Ralph Northam, Virginia Governor, Admits He Was in Racist Photo
By Alan Blinder and Jonathan Martin
Virginia’s governor acknowledged on Friday that he was photographed more than 30 years ago in a costume that was “clearly racist and offensive” — admitting that he had dressed either as a member of the Ku Klux Klan or in blackface — but resisted mounting calls for his resignation.
“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,” Ralph Northam, the Democratic governor, said in a statement on Friday evening.
Mr. Northam issued his statement hours after the photograph — which was included on his 1984 yearbook page from Eastern Virginia Medical School and appeared alongside other pictures of himself — became public. Neither person in the black-and-white photograph was identified, and Mr. Northam, a pediatric neurologist who was elected Virginia’s governor in 2017, did not confirm which costume he had worn.
He faced intensifying bipartisan pressure on Friday night to step down, including calls from three Democratic presidential candidates: Senators Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio. But Mr. Northam suggested that he would try to remain in office.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It doesn’t matter if he is a Republican or a Democrat,” Mr. Castro said. “This behavior was racist and unconscionable. Governor Northam should resign.”
Virginia’s two Democratic senators, Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine — former governors themselves — gently nudged Mr. Northam toward the exits, issuing simultaneous statements urging him to reflect on how to move forward.
Derrick Johnson, president of the N.A.A.C.P., also called on Mr. Northam to resign, saying on Twitter: “Black face in any manner is always racist and never okay.”
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus stopped just short of demanding his resignation. “We are still processing what we have seen about the Governor,” the group said in a statement, “but unequivocally say that what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive.”
“We feel complete betrayal,” the statement said, adding that “these pictures rip off the scabs of an excruciatingly painful history and are a piercing reminder of this nation’s sins.”
ADVERTISEMENT
There was no immediate consensus about Mr. Northam’s future in Richmond, the Virginia capital. The chairman of the state Republican Party, Jack Wilson, condemned the picture as “wholly inappropriate” before Mr. Northam issued his statement and called for the governor’s resignation if he was, in fact, in the photograph.
Mayor Levar Stoney of Richmond, who is African-American, and two of Virginia’s freshman Democratic lawmakers, Representatives Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria, also urged the governor to resign.
Some Virginia Democrats, though, defended Mr. Northam and said he should not quit.
“The picture was in extremely poor taste, no question about that, but his life since then has been anything but,” said Richard Saslaw, the Democratic leader of the Virginia Senate. “He’s had a career of helping people of all races.”
Mr. Saslaw said the governor should “obviously apologize” but, alluding to the members of the State House and Senate, he added: “Which of the 140 of us would want to have revealed what we were doing in our early to mid-20s?”
In his statement, Mr. Northam said the photograph “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,” he said, “I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”
After the governor issued his statement, CBS News, citing a 1981 Virginia Military Institute yearbook, reported that Mr. Northam had been known as “Coonman” as an undergraduate student there. The governor has not addressed the nickname, which contains a racial slur.
ADVERTISEMENT
If Mr. Northam were to resign, Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax would assume the governor’s office. Mr. Fairfax, a Democrat, was the second black person to be elected to statewide office in Virginia. Mr. Northam spoke to the lieutenant governor on Friday before he issued his apology, according to a Virginia Democrat familiar with the conversation.
The lieutenant governor did not immediately comment on Friday.
In his statement, Mr. Northam signaled that he did not intend to cede power to Mr. Fairfax.
“I recognize that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused,” he said. “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.”
Even if Mr. Northam defies the sudden crush of pressure to quit, he will not face any immediate electoral repercussions. Virginia bars governors from serving two consecutive terms, and both of the state’s United States senators are Democrats, leaving his political options limited.
Still, the news of the yearbook image, which the website Big League Politics first reported on Friday, could undermine Mr. Northam’s authority in Richmond and tarnish his tenure, which, just more than a year in, had already been marked by several accomplishments on Democratic priorities.
Mr. Northam rode to victory in 2017, when he soundly defeated Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, thanks to the suburban backlash against President Trump. Virginia Democrats nearly reclaimed control of the State House the same year. Their success prompted Republicans to finally give up their opposition to Medicaid expansion and the measure passed with bipartisan support, offering the governor a signature accomplishment.
Then Mr. Northam announced last year that Amazon had selected Arlington County, Va., just outside of Washington, for one of its new facilities as part of its “HQ2” search, bringing the promise of thousands of new jobs and revenue to the state.
Comments
Post a Comment