Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s apology over a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page has failed to quell a firestorm of bipartisan calls for…
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s apology over a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page has failed to quell a firestorm of bipartisan calls for his immediate resignation.
The list included former vice president Joe Biden, Terry McAuliffe, Northam’s Democratic predecessor as governor, and a half-dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls, the NAACP, Planned Parenthood and state Democratic lawmakers.
Virginia’s two Democratic U. S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, each issued statements stopping short of calling out right for his departure, but saying Northam should carefully consider his next move.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, the newspaper in the state capital, said in an editorial that Northam should step down.
“He is by all accounts a decent and considerate man,” the editorial said. “And yet, his poor judgment has undermined his standing with Virginians in ways that we believe will permanently impair his ability to act as an effective governor. He should resign and return to his profession as a physician, with the thanks of those he has served as a state senator, lieutenant governor, and for the past year, governor.”
The governor has acknowledged that he is one of the two men in the yearbook photo — one in blackface and the other in a full white Ku Klux Klan robe, complete with pointed hood.
“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,” Northam said in a written statement Friday, vowing to push forward and work to mend the damage he’d caused.
“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,” Northam said. “But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”
“I recognize that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused,” the statement read. “I am ready to do that important work.”
Northam later tweeted a video apology saying that the “racist” photo “doesn’t reflect” the person he is now.
