Ralph Northam yearbook page shows men in blackface and KKK robe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I’m surprised that he became a pediatrician. Usually guys like that in my medical school did not go into peds. Pediatricians are usually the most ethical doctors.

Totally agree. Most of them go into plastic surgery. When you look at Northam as a whole, this doesn't fit.

Of course it does. He grew up in the sticks of Virginia in the 1960's/ 1970's.

[Anonymous]

Lots of other VA doctors in black face in the year book: https://www.richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/the-eastern-virginia-medical-school-yearbook-features-more-than-one/article_5f2bf09e-67f5-52d1-b91a-6ac497642b57.html

[Anonymous]

One of the few liberal leaders who has not explicitly called on Northam to resign is the Reverend William Barber, a prominent pastor and left-wing activist in North Carolina. “Some are calling for the [governor] to resign [and] that’s their right,” he tweeted. “I don’t know what the [Governor] has done over the years in word, deed [and] policy to make amends for his past.” (He also tweeted that “the worst racism is policy & structural racism”).

That last line is important. As obnoxious, offensive and racist as it is to dress up in a Klan hood and don blackface, these are symbolic acts. When you offend someone, it is worth apologizing, as Northam did. But Northam did not promote or pursue policy decisions to harm the lives of African Americans. In fact, he has done the opposite. Under his tenure, Virginia finally expanded the Medicaid program as promised under the Affordable Care Act, opening up health care to 400,000 low-income Virginians. Around a third of those who benefit from Medicaid expansion are African Americans.


Why don't Democrats think this is worth something? Why is he being treated as such a liability nonetheless?

I'm a Democrat and I think that there is some reasonable middle between the 90s era of willful blindness towards Bill Clinton's treatment of women because of his political support for women's rights and the current "off with their heads!" dynamic of modern Democratic orthodoxy. I also don't think Al Franken should have resigned. People are human and they make mistakes. He should (and did) apologize but the insensitivity needs to be viewed against the totality of his career and how his positions throughout that career have affected African Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m surprised that he became a pediatrician. Usually guys like that in my medical school did not go into peds. Pediatricians are usually the most ethical doctors.

Totally agree. Most of them go into plastic surgery. When you look at Northam as a whole, this doesn't fit.

Of course it does. He grew up in the sticks of Virginia in the 1960's/ 1970's.

He really did grow up in the middle of nowhere on the eastern shore. The census estimate for 2016 of his hometown was 494 people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know everyone says the blackface was taboo even back then but that is absolutely not true. The movie Soul Man came out in the late 80's and the Ted Danson/Whoopi incident happened in 93. I think the KKK outfit is actually more out of line.

I was there in the 80s.

Frats had pimps n hos parties, did blackface, and many people got blackout drunk like Kavanaugh. If Kavanaugh is not held accountable for what he did in the 80s, no one else should be.

I don't think anyone should resign.

[Anonymous]

I wish Democrats would acknowledge that they have created this witch hunt atmosphere. Democrats are entirely to blame for the Franken resignation, for the Kavanaugh lynch mob, and for this stupid call for Northam to resign over a dumb picture in a yearbook.

Republicans have more common sense than this. We can acknowledge that young people do stupid things, and then mature into productive individuals. Democrats seem to feel that one black mark in a person's background disqualifies them from future leadership positions.

Glad I'm not a Democrat. You guys are frightening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish Democrats would acknowledge that they have created this witch hunt atmosphere. Democrats are entirely to blame for the Franken resignation, for the Kavanaugh lynch mob, and for this stupid call for Northam to resign over a dumb picture in a yearbook.

Republicans have more common sense than this. We can acknowledge that young people do stupid things, and then mature into productive individuals. Democrats seem to feel that one black mark in a person's background disqualifies them from future leadership positions.

Glad I'm not a Democrat. You guys are frightening.

Did your parents have your IQ tested? Must be extremely low.

Wow, wow, wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish Democrats would acknowledge that they have created this witch hunt atmosphere. Democrats are entirely to blame for the Franken resignation, for the Kavanaugh lynch mob, and for this stupid call for Northam to resign over a dumb picture in a yearbook.

Republicans have more common sense than this. We can acknowledge that young people do stupid things, and then mature into productive individuals. Democrats seem to feel that one black mark in a person's background disqualifies them from future leadership positions.

Glad I'm not a Democrat. You guys are frightening.

Please, please don't throw Kavanaugh in with this. Kavanaugh only got through because of the investigations in to Trump. He was not elected. If people don't step down, they can be elected out - but we have no recourse for Kavanaugh unless his perjury is enough to get him off the court.

Kavanaugh was not about republican sense or tolerance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A good article that may make you think. This is just a portion. The whole article is excellent.
And, I am a Republican.

Perhaps just a few years ago, Northam’s apology and Saslaw’s defence would have been enough for the governor to be able to move on. We have all done things we’re not proud of in the past, and our most offensive and obnoxious moments do not encapsulate our lives. But given an American elite culture that is regressing to a secular version of old puritanical norms, whereby sinners are branded for life and there are political points to be scored for casting them into hellfire, it is not surprising that Northam was immediately deluged with calls to resign.

Presidential contenders such as Kamala Harris and Julian Castro called on Northam to step down. MoveOn.org—an organization based on the concept of forgiveness, which urges people to “move on” and not dwell on past misdemeanours —called for Northam to step down because “there are no excuses for such a racist display.” As every hour passes, more progressive activists and Democratic politicians are pushing to remove Northam from the governor’s office.

Yet there is a curious dissonance between the message activists are promoting—that an offensive gesture from 35 years ago should permanently end a man’s career in politics—and their campaign around America’s system of mass incarceration. When it comes to criminal-justice reform, progressives are preaching that the aim of the system should be rehabilitation, not punishment, and that criminal behaviour is forged by social influences, rather than the result of bad choices by flawed individuals. They preach a Christian message of hating the sin but loving the sinner.

I agree with that, and I consider myself in the same camp as Robert Sapolsky, a leading neurobiologist who has argued that our free will is limited if not nonexistent, and therefore we should not hate or loathe people who commit antisocial or immoral behaviour. Instead, we should try to understand the natural processes that lead to that behaviour.

But elite progressives apply this logic only on a selective basis. A year ago, for instance, the left-wing outlet I used to work for, The Intercept, published a lengthy sympathetic piece about a convicted murderer’s run for city council. The man in question knifed another man to death, and spent close to two decades behind bars. The author of that article wrote that “his experiences certainly make him an important candidate, able to connect with the thousands who have been isolated and defined by previous misdeeds of theirs or others—especially in the city’s minority communities, which as elsewhere are disproportionately impacted by the system.”

But when it comes to issues of racial offence, the publication’s editorial line—like that of much of the Left—holds expressions of bigotry to be a sort of permanent stain; as if those who committed them have revealed themselves to be demons in human form, incapable of reform. Northam must go.

https://quillette.com/2019/02/02/the-ralph-northam-scandal-betrays-the-lefts-hypocrisy-on-forgiveness-and-rehabilitation/

Give us a break.
The point of the movement your are talking about REQUIRES ACCOUNTABILITY, not out and out denial .

[Anonymous]

He did it. No one ever forgets painting your entire face and neck black. Takes days to come off. You can’t just buy black face paint either. It was the early eighties and yah Walmart was not carrying the whole friggin world of random back then.

He did it, freakin hot mess governor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He did it. No one ever forgets painting your entire face and neck black. Takes days to come off. You can’t just buy black face paint either. It was the early eighties and yah Walmart was not carrying the whole friggin world of random back then.

He did it, freakin hot mess governor.

He said it was shoe polish. Was that available to purchase in the 1980s?

And if his career hasn’t been redemption, what are you seeking from him to prove his character?

[Anonymous]

The Clinton’s “tough on crime” policies and Kamala Harris’ actions did more damage to AAs than Northam ever will. And they have the nerve to call for him to resign over a 35 year old photo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know everyone says the blackface was taboo even back then but that is absolutely not true. The movie Soul Man came out in the late 80's and the Ted Danson/Whoopi incident happened in 93. I think the KKK outfit is actually more out of line.

I was there in the 80s.

Frats had pimps n hos parties, did blackface, and many people got blackout drunk like Kavanaugh. If Kavanaugh is not held accountable for what he did in the 80s, no one else should be.

I don't think anyone should resign.

Maybe a Truth Commission should be set up to hold all privileged white men who engaged in this sort of behavior accountable. At some point, justice calls out for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know everyone says the blackface was taboo even back then but that is absolutely not true. The movie Soul Man came out in the late 80's and the Ted Danson/Whoopi incident happened in 93. I think the KKK outfit is actually more out of line.

I was there in the 80s.

Frats had pimps n hos parties, did blackface, and many people got blackout drunk like Kavanaugh. If Kavanaugh is not held accountable for what he did in the 80s, no one else should be.

I don't think anyone should resign.

Maybe a Truth Commission should be set up to hold all privileged white men who engaged in this sort of behavior accountable. At some point, justice calls out for it.

Yes. And, we need to develop new technology that would identify any Thought Crimes. We cannot have people doing things or thinking things that others might find objectionable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish Democrats would acknowledge that they have created this witch hunt atmosphere. Democrats are entirely to blame for the Franken resignation, for the Kavanaugh lynch mob, and for this stupid call for Northam to resign over a dumb picture in a yearbook.

Republicans have more common sense than this. We can acknowledge that young people do stupid things, and then mature into productive individuals. Democrats seem to feel that one black mark in a person's background disqualifies them from future leadership positions.

Glad I'm not a Democrat. You guys are frightening.

Did your parents have your IQ tested? Must be extremely low.

Wow, wow, wow.

This is your idea of an "intelligent" response? Wow, wow, wow.

Interesting that a Democrat a few posts back said almost EXACTLY the same thing, yet no condemnation of that poster. I stand by what I said 1,000-fold. It's too bad your head is so far up your a$$ that you can't even understand rational thinking.