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'You cannot get shoe polish off': Virginia governor darkened his face in Michael Jackson costume

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam denied on Saturday  that he was one of the two individuals in a yearbook photograph showing one person in blac...

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam denied on Saturday that he was one of the two individuals in a yearbook photograph showing one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe.
Northam was sure, he said, because he'd remembered darkening his face on another occasion in his 20s.
During his Saturday news conference to address the growing controversy over the racist photograph, which was listed beneath his name in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook, Northam detailed using shoe polish to make his face darker during a dance contest where he dressed up as Michael Jackson. 
"My belief that I did not wear that costume or attend that party stems in part from my clear memory of other mistakes that I made in the same period of my life," Northam explained. "That same year, I did participate in a dance contest in San Antonio in which I darkened my face as part of a Michael Jackson costume."
Northam said looking back, he regretted "that I did not understand the harmful legacy of an action like that" and added he spoke with a friend, a person of color named Seth, about his actions and why they were so hurtful. 
He was asked specifically about this event and Northam detailed using polish to make his face darker and winning the contest. 
"I had the shoes, I had a glove and I used just a little bit of shoe polish to put under, or on my cheeks," Northam said, using his fingers to show where he smeared the polish on his face. "The reason I used a very little bit is because, I don't know if anybody has ever tried that, but you cannot get shoe polish off."
He went on to say that he won the dance contest in San Antonio, Texas, because of his moonwalking skills.
Later, a reporter asked him about the contest and whether he could still do the moonwalk. Northam looked around as though he might demonstrate, smiled and then was cut off by his wife who told him it was "inappropriate circumstances." 
Northam used the news conference to say he would not resign despite demands from a growing chorus of prominent Republicans and Democrats. He also rescinded an earlier apology where he acknowledged he was one of the two people in the 1984 photo, instead now claiming that he'd never seen the yearbook or that specific photo before it was publicized on Friday. 
While making a denial that he noted many voters in Virginia may not believe, the admission that Northam had darkened his face in the past on a different occasion did not sit well with many. 
Immediately after the news conference was over, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez issued a statement calling for Northam's ousting. 
"It's time for Ralph Northam to step aside and let Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax serve Virginians as their next Governor," he said in a statement. 
The calls to resign came from leaders of his own state as well. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both former Virginia governors, released a  statement along with U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., after watching Northam's press conference Saturday:
“We called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign. The events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders.”
Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton called on lawmakers in the state to remove him from office and said his "excuse" about dressing up as Michael Jackson showed his "mentality" toward the issue. 
"I think he further damaged himself," Sharpton said on MSNBC. "And since he loves Michael, he should go back to the mansion and play 'Beat It' and start packing." 

12 comments

  1. Lets have a big round of applause for Al Jolson once honored as the entertainer of the year.

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  2. how dare you assume his race you cis race raceophobe

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  3. Show him as much mercy as he showed the babies. Consider him the first post-natal abortion because he sure is an abortion.

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  4. Here is how to tell if you have the antichrist spirit: If you cant admit that Jesus died, came back in the flesh, and is God. .........spread it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2c_MpvAJc

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  5. You know I was talking to a college friend of over 40 yrs and she and I both agreed, he must have done this MANY times before to know about the difficulty of getting this off!!

    Second: We agreed, it's been many years since either of us have committed to marriage and we are content with that! One of the most humiliating things is to have to stand next to a IDIOT and posture as the "stand by your man wife"!!!!!!!!! I'm sure she would rather be having a good weekend with her friends than stand next to and be identified as the wife of this bigot/idiot that she probably had no forewarning about!J!!!!
    FOR PROBABLY THE REST OF HER LIFE!!!!!!!!

    It's not about "abortions" it's about getting credit for your own "shot" than standing next to some idiot and being associated forever as his "wife"!!! I'll take credit for my deeds and misdeeds, ...but for someone else?!!! I wonder if he would do the same thing if the situation were in reverse?!!! Just askin''

    Don't panic, it's about starting the conversation...testing the waters! This was a good distraction from the real issue! LEGALIZING post and last trimester abortions!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Next: Don't you find it interesting that less than 24 hrs after he declared it okay to "abort" post delivery babies, his whole life turned upside down?
    You may call it karma...I call it "RIGHTING" the world!

    LASTLY! WHY ISN'T ANY TV/RADIO/TWEET/WHATEVER FOCUSING ON THE MEDICAL COLLEGE THAT ALLOWED THE PUBLICATION OF THIS PHOTO? ARE THERE OTHERS IN THE YEARBOOK? HAVE THERE BEEN PREVIOUS ISSUES OF YEARBOOKS WHERE THIS IS TRADITION? HOW, 20+ YRS AFTER THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IT'S OKAY FOR STUDENTS, BLACK OR WHITE TO BE REFERRED TO AS "COONMAN"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW THAT'S THE REAL STORY...CRICKETS!

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  6. I'm black, I agree with facts! Not only that, the movie, The Jazz Singer was voted Best PIc in the Academy Awards!!!!!

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  7. Instead of fake outrage and virtue signaling, what if we held our leaders accountable for the many actual felonies committed by them or on their direct orders? For example, is wearing black face makeup on par with pedophilia, murder, or selling military secrets to our enemies? If this is the worst sin this fellow has committed he's already better than 95% of the jokers seeking public office.

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  8. "one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe" Maybe this shows thta persons with opposing view points can respect each other?

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  9. Thank you sir, I rarely comment back, but in some cases espically your's, if I did not, I would be a fool, and ashamed of myself. Again, thank you !

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  10. When blacks weren't allowed they had to dress as black just like Shakespeare had to have men dress as women in his day.
    are you really going to dismiss Al as an entertainer then you're just an idiot

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  11. are you saying it was a shitty movie? What fact are you agreeing with?
    were you outraged at eddy Murphy or the wayans brothers or Dave chappelle.
    or are you hypocritical and looking to be outraged

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  12. Second: We agreed, it's been many years since either of us have committed to marriage and we are content with that! One of the most humiliating things is to have to stand next to a IDIOT
    what you're saying is you both either are horrible judges of people that you know intimately but think you can judge this guy from a Halloween costume in school.
    or you married for materialistic reasons and bailed when you got YOUR SHOT
    either way any backhand virtue signaling moral assumptions you make are laughable at best.
    but hey you did get the distraction from baby killing part right even if it was an addendum to feeding the distraction

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