RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Friday acknowledged appearing in a “clearly racist and offensive” photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook that shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

“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 said. “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”

Northam, 59, did not say if he was the man dressed in blackface or Klan robes. Calls for his resignation came from the NAACP, the Republican Governors’ Association, the state’s Republican party and some national Democrats – including presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Julian Castro.

“Black face in any manner is always racist and never okay,” tweeted Derrick Johnson, NAACP president. “No matter the party affiliation, we can not stand for such behavior, which is why the @NAACP is calling for the resignation of Virginia Governor @RalphNortham.”

Members of the state legislative black caucus said Friday night stopped short of demanding Northam step down but said “what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive. We feel complete betrayal. The legacy of slavery, racism, and Jim Crow has been an albatross around the necks of African Americans for over 400 years. These pictures rip off the scabs of an excruciatingly painful history and are a piercing reminder of this nation’s sins. Those who would excuse the pictures are just as culpable.”

But a statement released by the governor in the early evening indicated that he would continue his work.

The image in the yearbook from Eastern Virginia Medical School was on a page with other photos of Northam and personal information about the future governor. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, graduated from medical school in 1984 after earning an undergraduate degree from Virginia Military Institute.

The yearbook page is labeled Ralph Shearer Northam, along with pictures of him in a jacket and tie, casual clothes and alongside his restored Corvette.

It shows two people, one in plaid pants, bow tie and black faced, and the other in full Klan robes and a hood. Both men appear to be holding beer cans. The person in black face is smiling. Beneath the photo, Northam lists his alma mater, an interest in pediatrics and offers a quote: “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”

Jack Wilson, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia said Northam should step down. “Racism has no place in Virginia,” Wilson said in a statement. “These pictures are wholly inappropriate. If Governor Northam appeared in blackface or dressed in a KKK robe, he should resign immediately.”

Vivian Paige, a long-time political activist in Norfolk who has known Northam since he first ran for office, said she was distraught over the news and felt Northam should step down.

“I’m disappointed and I believe that he can’t lead the party any more,” said Paige, who is African American.“Ralph and I are a year apart in age. It really cuts to the bone to me that someone would do that at our age. Our generation – the tail end of the Baby Boom – we grew up in an integrated society. How could you not know that was wrong?”

The yearbook image was first posted Friday by the website Big League Politics, a conservative outlet founded by Patrick Howley, a former writer for the Daily Caller and Breitbart.

The Washington Post independently confirmed the authenticity of the yearbook by viewing it in the medical school library in Norfolk.

The revelation comes after a wild week for Northam, who was accused by Republicans of advocating infanticide after he made comments defending a bill that would have lifted restrictions on late-term abortions. It was more surprising because Northam has billed himself as the political antidote to Donald Trump – an aw-shucks leader with a boring speaking style and a reputation for honesty. He gained the trust of Republicans, who worked with him last year to pass Medicaid expansion after four years of resisting it under previous governor Terry McAuliffe (D).

House Speaker M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights), Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City) and other Republican leaders released a statement Friday that called the yearbook image “a deeply disturbing and offensive photograph”

In his statement, Northam said that he recognized “that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused. I am ready to do that important work. The first step is to offer my sincerest apology and to state my absolute commitment to living up to the expectations Virginians set for me when they elected me to be their Governor.”

A Northam ally, Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) defended the governor.

“His whole life has been about exactly the opposite and that’s what you need to examine, not something that occurred 30 years ago,” said Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax). “While it’s in very poor taste, I would think no one in the General Assembly who would like their college conduct examined. I would hate to have to go back and examine my two years in the Army. Trust me. I was 18 years old and I was a handful, OK? His life since then has been anything but. It’s been a life of helping people, and many times for free.”

He later said he agreed with the legislative black caucus.

Sen. Richard Stuart (R-Stafford), one of the governor’s closest friends, said he had not been able to talk to Northam about the yearbook and did not know what to make of it, but stood by him.

“He’s my friend and I will always stand up for him,” said Stuart, who also took exception to claims that Northam had advocated infanticide. Joan Naidorf, whose husband’s yearbook page sits opposite Northam’s in the yearbook, said she was surprised the photos are only now just coming out, given Northam’s stature in Virginia politics.

“We’ve often wondered over the last 10 years or so why someone didn’t dig this up sooner,” said Joan Naidorf, a non-practicing emergency room physician who lives in Alexandria.

When she first saw the photo shortly after the yearbook was published, Naidrorf said, “I thought: `That’s awful.’ I assumed it was something at a drunken frat party.”

Naidorf said she didn’t know when or where the photos were taken. Her husband, Tobin, wasn’t available Friday. He had met Northam a few times when they worked medical rotations together, but weren’t friends, she said.

Eastern Virginia Medical School allowed students to pick their own photos for their yearbook page, Naidorf said. Her husband chose their engagement photo and other personal pictures. Another student chose a picture of men also in blackface and dressed as woman in what appears to be a variety show routine.

Northam has built his 12-year political career on a clean-cut image as a soft-spoken doctor and Army veteran who headed Honor Council at VMI, a demanding job that required him to pass judgement on fellow students who lied or violated the school’s honor code.

First elected to the state Senate from Norfolk in 2007, Northam has had a charmed political career. He was courted by Republicans because of his conservative leanings, and was identified early by then-Gov. Tim Kaine (D) as future governor material because of his experience in both health care and the military. Northam served in the Army for eight years after medical school, treating soldiers wounded in the Gulf War.

He later walked that back and now says it should be up to localities, but said recently that his personal belief is that such statues are harmful.

Northam, 59, grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the fishing village of Onancock. His father was a judge and his mother was a school teacher. Northam and his brother attended desegregated public high school, where Northam played basketball and baseball.

The origins of blackface date to minstrel shows from the 19th century, when white actors covered themselves in black grease paint to portray African Americans but in a cartoonish, dehumanizing way. The minstrel shows put forth racist notions of African Americans as primitive and inferior.

Last week, Michael Ertel, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after the emergence of photos from 2005 of him in blackface, apparently mimicking victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Former NBC journalist Megyn Kelly stirred controversy in October for defending blackface in Halloween costumes.

via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gov-northams-medical-school-yearbook-page-shows-men-in-blackface-kkk-robe/2019/02/01/517a43ee-265f-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fc80d8e06d01