RICHMOND, VA —Virginia’s political establishment is in turmoil after Attorney General Mark Herring said Wednesday he wore blackface at a college party in 1980, all while Gov. Ralph Northam fights to keep his job following apologies and then denials that he had once worn the racially demeaning blackface in his college days.
Northam, a Democrat, has so far ignored demands for his resignation in recent days, and seems hopeful that Saturday’s passionate apology has bought him the time he needs to make everything right.
A new and troubling twist to the state’s history of race and politics came when Herring, a Democrat, admitted that he, too, once wore blackface. In this case, he was a 19-year-old college undergraduate attending a party where he dressed as a favorite rap music artist. He said in a statement that he was ashamed of and haunted by the one-time act.
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“What I am feeling in no way compares to the betrayal, the shock and the deep pain that Virginians of color may be feeling,” Herring wrote. “Where they have deserved to feel heard, respected, understood and honestly represented, I fear my actions may have contributed to them being forced to revisit and feel a historical pain that has never been allowed to become history.”
Click here for Herring’s full statement.
Adding to the political crisis, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax finds himself in a me-too moment that has complicated if not dashed his chances of succeeding Northam in the governor’s mansion. A woman has said she was sexually assaulted by Fairfax in 2004, and Fairfax has vehemently denied the claim.
Late Wednesday, the woman issued a statement identifying herself as Vanessa Tyson and refuted his assertion that the incident at the Democratic National Convention in Boston was consensual. Rather, she said consensual kissing turned into unwanted oral sex.
As for Northam, his infamous college yearbook photo was revealed Friday night, after which the governor said he indeed was in the photo 35 years ago that included a person wearing blackface and a second person wearing a KKK costume. He reversed course the next day, saying he had changed his mind and that it wasn’t him in the photo—while also saying he once had appeared in blackface during a dance contest, also 35 years ago.
“Gov. Northam’s refusal to step aside is only further deepening the wounds he has inflicted,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. “We call on Gov. Northam to change course and accept the only path that will allow us to heal and move forward together.” That echoes calls from former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Virginia’s two U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, for Northam’s resignation.
Even Maryland politicians have urged the Democratic governor to resign. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) both called on Northam to “do the right thing” and resign.
Lawmakers and members of the Democratic Party of Virginia were cautious in their support for Fairfax, according to the New York Times. In a statement, the state party said: “All allegations of sexual assault deserve to be taken with profound gravity. We will continue to evaluate the situation regarding Lieutenant Governor Fairfax.”
The Times report also touches on the at-times strained relationship between Northam and Fairfax, and how the latter has wondered aloud whether Northam supporters had any hand in the revelations of the woman’s claims.
Richmond Times-Dispatch political columnist Jeff Schapiro described the entire situation this way: “Virginia Democrats, because they are national Democrats who happen to live in Virginia, are reaping the bitter fruit of zero tolerance, and having worked themselves into a lather of rage, are sacrificing a governor to the lava-belching volcanoes of race and gender — and perhaps tossing in a lieutenant governor.”
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Photo of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam by Alex Edelman/Getty Images; photo of Attorney General Mark Herring from his office