The state was reeling last week after a wave a surprising revelations broke.  It all started with the resurfacing of a picture from Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook personal page showing a man dressed in blackface standing next to a person dressed in Klu Klux Klan garb.  Immediately following coming out, many were calling for Northam to resign as Governor. Northam has thus far refused to step down, and further, the event has led many to reconsider the state of racism in the modern day.  I think this is an important conversation to have not only because Northam stands as a Democrat, meaning this cannot be pinned as a partisan issue, and because of the rise of xenophobia and general racism across America in the Trump era.  

Northam confirmed that he, in fact, did appear in the photo, and also quickly released a statement of apology in which he said, “I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”  He further claimed that he understood that there would be a long healing process to follow. He also followed up his statement with post on Twitter (here) further explaining himself and his plan to proceed.  Despite the quick response from Northam’s office, calls to resign poured in from both sides of the aisle and even people from outside politics.  The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus was among the first to make such a determination, followed quickly by state Senate and House Democrats, and even the former Virginia Governor, Terry McAuliffe.  Naturally, state Congressional Republicans also pounced on the opportunity to condemn Northam. Despite all this pushback, even from legislators in other states, Northam remained resolute in his position that he would remain to serve out the rest of his term and attempt to win back the trust of Virginians.  Northam later retracted his statement that he was one of the people in the yearbook photograph, but admitted to wearing blackface on a separate occasion, when dressing as Michael Jackson. You can read more about Northam’s situation with this CNN article.

The story, however, gets more complicated.  One of the many people to call on Northam to resign was Virginia Attorney General, Mark Herring.  However, then in a radical statement, Herring admitted to having dressed in blackface himself as part of a Halloween costume.  Herring reportedly has aspirations of running for Governor himself in 2021, so perhaps he came forward now so as to prevent it from resurfacing during his campaign.  He could also be trying to get the press about it over with now, especially since the attention is mostly focused on the current Governor. This Washington Post article tears into Herring for this seeming lack in basic logic.  If Herring is poised to condemn others for dawning racist costumes in the 80s, why does he himself remain in office?  The article further points out that it is concerning that Herring is the head of the legal system in Virginia. Blacks have faced generations of biased and racist law and justice, and an Attorney General with a seemingly racist past seems to stand to represent just how this has maintained for so long.  This is especially bad in a state where neo-Nazi demonstrations were held to devastating consequence no more than 2 years ago.

 

All in all, this series of revelations about these prominent Virginia politicians’ past is devastating for the state.  It only lends ammunition to the argument that the entire political system is set up against blacks and minorities as a whole, which bodes poorly for the future.  For example, why would blacks come out to vote when it seems like even after hundreds of years of social reform, they still cannot obtain equality. This is made worse because the men involved in these scandals are Democrats, the party that relies heavily on a strong black vote to win elections, and often the better choice for blacks searching for legislative action working toward equality.  This is made worse by the attitude toward minorities in general in the Trump-era. With the President criminalizing Hispanics and pursuing a largely white-centric agenda (if you disagree, look at the race distribution of his administration).

 

On the other hand, this article from the Atlantic offers a compelling counterpoint to the outrage of these blackface scandals.  I will not be able to do it justice by explaining it here, so definitely go read it for yourself, but the main idea is questioning if we should treat all instances of blackface from decades ago as career ending blows and Jim Crow caliber racism.  

 

But it does not stop with blackface.  The same week as the two blackface scandals arose, a woman came forward claiming to have been sexual assaulted by Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat.  The allegations come right at the end of the statute of limitations for such cases (15 years in Virginia).  Fairfax adamantly denies the allegations and has asked for a thorough and impartial investigation into them.  The Washington Post reports that Fairfax “has oscillated between a conciliatory tone that his accusers deserve to be heard and aggressively dismissing their allegations as part of a smear campaign.”  

This is an extremely tense time for the Virginia legislature and the country as a whole because the fates of these three men could spell precedents that last for decades.  The situation is even worse because the the Lt. Governor and Attorney General are the next in line to be Governor should Northam step down or be impeached. Thus, it seems if one falls, Virginia could end up with an entirely new set of leaders.  The implications for this political firestorm are vast and I am sure you can imagine just how far reaching they are.