Black History Month, Groundhog Day, & Ralph Northam If you are familiar with Bill Murray’s film Groundhog Day, you may be thinking, on Groundhog Day 2019, many of our African-American fellow citizens have woken up to a day they have already experienced many times over. By that I mean, of course, the revelation that Virginia’s Democratic Governor Ralph Northam posed in either blackface or a KKK robe (he’s not saying) in 1984---when he was in Medical School! That Northam is trying to defend himself and avoid resigning as Governor, while admitting he did it, is ridiculous. In what world can anyone defend this action? Oh, right, in 2019 TrumpWorld, of course. On Martin Luther King Day, 2019, I started writing my long-form essay about the history of white supremacy and white privilege in the United States, trying to clearly catalogue why, in 2019, the Trump dog whistles to racism still work so effectively in our society. It is stunning, actually, that Ralph Northam’s opponents in his run for Governor did not find this blatantly racist photograph from his Med School Yearbook! So much for “oppo-research.” The more significant point, though, is that Northam posed for this shot --- and allowed its inclusion in his Yearbook --- in 1984! {And, for those who would dispute the notion of institutional racism --- WTF was the Eastern Virginia Medical School thinking in allowing that picture in its Yearbook!} We’re talking 30 YEARS after the Brown v. Board of Education decision (abolishing apartheid/segregation) in the United States. He was in MED SCHOOL! What would you do if you discovered your doctor had a similar photo in his yearbook? Or your Governor? Let’s consider some other facts, however. Having started writing about white supremacy/privilege on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January I didn’t note that in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida that day is a joint holiday, also celebrating Robert E. Lee’s birthday! Think about that. If you want to know how deep the roots of white supremacy are in this nation, consider how the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would react to knowing that while his birthday is being commemorated as a National Holiday, three states in the Union (Confederacy) are actually celebrating the military leader of the rebellion to preserve slavery! And if we dig a little deeper, we’ll find that the state of Virginia, where Ralph Northam presides as Governor, celebrates the Friday before Martin Luther King Day as “Lee-Jackson Day,” edifying not only Robert E. Lee but also Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as heroes for defending the right of Southerners to own (and brutalize) other human beings! Indeed, in 2019, there are a several states that make King’s birthday a “slash” holiday --- “Martin Luther King/Civil Rights Day,” or “Martin Luther King/Idaho Human Rights Day.” Arkansas finally deleted the Robert E. Lee shared celebration only last year. When the holiday was first declared by Ronald Reagan in 1986 only 27 states agreed to celebrate it. And, of course, Alabama's official state holiday calendar also marks Confederate Memorial Day on the fourth Monday in April and the birthday of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis on the first Monday in June. Confederate Memorial Day is also observed in Mississippi on the last Monday in April. In South Carolina it is a legal holiday, observed on May 10. In Texas it is called Confederate Heroes Day and held on January 19 each year (Robert E. Lee’s birth date). In light of those facts, should we be entirely shocked that the Governor of Virginia was found to have a picture of himself in blackface or a KKK outfit? I do not want to tar all Southerners with the same brush, of course, but I think it’s more than telling that the Democratic Governor of Virginia had this photo in his personal history. The rivers of racism run deep, and our current President has tapped into some age-old prejudice and hatred, turning it on any and all people of color at home and abroad. Ralph Northam should do the honorable thing and step down. The wonderful irony in that, of course, is that Justin Fairfax, an African-American, would succeed him in office, becoming the second African-American Governor of Virginia (remember Douglas Wilder?). While that irony might be sweet, it does not change the deep-seated racism that still celebrates Robert E. Lee’s birthday and Confederate Memorial Days. There are still miles to go in repairing the damage that was done over centuries of U.S. history.
2 Comments
Yvette Nachmias_Baeu
2/2/2019 11:08:04 am
I find all kinds of racism abhorrent so I don't really want to feel sympathy and yet here is a thought that ran through my mind. Are we always the same people? Are we allowed to change our long held views, particularly when they have been glommed onto us by the society we were born into. Is it possible that Gov. Northam had at some point after that nasty photograph-- time to reflect on what he believed. His actions during last year's debacle in Charlestown may suggest that he had an epiphany somewhere along the way. Sometimes I worry that we are quick to condemn even while what has been unearthed seems indefensible. I react a bit to the too politically correct syndrome we have experienced over time. He may indeed be a racist and if so, should be held accountable. My inner question is the one I stated above. Have we not seen people reverse their lives in remarkable ways? Is Governor Northam one of these, or just another racist that has been discovered. I don't know.
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2/2/2019 11:32:06 am
All I can say is: 1984. 1984. 1984. AND, he had to wait until it was uncovered to own up to it! Yes, we all evolve and change. I would still ask how, by 1984, had someone not "evolved" beyond Blackface and KKK robes? Nope, I ain't buyin' it.....
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