Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, whose ever-worsening racism scandal will seemingly never cease, will apparently embark on a “listening tour” around the state to talk to communities about race, according to Buzzfeed.
Northam, whose medical school yearbook page features a picture of a person in blackface and a person in a KKK hood, still refuses to resign, despite calls from national and local Democrats.
According to Buzzfeed, Northam also says he would now consider signing a potential bill that would authorize taking down Virginia’s Confederate statues. In the past, Northam said that the issue should be left up to local leaders. Good to know that this is how desperate he had to be to consider such an obvious and morally correct move! This new position apparently part of a larger plan to focus Northam’s agenda on issues of race in light of his racist past and uh, present.
Northam’s staff has also apparently pushed him to learn more about racism and its history by reading materials like Ta-Nehisi Coates Atlantic feature “The Case for Reparations,” and Alex Haley’s Roots, as well as watching clips of the iconic white supremacist film The Birth of a Nation in which white actors play black characters while wearing blackface.
After the initial discovery of the yearbook photo 10,000 years ago (aka a week and a half ago), Northam gave a terrible press conference in which he claimed that he wasn’t pictured in the photo, but admitted he did once don blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume in the ‘80s. Things have just gotten worse since then. Last night on CBS, Northam incorrectly referred to Virigina’s former slaves as “indentured servants.” In that interview, Northam reiterated his determination to stay in office, saying he is “not going anywhere.”
As things have fallen apart for Northam, the rest of Virginia’s leadership is crumbling alongside him. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is also facing calls for resignation in light of two sexual assault accusations. And Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has also admitted to wearing blackface in the past.
Virginia, what the hell?!