Whataboutism and “Look over there!” are the weakest of sauces.

Oh, I forgot Al Franken shows we already do that.

than my enemies — why else would I ally myself to them? I expect racism, homophobia, sexism, and various flavors of bigotry from the Right, but not from people on my own side.

in modern history?

Virginia's an important swing state. The governor plays a critical role in turning out the vote. Northam has NO credibility among a huge block of voters whose votes put him into office and who will be critical to keeping Virginia blue in 2020.

Not only that, but if this was a Republican governor I would be calling for his resignation. I damn sure expect better from our own.

Thanks for making the OP's point. Although it would have been better if you'd taken it to heart and just said nothing.

Pulling out of the Arms Treaty? You know, Nuclear Annihilation? Maybe if Pompeo wore black face when he announced it someone would speak up.

Stop it. People can focus on two things at once.

I've been a victim of discrimination, have you?

I changed my mind last night. The reason I was slow in coming to the decision was that I have interacted with Dr. Northam and came away with a most favorable impression. Plus, I like his voting record and stances. But I agree, we cannot tolerate any stench of racism! Even if it was 30+ yrs ago.

At work I just caught snippets "Governor caught with med-school photo in Klan costume or blackface." I didn't know who it was but assumed it was a Republican and thought "There ya go."

I would expect a Repuke to resign, therefore I DOUBLY expect a Democrat to do the right thing, and resign.

Rec

As an African American and a Virginia Resident, I and my family "was" proud voters for Northam. The African American vote, especially with black women, brought Northam that win.

Doesn't matter if it was 35 years ago. Doesn't matter if he is of good character now. He's a good governor and I'm quite sure Northam is a good man, a good doctor, a good veteran, and NOT a racist.

But that image is there and we all see it. But you also can't dismiss the images of African Americans during Slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Watch the 60 Minutes segment on Lynching and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Look at the images of unarmed young men being killed.

Should I tell my two adult black children to dismiss the images of their heritage? So, why should I or any DU member here should easily dismiss images of Northam in either of the two individuals.

I can't take back my vote but Northam can do the right thing and resign.

If the black citizens of Virginia, who know Northam far better than I do, who are in a position to better weigh how much he may have changed since he was 24, and what good he may have done since then or could do now, chose to come forth in his defense, I would have listened to them. If they want him gone he should be, and silence in this matter is not support. On the face of it it seemed to me he should resign. And nothing has changed this morning far as I can tell.

Here's my take https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11761852
And
Here https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11761888

This is a political discussion board. We're discussing a political issue.
Our discussion will have no real effect on whether Northam resigns.

*DUsplaining*

Its only up to his state, and state legislature has called on him to go. No further judgement needed on my part.

But I still fail to understand why Sen. Byrd got the pass. He was actually IN the KKK. When I brought this up to one of his staffers about 16 years ago... she… A woman of Middle Eastern descent but who grew up in this country actually told me that it was OK because it was the only way he could function as a politician in West Virginia early in his career. I was shocked at how he laid in state and all of Washington including President Obama paid respects to this former kkk member

Hmmm...what does that kind of attitude remind me of? We all exist in this world together. No one's opinion on something should be invalidated because of characteristics they don't have control over. We aren't making these decisions, this is a discussion board.

Or maybe you really just meant ""Having a different opinion on" why Northan shouldn't resign is NOT a good look"?

No whitesplaining from me, CreekDog. I stand in solidarity with everyone calling for Northam's resignation. He needs to be heave-ho'd immediately.

I couldn't really fully form my "he should resign" opinion until I heard the arguments for that made by black leaders. Once I heard what they had to say, Northam's resignation seems the only option.

.....I'm white. It's clear to me that accepting that image and behvaior in any way is very harmful for the country right up to the present moment.

White people absolutely do not get the last word on this.

I'm mad as hell that anybody could give this a pass as a youthful "mistake". It was put on a page dedicated to just him---it was meant to show the typical , signature things that would nudge alumni to say ---"Hey, remember good old Ralph?"

He wasn't that young. He can't be given a pass. Who here could have behaved like that at age 25? Twenty five in 1985 was to be fully aware what a KKK/black face costume meant. It was/is a profoundly racist and violent image.

I have been thinking a lot about this and what is missing. Yes, it was a long time ago, but not that long ago. I have not heard him acknowledge how his racism in his past helped feed into racism as a whole. How it helped keep racism alive and acceptable in certain segments of society.


By not coming forward on his own, he has also empowered republicans. They get the opportunity to come forward and demand his resignation. By doing so they get to say: See we aren't racists, the Democrats are! It gives trump the opportunity to tell his cult that, his racism is fake news, the real news it that Democrats dress up in KKK outfits and blackface. Then lie and say how Democrats are supporting his actions.


If Northam had come forward on his own, years ago with a huge mea culpa and condemnation of his actions, he would have taken away the republican hammer and let the voters decide if they forgave him or not. But he didn't. He didn't trust the people he asks to trust him.

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ESPECIALLY since his replacement would be black.

Is the real problem fear that there aren't enough whites in VA who would be willing to re-elect him?


rocktivity

Back in the day, Halloween parties were once a year we dress as characters to either woo, impress, or just be silly. As for the controversial yearbook photo, unacceptable! But, the VA Governor explanation of going as black face of Michael Jackson in my opinion understandable. After all, it was the 80s and back then people on both sides of the racial barriers felt MJ was going pass being senseless and being labeled as a freak. Hence, a good Halloween costume of that period.

Second, it was the 80s! Are we going to check everybody's yearbooks to see if they were dorks? Yearbooks are yearbooks and they have in many cases have wrong information. Once they are printed and distributed, you can NOT hit the redo button. Also, I personally do not have my college yearbooks; seriously who does? It's most likely that VA Governor did not know of the yearbook printing of misinformation and cause the issue. Rush to judge a person with hard evidence is not what we are. Do you actually see him in the photo????

Wearing blackface and dressing up like a violent white supremacist terrorist is racist.

You've got it twisted.

And it doesn't matter whether *I* see him in the photo - hard do since one person was WEARING BLACKFACE and the other was WEARING A KKK HOOD! What matters is that Northam saw HIMSELF in that photo and admitted as much before he backtracked yesterday. So I don't care if he's actually in the photo or not. It was on HIS YEARBOOK page under HIS NAME.

And wearing black shoe polish to imitate Michael Jackson - or any other black person - is NOT understandable since Michael Jackson did not have bootblack colored skin and smearing shoe polish on his face would do nothing to make Northam or anyone else look like him. When I dressed up like Samantha Stevens for Halloween one year, I did not cover my face in white paint because that would have been stupid.

You're speculations about what REALLY happened sounds desperate and apologist. You should stop.

He stated he was NOT in the picture. And I stated that yearbook have been WRONG many if times printing wrong information. Second, I stated the yearbook photo of the kkk is unacceptable.

He said: "Earlier today, a website published a photo of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that is clearly racist and offensive. 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."

Yesterday, he reversed himself and claimed that it wasn't him.

So, which was it? Was he lying yesterday or was he lying on Friday?

If it really ISN'T him, why did he even think it was? If someone had posted this picture and said it was you, would you have assumed it was if you had never dressed up like that?

It certainly couldn't have been that he mistook it for a photo of him imitating Michael Jackson - unless when he imitated Michael Jackson, he did so, not only with jet black shoe polish on his face and hands, but in a sports jacket, plaid pants, and glasses and then posed for a picture next to a guy imitating a Klansman (maybe there was also a Klansman lookalike contest going on down the hall?) - none of which evoke anything remotely close to Michael Jackson.

Everyone can vote. Men can vote, so their opinions on abortion matter. They will have one whether they should or not. (IE the meme of a photo of a newborn that says until men can deliver this from their body, they get no opinion). Maybe they should listen, since they can't push one of those out of their body, but telling them to have no opinion -IMO is it human nature, they will then resist listening more than they already do.

The domination could be a problem. Men dominate too. Numerosity contributes to that too, and they can all vote. That they can vote is the issue. They have to be convinced.

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Yes, it was tasteless and foolish, and, yes, racist, for Northam to dress up, either in blackface or as a Kluxer, 35 years ago. But, wait ....

Is that the most recent racial offense you can find in him??

Is he going to be haunted, denied opportunities, hounded all his life for a single foolish act at a school frat party (and we don't even know the circumstances)?

The very black people who are being roused against this man know the importance of rehabilitation, maturity, and a life of good works in obtaining redemption from past mistakes. Doesn't that apply to Northam as well?

I suspect this fuss is really fueled by the Republicans to distract from Mitch McConnell's recently resurrected Confederate flag photo.

If even so-called “liberal progressive” whites are this hopeless when faced with obvious racism then how the fuck are we ever going to get anywhere?

But I still lurk and try keep up to date. I have been horrified and profoundly disgusted by some of the posts I’ve seen defending Northam.

We need to do better.