate to that politician being racist.
Racism means actually discriminating against members of a specific racial group, something that neither Northam or Herring have done.
108
@Matt
Racism also means actually making members of a specific racial group feel threatened. Appearing in KKK robes would do exactly that.
2
@Matt If you don't see blackface as racist, you need a refresher course.
1
@Matt
One might even interpret the costumes of Northam and Herring as callow and misguided tributes to the musicians they very much admired. And I am even willing to accept the yearbook photo as a failed attempt at an ironic joke—which is what I thought it was before it was mediasplained to me as a horrifying example of unregenerate racism deserving of the worst possible punishment.
2
The misdeeds of these three Democrats can in no way counterbalance the misdeeds of Donald Trump and many members of the Republican Party. The real problem is with men (and women) of power whether in politics or business who feel they can get away with uncivilized behavior just because they have reached some perch from which they can look down and exert their power upon those lower than themselves. This debacle in Virginia is just the tip of the iceberg floating in the sea of human behavior. Donald J. Trump is the last person in this country to criticize the egregious behavior of others. Trump's behavior as POTUS makes these guys in Virginia look like choir boys.
19
Im going to pose my question again
"WHY WOULD HERRING VOLUNTARILY ADMIT TO SOMETHING THAT NO ONE ASKED OR KNEW ABOUT?"
There is something funny going on in the democratic ranks here. It seems like after all the democratic successors in Virginia have been accused (or awkwardly confessed of something they clearly didn't need to), the democratic leadership has stopped asking for resignations.
It seems that governor Northam is building a coalition around him and sending the message to washington democrat leaders "you force me out, you force all of us out and a republican takes control".
This is a huge test for the democratic party. Can they swallow their pride and force all 3 to resign? Are they going to try and spin something? How can they justify their repeated calls for Kavanaugh's resignation just months ago with Fairfax's accusation? This will be very interesting to watch.
9
I'm trying hard to understand the argument from those who want Northam and Herring out. By asking them to resign, the premise is that their use of blackface many years ago means that today they still must have racist tendencies, flawed judgment, and therefore must go. Further, that no amount of years or deeds can erase this behavior.
Sounds like a slippery slope to me and also I argue "let he or she who has not sinned cast the first stone." Realistically, that means persons of any color who have made racist statements or made fun of another race should be disqualified from holding a political office. Good luck with that.
In the case of Fairfax, like Kavanaugh, the accusations if true are criminal and thus don't fall into the same category as the use of blackface. Correct? And because of the criminal nature, he needs to be assumed innocent until an investigation is complete and shouldn't resign. I agree with this.
I was greatly disturbed by the yearbook photo and Herring's admission, but I'm also a merciful person who accepts the depth of their apology in light of the evolution both men have made in their lives. But mercy is a tough go these days. We'd rather have the fleeting satisfaction of revenge. And I already know, people will brand me racist for this post. Heavy sigh.
78
'On Thursday morning, President Trump adopted a view that was more aggressive and partisan. “Democrats at the top are killing the Great State of Virginia,” he wrote on Twitter, predicting that the commonwealth would return to the Republican column in the 2020 presidential election.'
Well, at least one guy has his priorities in order.
2
Before we go crazy eating our own, a specialty of Democrats, we might consider that 2 of these men dressed up for a party in a thoughtless way a long time ago (we might consider what they've done since then in public life before demanding their heads) and one is being accused of a serious crime. Seeing Trump weigh in is a great show of chutzpah, but that's what he's best at.
I know my views on many things have evolved during my life. When I was a teen in the 60s we made fun of gays. Within a few years I was living in the East Village in NYC, surrounded by gays and having no problem with that at all, and so it has remained in the 45 years since then. So which is the "real" me, the young person who echoed the intolerance all around me, or the adult who came to understand reality and changed completely?
Before we start destroying every person who did stupid things when young, and then evolved into a different person, we might consider the price to be paid for this kind of judgment. If only those who have been "pure" all their life are qualified to be leaders, we narrow the field considerably, and not for the better, in my opinion.
The man accused of sexual assault is a completely different case, and of course should be investigated for a criminal offense.
In the Times article about the infamous yearbook, it was mentioned that photos were found of people dressed in sombreros and kimonos! Is that also a PC crime? If so, then it's time to reflect a bit on what really matters.
491
No kidding. During my 26 year military career, I was the poster boy for conservative values. 15 years after retirement my views are nearly a total reversal of the impressionable young man I used to be. Having the time to actually be able to research issues is a game changer. Thank you NYT for telling us what’s really going on out there.
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@RG I agree. yet it must be acknowledged by those who are in public life that they participated in racist activity with ignorance and adolescent license. Their public service since can reflect their growth and maturation as they sloughed off childish things and became better people for it.
4
Nice try, but no cigar.
First, Mexicans were not slaves, and the Japanese were not slaves though they were wrongly interned during WW2.
Second, the Mexican and Japanese paraphernalia are objects, clothes, not a racist reference to physical appearance.
Third, wearing sombreros or kimonos is an expression of what those cultures wear, and can undo. Blackface mocks our black citizens, and one thing they can't undo is the color of their skins. They don't "wear" black.
That's like the difference between being dressed as a rabbi ... and altering your face to "look” “Jewish". The latter would be anti-Semitic.
Keep the pretzel twisting coming, but you'll soon run out of dough. And then all that will remain is latent racism.
4
I don't think this will bring the state back to the Republicans. There a big difference between doing something offensive 35 years ago and having it chronicled in your yearbook, versus... I dunno, destroying the social safety net or actively seeking to impose oligarchy.
45
It isn't a crisis. Stop shoving it down everyone's throats as if it is. So what if someone wanted to dress and look like Michael Jackson? Who didnt want to learn how to moonwalk like him? Michael Jackson did the reverse and that wasnt a crisis? People were curious but left it as that. These "shock" stories need to stop when it was two young immature people having fun in the 80's where everyone did crazy stuff. This whole "crisis" just serves more of an annoyance.
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@np8675309
first of all Michael Jackson had a rare skin pigmentation disease called Vitiglio which is real and was it not his choice.
Secondly, it is a crisis of hypocrisy for the democratic party. From Kavanaugh to this in only a few months, its ridiculous how y'all rationalize the behavior when its one of your own.
5
The social media Stasi who are braying incessantly about the blackface photos would almost certainly accuse anyone dressing like Michael Jackson as either being guilty of "cultural appropriation", or being a pedophile apologist. You can win with these fanatics, they're beyond reason - because they're always RIGHT!
8
The media love stories like this. but in the end the people of Virginia will decide their fate. We get to watch.
2
I believe Maya Angelou said something about when you know better, do better. I grew up in the era when these men wore blackface at parties. Attitudes have changed since those days. Back then, we watched actors as beloved as Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in black face on screen. It was normalized, in a sense. But sensitivities have changed, and for the better. Is it fair to hold people to a standard that wasn’t in effect during the time? I’m sure most who dressed in black face then regret it now, just as I hope those who dressed in other insensitive costumes might. (Pictures of truly offensive costumes are a quick internet search away.) When you know better, do better.
34
Whatever else, can we stop saying wearing blackface to parties in the 80’s was ok. Everybody was doing it? Those are incredibly asinine statements. People that wore blackface to parties were creeps. They were creeps then. People that do it in 2019 are creeps now. Forgive as you desire in 2019, but stop giving some low lives of the 80’s a pass. They were disgusting then. If they fixed themselves in the meantime, so be it. They can be Governors or AGs or whatever. Just own the reality because you stopped being a disgusting person does not mean you were never a disgusting person.
2
What is wrong with these people? Since when did blackface become a thing? Who does this? Even as a kid, when I saw clips of Al Jolson, performing in blackface, I cringed, and I'm talking about the 1960's Bruce. I thought, how demeaning! How insulting! I was embarrassed that such a great talent as Jolson would do such a thing. No one would ever do that again, I thought. I was wrong. But I grew up in the midwest, in an urban area, not in Whitelandia, Virginia.
Northam has to go, if for anything, his apology denial. His credibility is shot. Unless further incriminating appears, I would give the Attorney General a pass. He did something stupid when he was 19. We all did. If he didn't hurt anyone in the process, then give the guy chance to grow up.
The sexual allegations are very disturbing. The only way to force anyone into a sexual act is to threaten some kind of retaliation, usually physical. That's a crime. What did he say or do that caused that woman to proceed to do something against her will? From the creeps I have met, it is possible that he never considered what he did as being an imposition, let alone an assault. The full story needs to come out. None of this can most likely be proved or disproved, but the process has to now be allowed to run its course.
17
The issue shouldn't be as simple as did he do something offensive in the past. It should be whether the offensive act shows something meaningful and continuing in the person's character.
16
I'm wondering where the line should be drawn for prior bad acts of one's youth? The idea that a hurtful and gross act of a teenager should derail (presumably) a matured, remorseful and enlightened adults career makes me very uncomfortable. In a college class a fellow student said a something very racist toward me. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was immediately remorseful and apologetic. I would never want her life defined by that moment although I will never forget it. So - I just wonder what the end game is of this scrutiny that seemingly nobody can pass or repent for?
328
I believe that a persons actions after the age of 24 can be used to evaluate their character. That being said, had he said something to someone in passing then yes, he should continue to govern, but dressing up and having it published in a yearbook shows that it was not a spur of the moment thing. After the age of 25 the brain is fully developed and you know the consequences of your actions.
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@Dana: Northram was an adult in medical school, not a youth. And the year was 1984 (two decades after the civil rights movement), not 1960.
16
To clarify - I'm referring to Mr. Herring - not Mr. Northam in my comment.
10
Oh so sadly characteristic. While the Democrats are preoccupied with tearing their party asunder for past misdeeds, Trump and the Republicans are busy tearing the nation and its constitution asunder right now in the present.
259
Well, VA IS below the Mason-Dixon line. It would seem things there are just "different".
2
I grew up in the Georgia in the 60s. This was not acceptable behavior. Is it ok to be prejudiced toward everyone in the South? How is this different?
7
@Slann
Ridiculous comment, given how many California and NYC celebs do blackface all the time.
1
Oh, so we call rape and racism "misdeeds" now?
Intellectual dishonesty much?
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@Dakota T
The GOP doesn't consider those as even speed bumps on a man's road to Congress, SCOTUS and the White House.
11
I can't speak to Fairfax but the blackface from 35 years ago is not unforgiveable. Not a firing offense. Few Americans could hold office under such unwillingness to understand past racism from those times. No Republicans could...but if course even current racism isn't disqualifying for a Republican. Look at the men AFTER the one incident and judge from that. Judge people for how they have changed, not just for how they once were. Otherwise Republicans win.
Hillary Clinton supported harsh anti-black policies and called them "superpredators" in the 90s. If you voted for her, leave Northam alone.
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"On Thursday morning, Mr. Northam was planning to telephone the lieutenant governor and the attorney general to offer his best wishes about their own troubles, according to an adviser to the governor, who reaffirmed that he had no plans to step down."
OMG
The Governor's and AG's situation looks pretty clear to me. Own it, resign, work to repair the harm later.
As for the Lt. Gov.--get real, its not going to ever be any better than it is right now. That story is not going to get any better.
I think VA Democrats need a plan B.
6
@Wenga
The only plan B in this situation is to thwart the will of voters, and turn it over to the party whose leader, with the continuous support of his party, violates ethics and decency with impunity every day.
They will even attempt to deny treason.
And a party that has NO empathy with or for ordinary people of any race.
The right is manipulating us, using our own thirst for justice as a WEAPON against us.
Rest assured tgey are not doing it for tge benefit of justice, but for power, by hook or by crook, by any means possible.
The ONLY Plan B feasible, without veing tools if tge right, us to ask for forgiveness with strong commitment to healing, and to find a way to offer forgiveness.
THAT is how we will be distinguished from the corruption and hypocrisy of the right.
We do not have to play by their rulebook when dealing with our own sins!
Forgice. Recommit. Use our power to unite with love.
5
@jaryn
I feel your pain. Can't argue much. No easy way out. That said, 3 for 3 is pretty spooky. I am the same age as these guys. Went to similar schools, had similar white privileged life. Did not see any of these antics. That said, what bugs me a lot is a very strong feeling that none of this is particularly new news. And, I wonder how many of our politicians in both parties could pass this test.
2
Someone had better start checking the yearbooks of the Republican leadership in Virginia. Why are they so quiet?
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@Megan Hayes, I'd be a silent as a tomb if the other party wanted to tear itself to pieces, doom itself elsewhere for all time, and undo three elections they'd won with no help from me.
3
Was I the only student in the 1980’s who didn’t paint my face black? From the crazy news it sure feels that way.
11
It seems an inescapable fact of life that our society will always be more convulsed by these types of political scandals, whether they be racial in origin or related to financial corruption, sexual improprieties, professional incompetence, etc. because there is not enough gender balance among the leaders of our country. If we had more women leaders, we would have one less huge source of structural imbalance in our society. The foundations would simply be better grounded.
Likewise with more diverse leaders and more leaders among all age groups. We are currently on one huge very dangerous precipice due to the existential angst of old white men desperately clinging to their self styled sense of primal entitlement to wield power absolutely We already have enough problems tackling human overreach on the planet. Can we not establish more balance before we start the plunge into the abyss?
7
While I’m all for more women leaders and diversity in general it would be naive to think that women especially republican southern women don’t come with the same racist baggage as men. It wasn’t all that long ago that one made light of lynchings and was elected anyway. Then there’s all those daughters of the confederacy types with their whitewashing of slavery and general disdain for African Americans. How many of them are politicians & have equally unsavory episodes in the past. Gender isn’t a bar to racist behavior you know.
5
There are plenty of female racists.
2
Maybe there should be a statute of limitations on bad behavior.
As someone who has survived into my 70s, I know I have recreated myself at least three times. Even criminals are given limited sentences for their behavior. Look at the evidence. Has that person made a real change in his life?
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@Jack, I almost agree, but it should depend on the nature of the bad act and how it reflects on the current role.
I think it's silly to get upset about a Halloween costume someone wore in the 1980s. I don't see how this reflects on someone's character today, unless it's part of a pattern of other behavior.
On the other hand, a sexually assaulting drunk women is offensive, no matter how old the offense. But even that might have been forgivable if Kavanaugh had admitted it and demonstrated that he'd reformed.
8
@Bostontrim
Its fascinating how the democratic party draws a difference here between Kavanaugh and Northam.
How about Kavanaugh and Fairfax?
I smell hypocrisy
5
@Tom - I think it's more interesting that you would draw an equivalence between Kavanaugh and Northam, who is not accused of any crime.
And how about Kavanaugh and Fairfax? If the accusation is credible, Fairfax needs to be held to account. Kavanaugh meanwhile...
6