# Virginia gov. yearbook page has Klan and blackface pictures **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 1, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809 "2019-02-01T22:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/41 "2019-02-02T01:55:20Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I don’t understand how none of this came up when he was running. Gillespie is probably already on the phone to his oppo research firm, demanding his money back. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/42 "2019-02-02T01:57:44Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I don’t understand how none of this came up when he was running. Josh Lyman would have been all over it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/43 "2019-02-02T01:58:30Z")
I voted for him and like the job he’s done so far, but he should step down. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/44 "2019-02-02T02:02:10Z")
I just don’t think I can jump on board with asking him to step down over an almost 40-year-old photo of him in blackface/in a KKK hood in what is clearly a jocular display. I say this as a staunch conservative. If he had been pictured at a KKK rally, or had been wearing blackface at some kind of political rally, there’s a stronger argument there, but this is a yearbook photo. Again, I say this as a pretty strong conservative. If the new standard is to judge our elected officials on tasteless photos from decades upon decades ago in context that clearly doesn’t represent true evil, we’re all in for a rough time. We need to be reasonable about this. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/45 "2019-02-02T02:04:04Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Okay, what does “DYKES” mean in this context? Anyone know? [Here ya go.](https://www.myplan.com/colleges/undergraduate-colleges/virginia-military-institute/articles-234085.html?aid=2978) What the hell is a coonman? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/46 "2019-02-02T02:04:06Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > I just don’t think I can jump on board with asking him to step down over an almost 40-year-old photo of him in blackface/in a KKK hood in what is clearly a jocular display. I say this as a staunch conservative. If he had been pictured at a KKK rally, or had been wearing blackface at some kind of political rally, there’s a stronger argument there, but this is a yearbook photo. > > Again, I say this as a pretty strong conservative. If the new standard is to judge our elected officials on tasteless photos from decades upon decades ago, we’re all in for a rough time. We need to be reasonable about this. Maybe in a vacuum, but in today’s America? With a white supremacist tolerator and enabler in the WH, and a deadly white supremacist attack just about a year ago in VA? Virginia needs a governor with the moral authority to oppose white supremacism as effectively as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/47 "2019-02-02T02:13:13Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > What the hell is a coonman? It’s presumably a nickname he acquired as a direct result of that outfit. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/48 "2019-02-02T02:20:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I voted for him and like the job he’s done so far, but he should step down. Yes, and it’s because he withheld this information during the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/49 "2019-02-02T02:21:47Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Maybe in a vacuum, but in today’s America? With a white supremacist tolerator and enabler in the WH, and a deadly white supremacist attack just about a year ago in VA? Virginia needs a governor with the moral authority to oppose white supremacism as effectively as possible. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/50 "2019-02-02T02:32:15Z")
This whole thing is just ghoulish the more I think about it. With future elected officials having grown up saturated in social media, we’re in for a heck of ride. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/51 "2019-02-02T02:39:33Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > This was 35 years ago when he was young and in school. C’mon, he was in \*medical \*school. He would have been 24 or 25 when this was published. That’s well beyond the “youthful indiscretion” threshold. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/52 "2019-02-02T02:43:57Z")
According to his Wiki page, he was born in 1959. So, 24 or 25 years old indeed. Dude needs to go. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/53 "2019-02-02T02:56:50Z")
I vote dem and I am dem, but I didn’t ever think I’d support Dixie Crat. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/54 "2019-02-02T02:58:00Z")
To me, it’s about being consistent with the outrage. If this had been a Republican politician, many of us (myself included) would have been calling for him to resign. I have no dog in the actual fight, as I don’t live in Virginia, but he should step down, and the sooner, the better. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/55 "2019-02-02T02:59:32Z")
People are floating the conspiracy theory that Northam disrupted the abortion narrative with his remarks on the subject, and so suddenly this photo has surfaced to get rid of him. Igniting the passions of the pro-life segment with “infantacide” and “late-term abortion” talking points is undesirable, the theory goes. Super tinfoil hat stuff, but interesting nonetheless. Really odd that this photo never surfaced until now. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/56 "2019-02-02T03:02:15Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Yes, and it’s because he withheld this information during the campaign. Yeah. He never mentioned this little ticking time bomb to his campaign staff? He did, and they said “Yeah, go ahead and run anyway”? He forgot all about it until just now? Only the first one sounds remotely plausible, at least to me. I don’t live in Virginia, so my opinion doesn’t count, but if I did, I’d want him to resign. I’m sure there’s at least one other person qualified for the position who doesn’t have that baggage weighing him down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/57 "2019-02-02T03:11:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Dacien** : > > This whole thing is just ghoulish the more I think about it. With future elected officials having grown up saturated in social media, we’re in for a heck of ride. No doubt a lot of people will be filtered out by what they’ve said and done on social media. Is that a bad thing? Our elected officials are only a very small fraction of the population, and they should be better than us as a whole. It’s inherent in the concept that we _must_ filter the population very aggressively in order to choose our leaders. Is this a worse filter than whatever else we’d be using? Yes, obviously this was meant as a joke. And what that tells us is that he’s the kind of guy who finds this sort of thing funny. Given the choice of a politician who finds this sort of thing funny or one who doesn’t, I’ll take the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/58 "2019-02-02T03:18:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No doubt a lot of people will be filtered out by what they’ve said and done on social media. Is that a bad thing? Our elected officials are only a very small fraction of the population, and they should be better than us as a whole. It’s inherent in the concept that we _must_ filter the population very aggressively in order to choose our leaders. Is this a worse filter than whatever else we’d be using? > > Yes, obviously this was meant as a joke. And what that tells us is that he’s the kind of guy who finds this sort of thing funny. Given the choice of a politician who finds this sort of thing funny or one who doesn’t, I’ll take the latter. Yeah but it was 35 years ago. I’m super not comfortable with this standard. Context matters. Like, I’m super pro-life with reasonable concessions (12 weeks seems reasonable to me) so there’s no love lost if this guy goes, but are we really going to judge 59-year-old Governor Ralph Northam on 24-year-old Med Student Ralph Northam? Are we not allowed to view individuals on how they’ve behaved and acted for all of their adult lives save a few years? It’s extremely disquieting. We pluck a photo out from 35 years ago and that wipes away everything he stands for and everything he fights for? His job as a Governor and his work on the issues in that role comes down to a 35-year-old tasteless photo? I’d be making these same arguments for a Republican or a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/59 "2019-02-02T03:26:07Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > People are floating the conspiracy theory that Northam disrupted the abortion narrative with his remarks on the subject, and so suddenly this photo has surfaced to get rid of him. Igniting the passions of the pro-life segment with “infantacide” and “late-term abortion” talking points is undesirable, the theory goes. > > Super tinfoil hat stuff, but interesting nonetheless. Really odd that this photo never surfaced until now. I’m not sure I follow - is the conspiracy theory that a pro-choice Democrat has always known about this, and has now put it out there because they don’t like how his comments have influenced the debate? Maybe that’s “tinfoil hat” stuff, I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem any stranger than the fact that it didn’t come to light when he was running. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809/60 "2019-02-02T03:31:20Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m not sure I follow - is the theory that a pro-choice Democrat has always known about this, and has now put it out there because they don’t like how his comments have influenced the debate? Basically. The major cog that seems to be turning the machine is the fact that this photo only just came out now, days after he ignited a firestorm of debate over “infanticide”. And that discussion really shifted the abortion debate into an extreme area that favors pro-life talking points. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virginia-gov-yearbook-page-has-klan-and-blackface-pictures/828809.md?page=4)