Virginia Governor's Racist Yearbook Photo

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by sanantone, Feb 1, 2019.

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  1. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    On Governor Ralph Northam's 1984 yearbook page, there is a photo of a person in blackface and a person dressed up as a Ku Klux Klansman. I don't know why photos like this would be in a yearbook photo in the 1980s. Was Virginia still that bad back then? From a quote read on CNN, the governor said that he's in the picture, but did not specify which one he is (not that it matters).

    https://www.apnews.com/f902e4ea080f415eb2e09d1022110688
     
  2. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    I made a post in a mostly black discussion that he should not resign. Well, it did not went down well. My guess his exterior persona, is not the same as back then, and this could be used for good. Having him resign does not accomplish anything but make us feel good. The biggest issue is the internal person, but that is his problem, and that is the greater problem in the fight against racism. But we don’t employed thought police to go fight racism.
     
  3. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    He won’t resign, and nothing will happen to him, other than having to go an apology tour. The almighty (D) next to your name insulates you from such unpleasantries.

    If he was a Republican, this would be the leading headline 24/7 on every mainstream media outlet until he resigned.
     
  4. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    And I think that is the problem, when democrats think they have the moral high ground on the issue of racism.
    ==
    Example ID, I do not know of a single black person who does not have an id. But democrats and liberals think blacks are so reckless not to have ID. I think that narrative is more harmful than someone painting his/her face black. It is stupid, even racist, but in my opinion not as damaging than the ID narrative peddle by liberals. Modern day, black are bleaching their skin. It is stupid but I don’t think racist.
     
  5. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    He should resign, and there are many Democratic politicians calling for him to resign. Al Franken was pressured to resign for doing much less.

    Phdtobe, aren't you in Canada? Yes, there are black people and white people in the U.S. who do not have an ID card that's considered acceptable for voting. Many college students only have a student ID, and many elderly people don't have a photo ID.
     
  6. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    He's already getting more pressure to resign in a few hours than Steve King has received from the Republican Party in the last 15 years.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  7. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    The black people on my social media, who are predominantly liberal-democrat are calling for his resignation. But I still think it is a mistake.
     
  8. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    We have the same sort of politics, same narrative but milder, here in Canada, granted it is not nauseating as the USA. The media is liberal but not deeply biased on the surface. Interesting they are very united against Trump.

    I truly never met a black person who does not have a valid id. All my liberal black friends in the USA , rich and poor, have IDs.
     
  9. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I've had a few jobs working with the poor, and the homeless. One of the main services provided is helping them get state IDs so that they can have an easier time obtaining a job and cashing their checks. They often need new copies of their social security card and birth certificate. With the elderly, the issue is usually transportation. Poor people are disproportionately minorities.

    http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/citizens-without-proof

    Texas wouldn't offer a free election identification card if everyone could afford a state ID or driver's license. Still, you need two forms of identification to get the EIT, and those forms of identification cost money. You also need to go to a DPS office, and that's not an easy task if you live in a rural area without a car.

    I used to be one of those people who couldn't understand why everyone didn't have a government-issued photo ID until I saw up close and personal the difficulties poor people in rural areas have to go through.
     
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2019
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  10. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Comparing some thoughtless comments to being photographed wearing either blackface or KKK regalia (who did he think he was, Robert Byrd (D) West Virginia/Grand Kleegle)? That's like comparing a pipe bomb to a multi-megaton nuclear warhead.

    And, he won't resign. The far left fringe of the Democrat party (which is quickly headed towards being the majority) will close ranks around him, for no other reason than he supports third-trimester abortions, the kerfuffle will die down, and life will move on.
     
  11. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I predict that you're going to be wrong because several Democratic politicians, large liberals groups, and the NAACP are already calling on him to resign. That doesn't mean he's not going to be defiant.

    I can't believe you're minimizing Steve King's racism. He's been racist all his life. We don't even need to dig up anything from the 80s because he's still openly racist. Everyone with common sense knows he's a racist. The only people who don't think he's racist are closet racists.
     
  12. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    I'm watching the reactions of black liberals on television, and none of them are surprised that a southern white man is racist. Most black people know that there are whites, Asians, Native Americans, and non-black Latinos across the political spectrum all around the country who don't like black people. African Americans are the most dehumanized people in the U.S.
     
    Phdtobe likes this.
  13. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    Two pieces of id to vote, that’s a lot. Maybe I am a bit to harsh. I guess I should look at the issue differently . My initial re acting was that narrative was patronizing, and purposeful self defeating. When I was homeless, we all had to show id to sign in at the shelter, granted that only a very short period of my life a long time ago. We also needed valid id to collect and cash our cheques. People like you did made a difference, thank you, thus my naive insistence that the id issue was another issue that marginalized black people by dogooder liberals.
     
  14. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    I saw the photos, and would hardly describe what he did as traditional blackface. It was more like dirt on his face (blackface used burnt cork).

    Want to see the real thing? Here's America's sweeheart of 1939 (Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz) doing it - yes, Judy Garland, who (along with Mickey Rooney) did blackface more than once . . .



    Then there was the time when Ted Danson, who was then dating Whoopi Goldberg, showed up with Whoopi in blackface at a party.

    Some folks just don't get it . . .
     
  15. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Levicoff: Was it necessary to post that in triplicate?
     
  16. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Nope. But thanks for pointing it out - seriously, I don't check back on my posts normally, so I would not have known about it otherwise. And, as you are already aware, in a dupe post situation I normally go back into it and delete the text from the dupe. ON this one, I was in a poor WiFi reception area so I wasn't aware that it had already gone through.

    But do I feel guilty? Hell, no. I just regret that the triplicate post was about something so distasteful.

    Remember, kiddies, I have already said that I'm not perfect. Merely, like Mary Poppins practically perfect in every way.

    But Ted, I assume that as a moderator, you have the ability to delete two of those posts (if not all three). I would have no objection whatsoever if you or another moderator were to do so.
     
  17. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Of course! Anyone who doesn’t completely agree with a liberal is racist. Or Hitler. Or both.

    The most ironic thing of all is that during the campaign, Northam called Terry McAuliffe a racist numerous times.

    The guy wearing either blackface or KKK regalia (TBD which) called someone else a racist. You can’t make this shit up.
     
  18. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Done.
     
  19. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Because I'm a weirdo, a Devil's Advocate, and possibly way too curious for my own good, I spent some time watching minstrel videos on YouTube last week. I wanted to see that, if we were to remove all the racism from the equation, there was any remaining entertainment value.

    Nope.

    Every vid I saw was just a bunch of no-talent hacks exploiting the racism market for profit. You can't enjoy a minstrel show unless you have a deep disdain for black people and want to see them lampooned. How a human being ever gets to that point is a complete mystery to me and I found the vids extremely sad to watch.

    Seeing the picture in the OP article leads me to another Devil's Advocate question: which is worse? Blackface or a KKK outfit.

    The KKK represents burning hatred and cowardice- possibly the very face of evil. Blackface represents the normalisation of discrimination- the extremely stong resilience of the absolutely false notion of racial superiority/inferiority and scapegoating.

    The klansmen are the bad guys who scream and curse.

    The blackfaces are the bad guys who smile and wave.
     
  20. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Normally I'm quick to agree that this is overused by those on the left. But in Steve King's case the shoe fits.
     

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