Blackface and KKK: Virginia Governor Apologizes After Damning Photo Surfaces

Blackface and KKK: Virginia Governor Apologizes After Damning Photo Surfaces Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who has been unapologetic over comments advocating late-term abortion and infanticide, on Friday issued an apology over a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook. The photo shows a man wearing blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan white hood. A quote on the page reads, “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.” Northam was roundly condemned for the photo. Jack Wilson, chairman of Virginia’s Republican Party called on Northam to step down. “Racism has no place in Virginia,” Wilson said in a statement. “These pictures are wholly inappropriate. If Gov. Northam appeared in blackface or dressed in a KKK robe, he should resign immediately.” The controversy follows one in which Northam became enmeshed after comments he made in support of a Virginia bill that would allow access to late-term abortion. Those comments led conservatives to claim Northam’s comments amounted to support for infanticide.