Virginia Attorney General Herring says he wore blackface in college
Source: Washington Post
RICHMOND — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) said Wednesday he dressed in blackface during college, elevating the Capitol’s scandals to a new level that engulfed the entire executive branch of government.
“In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song,” Herring said in a statement. “It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes – and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others – we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.”
Herring acknowledgment comes as Gov. Ralph Northam (D) faces calls for his resignation after a photo emerged on his 1984 medical school yearbook page featuring someone in blackface standing next to someone in Ku Klux Klan robes.And early Monday, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) denied the allegations of a woman who said he sexually assaulted her at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.
The scandals suggest a possible constitutional crisis. If Northam should step down, Fairfax would succeed him because of his position as lieutenant governor. Herring, as attorney general, would be next in line.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-atty-gen-herring-appears-in-blackface-in-photo-from-college-days/2019/02/06/9aa4aff8-2a26-11e9-984d-9b8fba003e81_story.html
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I was a freshman in college that year (although I don't remember anyone at my school - UMASS/Amherst of all places) doing any black face because of that song! Most of the kids there were way more into -
1.) The Boss™ (Springsteen)
2.) Aerosmith and the J.Geils Band (Because. Massachusetts.)
2.) Pink Floyd
3.) Led Zeppelin
That's my point. Was Rappers Delight getting some radio play? Sure. Were most white college kids where I was in the northeast close to NYC, let alone "a lot" of white college kids as is being claimed here that into rap? No.
But yeah, I'm sure a bunch of southern white kids were super into it and that was a really common thing.
blacks at UMASS at the time (half of those being grad students), most of what I saw were guys jumping up on tables doing air guitar to Springsteen! And then during the dead of night in the various dorm areas (UMASS was in the middle of farm land), the silence would suddenly be broken with competing 600W speakers blaring Van Halen's "Running With the Devil" vs Africa Bambata and the Soul Sonic Force's "Planet Rock", punctuated with people yelling "SHUT THAT FUCKING SHIT OFF" and other various and sundry expletives.
I still have my 12" "single" of it in a crate in my basement.
Here in Philly, they didn't even play "Rap" on the "black" radio stations - at least during the day. I could only hear it at night with the (somewhat "famous" ) "Lady B" who would play both Philly and NYC rap music on a show that came on at like 11:00 pm on Fridays - and this was on AM radio!
The "mainstream" (R&B) music at the time was still Disco (which was transitioning out) with Donna Summer and Barry White and Gloria Gaynor, etc. It was even difficult to hear Funk, which was running contemporaneous with these other genres since the early '70s. That's why we had the "basement parties" and later the cassette tapes with songs that were "cut" and "scratched" and otherwise mixed into a single flowing thing (nowadays the kids call their stuff "mixtapes" as one word - even though the youngins' today don't even use "tape"
).
The Republicans must be smiling....
People are clamoring for Northam to resign because he wore blackface in medical school, Fairfax is being accused of sexual assault, and now Herring admits to wearing blackface while he was a 19 year old college student!!!
Here's a good headline:
VIRGINIA GOES BACK TO RED BECAUSE OF BLACKFACE AND SEX!!!!
of associating an activist who was bringing light to a now-discredited "victim" with someone who chose to smear whatever brown stuff he used, on his white face to "mimic" a popular black singer.
Your analogy isn't really applicable here because there are deeper issues at play with this "blackface" thing.
There seems to be a history of non-entertainer-associated white people smearing shoe polish or mud or whatever "brown stuff" on their faces to appear "black" but there is little if any history of the reverse happening. I.e., in general, if a young black girl wants to dress up as Snow White for Halloween, her mother doesn't smear white pancake makeup all over her daughter's face to have her go out as a "white" Snow White. She puts her in the standard Disney "Snow White" gown and she goes about her trick-or-treating. The outfit itself is so unique and was so prolifically shown over the past 80 years, that it easily identifies the wearer as "Snow White".
Similarly, there have been young white boys who love/loved Michael Jackson and his performances and have dressed up as the '80s version of him with the "white sparkly glove" and black outfit with hat, without the need to "brown up" (although I expect some did anyway). The outfit itself was identifiable enough. Of course the irony here is that MJ apparently had vitiligo (a skin pigmentation disease - I knew girls in school who had that along with some kids who were borderline albino) and with makeup and treatment, eventually ended up with "white" skin.
One of the underlying issues too is "ownership of culture", something that African-Americans have battled since being dragged kicking and screaming here to the U.S. hundreds of years ago. And what has made it difficult is the fact that it (my culture) is made up of a forced amalgam (due to slave-owner "breeding" ) of various African ethnic groups and their sub-cultures that had to survive and adapt within a European-based country. And then you have the irony where you find that the "oppressor" so desires to be like us that they cover themselves in "black"... I suppose as self-flagellation or something. It's literally love/hate.
As a final note - last year's "Black Panther" movie set the stage for a whole new set of quandaries for young white boys who love that character. The full Black Panther costume covers everything including the face but without the costume, how they handle the T'Challa character is a whole other issue that I expect many parents are trying to grapple with.
and I am saying that as an AA... I really don't recall black folk "emulating" white anything - whether they are portraying "super heroes" or "princesses" or "historical figures", or whoever, by putting on white makeup. They just put on the costumes and go with it. The only time I would normally see that white face paint come out (not associated with an actor in a movie or tv skit like Eddie Murphy or Godfrey Cambridge) would be if the person was playing a clown or maybe even a mime, where the makeup was associated with that entity.
(Godfrey Cambridge)
So then the question should be - why do white folk do this?
We have a big issue that has been going on for 100 years here in Philly with our Mummers and those who keep trying to sneak in "black face" - to the point that this year, they did so by having a Mummer (doing what came across as the appearance of "black face" but actually being a real black Mummer) as part of one of what they call the "Comic" clubs, where he was playing the rapper JZ and had a club mate white Mummer playing the current city Mayor Kenney as a "lap dog" down on all fours with a leash being held by the "JZ" character.
The Comic Clubs & Brigades tend to be raunchy and they still have their "wenches" that they attempt to trot out, but there is a deeper level of issue.
And you have to ask why? What is this obsession to "be" what "you" (editorial "white" ) continue to oppress?
but never saw it (not much of a comedy movie goer)! I know there were several "role reversal" things which included makeup (going either way) that came out over the years, but I think all stirred all kinds of controversy too.
of slapstick comedy. His favorite movies are "Dumb and Dumber" and since he speaks Spanish "El Chavo del Ocho". This is a comedy about a bunch of kids, played by adults dress as children.
I said it looked like a show for kids and he said well, don't you like "Los Tres Chiflados". I had to think about it. That's The Three Stooges in Spanish. I have to admit, I find them funny but only in very small doses.
But the question is, would it be acceptable to say, portray Jews with "hooked noses" (something that continues to happen in entertainment media and during Halloween, etc) or portray the Irish with red noses and falling-down drunk... and just say - well, "no harm was meant"?
