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VA Gov. Ralph Northam Yearbook Photo - LG and AG Scandals Too (1 Viewer)

Sinn Fein said:
I don't know where you live now, nor where you grew up - but I grew up in the 70's and early 80's in the Tidewater area - living on both sides of the water. 

Its a blue-collar area - and it was pretty racist.  Desegregation was still a thing in the 1970s.  Everyone mostly kept to their own - but I think that fueled more racist attitudes.  
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I liked Remember the Titans. 

 
Sinn Fein said:
I don't know where you live now, nor where you grew up - but I grew up in the 70's and early 80's in the Tidewater area - living on both sides of the water. 

Its a blue-collar area - and it was pretty racist.  Desegregation was still a thing in the 1970s.  Everyone mostly kept to their own - but I think that fueled more racist attitudes.  
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Know the area very well, for comparison purposes how do you rate it as “pretty racist” and how do you compare to other areas? Is that where Northam is from I honestly don’t know? Do you know people that dressed in blackface, kkk outfits, or would attempt to put any racist things in school yearbooks? I’ve spent a lot of my life in VA and deeper South and can honestly say never come across any of those and know many that grew up same era as Ralph. 

 
In 1975 when I was ten we had a Civil War day and half the kids dressed up in black face. That was in Huntington Beach, CA 

 
It's weird.  Is he being told to resign because he's a racist now?  Or because it looks like he was one at 24?  Or because people feel betrayed that they didn't know about this party during med school decades ago?  Does this picture override his more recent actions and comments surrounding issues of race and intolerance, on which he seems to be on the right side?  Is it that democrats don't want to cede the high moral ground by being seen defending someone who is pictured in an incredibly insensitive and compromising costume?  Do people feel like he lied to them about who he was and what he stood for, and if they had only seen this picture they'd have better known the man he is today and been able to make a better informed decision about how well he'd represent them?  Is it just an insta-reaction to something offensive where we reflexively call for someones head when questionable pictures/videos surface?  In your personal life, regardless of the explanations from the person involved, would pictures from their distant past and an apology for the behavior cause you to cut them off?

I realize public office is different than friendships...just asking the questions.  I think a lot is at play.

 
We also had a chain restaurant in California called Sambos where you could get a comic book featuring Lil Sambo running through the jungle. I loved going there as a kid. 

 
Panel discussion on MSNBC, everyone saying he is toast and has to resign unless there is some "Perry Mason" moment at the press statement later this hour with like having 2 people come forward saying they put the photo in without his knowledge and then gave him a fake yearbook with another photo substituted in it.

Al Sharpton said all Democrats he has talked said he must step down and how could he not be responsible for what was on his yearbook page?

 
Also in the mid 70s, a certain wealthy section of Pacific Palisades successfully petitioned to have their school district changed from Palisades to Santa Monica. Why? Because a judge had ordered that a small number of students from South Central schools be bussed in to Palisades High School as part of an attempt an integration. This involved maybe 20 black kids or less, but the fine folks living near PCH and Sunset didn’t want their children to be around ANY blacks- so as a result my wife attended Santa Monica High School- just like Stephen Miller!

But these little tidbits of California’s history of racism doesn’t get taught in our schools- instead we get every detail of how the South handled integration. 

 
adonis said:
It's weird.  Is he being told to resign because he's a racist now?  Or because it looks like he was one at 24?  Or because people feel betrayed that they didn't know about this party during med school decades ago?  Does this picture override his more recent actions and comments surrounding issues of race and intolerance, on which he seems to be on the right side?  Is it that democrats don't want to cede the high moral ground by being seen defending someone who is pictured in an incredibly insensitive and compromising costume?  Do people feel like he lied to them about who he was and what he stood for, and if they had only seen this picture they'd have better known the man he is today and been able to make a better informed decision about how well he'd represent them?  Is it just an insta-reaction to something offensive where we reflexively call for someones head when questionable pictures/videos surface?  In your personal life, regardless of the explanations from the person involved, would pictures from their distant past and an apology for the behavior cause you to cut them off?

I realize public office is different than friendships...just asking the questions.  I think a lot is at play.
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Another question is what's he going to say when there's a move to take down monuments in Richmond, or when there is a commemoration by the far right at Charlottesville? Don't wave those flags around, fellas?

- eta - Yes IMO it's because he's a public official and the top one at that.

 
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SaintsInDome2006 said:
Another question is what's he going to say when there's a move to take down monuments in Richmond, or when there is a commemoration by the far right at Charlottesville? Don't wave those flags around, fellas?
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Didn't he advocate taking the monuments down, and in Indiana Jones fashion, said they belong in a museum?

The debate over Confederate monuments in Virginia roiled the race to replace McAuliffe, who is restricted by law from seeking a second term. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Democrat hoping to succeed his boss, called for relocating statues to museums earlier in the day.

“I believe these statues should be taken down and moved into museums. As governor, I am going to be a vocal advocate for that approach and work with localities on this issue,” Northam said in a statement. “We should also do more to elevate the parts of our history that have all too often been underrepresented.”

It’s a firmer stance for Northam, who previously treated debates over Confederate memorials as a local issue.
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adonis said:
Didn't he advocate taking the monuments down, and in Indiana Jones fashion, said they belong in a museum?

The debate over Confederate monuments in Virginia roiled the race to replace McAuliffe, who is restricted by law from seeking a second term. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Democrat hoping to succeed his boss, called for relocating statues to museums earlier in the day.

“I believe these statues should be taken down and moved into museums. As governor, I am going to be a vocal advocate for that approach and work with localities on this issue,” Northam said in a statement. “We should also do more to elevate the parts of our history that have all too often been underrepresented.”

It’s a firmer stance for Northam, who previously treated debates over Confederate memorials as a local issue.
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I'm sure he did and the article says so - but in the future he will be called hypocrite and it will weaken the position he stood for.

 
timschochet said:
What a mess. I can’t believe he’s going to insist on staying. Quite the spectacle. 
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My vote is that he comes out saying that he wasn't in the picture, he can prove it, and that he included it in the yearbook to save for posterity two racist clowns in the class, so that their ignominy would never fade!  He's the real hero here.

It was a party, and these guys were the biggest #######s there.  He chose this picture to show for all to see how bad folks can be.

 
adonis said:
My vote is that he comes out saying that he wasn't in the picture, he can prove it, and that he included it in the yearbook to save for posterity two racist clowns in the class, so that their ignominy would never fade!  He's the real hero here.

It was a party, and these guys were the biggest #######s there.  He chose this picture to show for all to see how bad folks can be.
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Fantasy Land. 

Just curious did you spend this much time defending the Florida Secretary of State last week?

 
GoBirds said:
Know the area very well, for comparison purposes how do you rate it as “pretty racist” and how do you compare to other areas? Is that where Northam is from I honestly don’t know? Do you know people that dressed in blackface, kkk outfits, or would attempt to put any racist things in school yearbooks? I’ve spent a lot of my life in VA and deeper South and can honestly say never come across any of those and know many that grew up same era as Ralph. 
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I would guess I know the area as well as anyone - I grew up on both sides of the water - and each side as its quirks.

To give you a sense of where I went to High School - it was the same school as Allen Iverson, and the next closest high school was Warwick High in Newport News where Michael Vick went to school.  These are schools where the racial make-up was about 50-50 white and black.  I won't say we lived in peaceful harmony, but we had very few race fights - presumably because the numbers were relatively even.  But, the underlying tones were definitely there - and you tended not to mix races in almost anything we did.  I don't recall if anyone ever dressed up in black-face (that would not surprise me) - and I am pretty sure I never saw a Klan costume - but I know kids who would have applauded the choice.

I too have lived most of my life in the "South"  I have spent time in North Carolina, about 12 years in Macon/Atlanta and now about a dozen years in Lexington.  Tidewater - during the time I grew up there (I also lived their later as an adult) had the most racist overtones.  Part of that was the time, part of that was the culture, and part of that was the culture being passed on from one generation to the next.  (Some of the rural part of Metro Atlanta are very racist...but I never spent much time there to figure out how widespread it was...)

Does that mean that everyone in Tidewater was racist?  No.  Does that mean that being racist then should be acceptable?  No.  Can people change over time?  I sure hope so.

 
GoBirds said:
Fantasy Land. 

Just curious did you spend this much time defending the Florida Secretary of State last week?
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I'm not defenidng him. I really couldn't care much less.

What I care about is where society is and how we react to things like this.

Kick him out, keep him in, I really couldn't care much less.  But it's annoying living in a society that hyperinflates controversy they can see in pictures and videos, and turns a blind eye to terrible actions that have plenty of evidence behind them but aren't photogenic.

 
If it is him in the photo, he could have come out with a painfully honest mea culpa, explaining he was young, should have known better at the time, and made a stupid mistake that he regrets deeply. Ala, he is "in no way is a racist or holds racist beliefs" and sorry for the pain that he has caused. And ask for forgiveness. But politicians almost never handle it this way. 

 
"It was offensive, racist and despicable. I was unaware of what was on my page. I was appalled they appeared on my page. I am not the person in that photo"

- Gov. Ralph Northam

 
While he believes that he wasn’t in the picture, he mentions being at a party in blackface dressed as Michael Jackson a different time in his life.

 
"Governor, when you cosplayed as Michael Jackson in San Antonio, was it the red jacket Thriller Michael or the white suited Smooth Criminal Michael?"

 
Workhorse said:
While he believes that he wasn’t in the picture, he mentions being at a party in blackface dressed as Michael Jackson a different time in his life.
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Yeah the guy seems just completely full of it now.

At least claim to have been drink and that you like beer or something.

He needs to go.

 
People called me Goose because my voice changed, and people called me Coonman because... well I have no idea why they called me Coonman.

 
How does he NOT resign here?  “I’m pretty sure I’m not in THAT blackface pic because I remember that OTHER time I dressed in blackface.”

What an odd defense.

 
This is almost surreal.  He may hang on, even though I still don't see how, but his political future beyond this term is over.

 
Workhorse said:
How does he NOT resign here?  “I’m pretty sure I’m not in THAT blackface pic because I remember that OTHER time I dressed in blackface.”

What an odd defense.
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I'm guilty of the blackface, but not standing next to a guy in a klan hood and taking a photo of it.

 
other than this yearbook page ...... has Northam ever done anything else to suggest he's racist or ever was racist ?

it was 1981 .... almost 40 years ago 

 
Sinn Fein said:
I would guess I know the area as well as anyone - I grew up on both sides of the water - and each side as its quirks.

To give you a sense of where I went to High School - it was the same school as Allen Iverson, and the next closest high school was Warwick High in Newport News where Michael Vick went to school.  These are schools where the racial make-up was about 50-50 white and black.  I won't say we lived in peaceful harmony, but we had very few race fights - presumably because the numbers were relatively even.  But, the underlying tones were definitely there - and you tended not to mix races in almost anything we did.  I don't recall if anyone ever dressed up in black-face (that would not surprise me) - and I am pretty sure I never saw a Klan costume - but I know kids who would have applauded the choice.

I too have lived most of my life in the "South"  I have spent time in North Carolina, about 12 years in Macon/Atlanta and now about a dozen years in Lexington.  Tidewater - during the time I grew up there (I also lived their later as an adult) had the most racist overtones.  Part of that was the time, part of that was the culture, and part of that was the culture being passed on from one generation to the next.  (Some of the rural part of Metro Atlanta are very racist...but I never spent much time there to figure out how widespread it was...)

Does that mean that everyone in Tidewater was racist?  No.  Does that mean that being racist then should be acceptable?  No.  Can people change over time?  I sure hope so.
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Gotcha so you were a Penninsula guy....my family and time was spread more across the Southside. But it sounds like Northam is an Eastern Shore guy which is a lot different than both of these areas. I’ve found NC to be way worse but as one person I can’t speak for a whole area  

Sounds like Northam getting out in front of another black face incident with his MJ impersonation. He’s done. 

 
GoBirds said:
Gotcha so you were a Penninsula guy....my family and time was spread more across the Southside.
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I went to high school on the Peninsula - I went to grade school on the Southside - living in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth.

I attended:  Star of the Sea Catholic school, Princess Anne Elementary, and Portsmouth Catholic

As an adult, we lived in Ghent for a few years, my second daughter was born in Norfolk General.

I have grown up and lived all over the tidewater area.

 
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