Alright people, time to have a frank discussion about what just happened in Virginia, since too many of you apparently have a blind spot when it comes to race.
Earlier today, we found out that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, as a med student, chose a picture of him and a buddy dressed in blackface and in a KKK hood. We have called on him to resign, just like Kamala Harris, MoveOn, and, soon, everyone else. It’s inevitable, because this is really that bad.
Yet comments in that “you must resign” post have been a real shit-show, a painfully embarrassing one, proving that even among progressives, we have a long way to go on the issue of race. So let’s talk about some of those arguments:
”No forgiveness after 35 years? Nobody can grow? Change? Develop? Learn? Become better? Wow.”
“Growth” would be admitting to this before he ran for governor, using the incident as an example of why we have so much work to do as a society, and how it informed his own personal growth. That’s what a mature, conscientious person would do. Instead, he hid it. And why did he hide it? Because he knew it made him look like shit. And he had zero interest in trying to explain it to the Virginia electorate—especially a Democratic primary electorate that is disproportionately black.
Let there be no doubt—had this come out during the primary, no way Northam wins. He hid his past precisely because it is so outrageous, so damaging, so disgusting, that Democratic voters would not have looked kindly upon it.
”he has become much much better...unlike gop-ers, who don’t, and who never resign. he SHOULD NOT resign”
We don’t set our standards based on what Republicans do. We are better than them. Period.
Let them coddle racists and sexual predators. We are the party that demands better of our public servants. It’s not as if there’s a shortage of quality humans to us to choose from. We’re not Republicans.
Also, by holding our public servants to higher standards, we discourage these assholes from running in the future.
P.S.. A Republican just resigned last week because of posing in black face. So even they don’t tolerate this.
“This was WHEN? Somewhere around 1984? Let us not get hysterical here.”
The idea that there is a statute of limitations on racism (or sexual harrassment/assault) is deeply offensive. Without penance and contrition, the statute of limitations does not expire. And you can’t have penance and contrition without being fully open and honest with the voters you want supporting you.
If this was a Republican in the crosshairs, would any of us be saying “no biggie, it happened a long time ago?” Of course not, we’d be mocking their excuses of “locker room banter” and “youthful indiscretions.” I won’t EVER let our side be like the Christian Right, happy to abandon their ideals in support of a blasphemous charlatan like Trump. We stand for something, and that something matters, whether it’s their team or ours under the gun.
Also, he was an adult. In med school, in fact.
“Fuck Kos and the purity trolls!”
If you want to accuse me of being a “purity troll” because I demand our public servants avoid racism, being rapey, sexism, and all the other -isms, then I wear that badge proudly.
“Were this to happen to Gavin Newsome, I’d welcome Markos’ input, ‘cause Markos is a Californian.”
Ah yes, no one from outside Virginia should have a say on what a Democratic governor does. Yet I’m sure that user didn’t have a problem when Daily Kos endorsed Northam and raised money for him, right?
But beyond that, our fucking country is at stake. Virginia is a must-win presidential state for Democrats. Yet how can our nominee campaign in the state with Northam’s toxic presence casting a pall?
We have an excellent chance to take control of the Virginia legislature this year, but how can down-ballot Democrats campaign without having to answer questions about Northam daily? How can they work to win over crucial black voters if the party thinks it’s okay for Northam to remain on the job?
I see lots of white people saying they “forgive” Northam. But it’s not white people’s forgiveness that Northam needs.
Aside from the morality of the situation, it’s a political death sentence to the Virginia Democratic Party, in a state in which 20 percent of the population is black. White voters voted for the Republican candidate for governor 57-42. It was black voters—choosing Northam 87-12—who elected him governor. Same story in the 2016 presidential election: White voters opted for Trump 59-35, yet black voters opted for Hillary Clinton 88-9.
Even if you’re so tone-deaf on race that you don’t realize how damaging the facts of this case are (and too many of you distressingly are), then at least be motivated by the simple need to actually win in Virginia, both this November and in next year’s presidential contest.
If Northam stays, it’s not just morally repugnant, but electorally idiotic.
Update:
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus responds:
“Those who would excuse the pictures are just as culpable.” That includes too many of you here, in this community.