*WTF*Virginia attorney general Mark Herring, third in line for governor, wore blackface in college

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Virginia's already chaotic executive branch became even more tumultuous Wednesday as the state's attorney general, Mark Herring, admitted he wore blackface at a college party in 1980, deepening state scandal.
Herring, a Democrat, is third in line to the governor's office.
The current governor, Ralph Northam, faces widespread calls for his resignation after a conservative news site last week published a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page showing two me, one in blackface, the other wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood.
...

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/06/virginia-attorney-general-mark-herring-wore-blackface-in-college.html

These clowns are bringing shame on our party. I am roughly their age, grew up in the exurban south, and never saw a person in blackface, except on television. One time when I was around twelve years old I found a discarded black lawn jockey and brought it home. My dad had the good sense to paint his face white before putting it up in front of our home. In retrospect it was more than a tad bit pretentious to put on a home that was about 1,000 square feet.

[njhoneybadger]

1. For fuck's sake,

[dem4decades]

52. That's exactly what i was thinking.

[allgood33]

76. Do they all have a secret desire to be black?

WTF is or was wrong with people? Pleasure out of mocking the disadvantaged? WTF?

[Hortensis]

110. Maybe. Many black figures were and are heroes

and cultural leaders. Didn't blacks pretty much invent cool? Certainly did a lot to define it for hundreds of millions of people. (Billions?)

A whole lot depends on intent, doesn't it? Both malice and absence of malice are big things to me.

Even ordinary levels of good nature versus meanspiritedness tell me a lot about how I should interpret behaviors. As does how they're perceived at the time and place.

[LexVegas]

2. WTAF?

[theboss]

3. Oh Christ Have Mercy!

I officially don't care what happens here. Fuck all of these people.

[cbdo2007]

4. I don't think many people here realize what it was like growing up in a lot of these areas

30 years ago, and this being what you are surrounded with all day every day.

Many of them grew out of it, many of them did not, but it was certainly a different time and a different culture than where we are today.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. I grew up in that area forty years ago and never saw it...

[fleur-de-lisa]

8. I lived in Virginia for about 20 years

and I never saw anything like this either.

[LexVegas]

7. I was born in Virginia and never saw anyone in blackface in real life.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. I don't know why people think it was ubiquitous.

[theboss]

43. Because they want to defend the indefensible

I would like to know the cutoff year for when everyone knew it was bad? 1997?

[lagomorph777]

81. Been in VA 35 years and have never seen it.

But I'm in Northern VA, a very much nicer place than most of the state.

[theboss]

11. Fuck that. I grew up in West Fucking Virginia

I was involved in two legit race riots, but I never saw anyone wearing black face. It was not common.

[get the red out]

24. Not in eastern Kentucky

where I grew up either. And there were certainly a lot of racists around, I was related to more than a few, unfortunately.

[bearsfootball516]

12. You have a point.

Not saying what they’ve done is right, obviously it’s not. Virginia has grown tremendously in the last decade. There was a reason it was known as the Capitol of the Confederacy. Go back 30 years, Virginia was as “Deep South” as you could get.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Doug Wilder won his race for Lieutenant Governor in 1985.

[onenote]

60. And was elected Governor in 1990

[DemocratSinceBirth]

63. VA despite being the capital of the Confederacy, was no more Deep South. than Florida was

VA despite being the capital of the Confederacy was no more Deep South than Florida was by virtue of geography.

[theboss]

14. Also, it was the 1980s

This was not Nineteen Fifty Fucking Five.

[rockfordfile]

99. Things in the Carolinas have happen in the 70s and 80s

In the 1970s and 1980s a lot worst than wearing makeup. Race related crimes have even occurred in the 1980s and people knew that the pos would get off, not go to jail.

I have relatives that are mixed-race, and I was their only friend in the 1970s. I lived in a different state. As the kids being mixed-race, the other kids didn't want to pay with them. When my family visited, I was basically their only friend.

Even today we have illegitimate racist in the White House. A traitor/racist political party, the gop.

[LanternWaste]

28. Grew up in north TX, graduated HS in 84 and never entertained the notion

to do anything as stupid as advertise blatant racism.

A different time? Sure, we played Galaga and Ms. Pack-Man at the corner video arcade instead of Grand Theft Auto 44 while sitting on the couch and drinking Red Bull; but not so different that we couldn't recognize obvious and willful racism for what it was.

[BruceWane]

73. Grew up in Houston, graduated HS in 81

and there was a group of 5 or 6 jock/preppy/future yuppie/a-hole type guys who came to school on halloween dress-up day in blackface.

Carrying basketballs and KFC buckets, even.

They were not sent home, or disciplined, or counseled in any way.

In fact, they got their picture in the yearbook.

Pretty sure they did it two years in a row, junior and senior year.

I look back at those pictures every once in a while, and it only gets even more astonishingly awful as the years pass.

[theboss]

80. Clearly, it happened, because, well, it happened

But it also wasn't a weekly occurrence that some are implying.

It's Tuesday, you know what that means, kids??

Fried chicken and blackface! Yay! I love living in North Carolina in 1983!!!

[emulatorloo]

88. Also grew up in north TX, graduated in '74. Never saw anybody in blackface in real life and

didn't know anybody who would do such a terrible thing.

[stonecutter357]

32. I grew up Alabama forty years ago and that crap never happened around me .

[Empowerer]

38. I grew up there as did several generations of my family

I never saw anyone in blackface. And if they did it in secret, it's because they knew it was so jacked up they couldn't do it in public or around decent people.

In other words they knew it wasn't normal.

[Sgent]

41. Born and raised

in MS, went to college there, and have never seen blackface on anyone IRL other than Zulu parade at Mardi Gras.

That said, dumb ass racist shit, much of it unintentional (ignorance, uncaring, lack of empathy), but not blackface.

[yodermon]

58. i grew up in Eastern NC, 1980's, and i NEVER saw such a thing. n/t

[fleur-de-lisa]

6. Attention Virginians: if you did NOT wear blackface at some point in the last 40 years

R. Eric Thomas ✔ @oureric

Attention Virginians: if you did NOT wear blackface at some point in the last 40 years, please report to the capitol immediately. You will be sworn in at security and you can pick whichever job you want.

Link to tweet

[njhoneybadger]

15. I don't whether to laugh or cry

[fleur-de-lisa]

17. I want to vomit.

[Rustyeye77]

10. I guess the janitor is the only one left.

Forgiveness is an important virtue.

[democratisphere]

55. No. But the saintly redumbliCONS will be happy to take over

as soon as all the Democrats have resigned.

[lagomorph777]

82. We need to get some oppo going in VA PRONTO!

If VA Dems are this bad, imagine what the Refucks have been doing all their lives!

[democratisphere]

84. The VA Dems may not be as bad as you and perhaps others think.

Just a thought.

[lagomorph777]

85. I voted for every one of these guys.

I hope you are correct, but it may be too late. VA is being stolen again before my eyes.

[democratisphere]

86. Agreed. It is very unfortunate and unnecessary.

[phylny]

115. Exactly.

We worked so damned hard to elect these three. I cringe to think of Republicans controlling the redistricting.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

13. This is so awful. I grew up in Virginia and we live here in Richmond now.

What the f*** is going on?

[underpants]

66. 4th is the Speaker Kirk Cox (R)

From what I’ve heard referred to as Colonial “Whites”

[catsudon]

112. Ah Cox

Cox was my history teacher at Manchester High school , when he left we got Mrs.Bush as a replacement, who's a liberal.

That said, I graduated in 1988, I've never seen anyone in blackface. I guess it was because I went to a cheap college (VCU)

[underpants]

114. VCU grad here too

[Blue_Tires]

16. You know what?

The media needs to come down like a ton of fucking bricks every time some college Greeks have a blackface or otherwise stereotypically racist themed party, because it's happening multiple times every semester...

Secondly, I want the calls for Trump's resignation/impeachment to increase by a factor of 1000...

[CrispyQ]

74. Yes they should.

The media should have clamped down on Sarah Palin when she started her racist rhetoric back in '08. She should have been publicly shamed until the GOP removed her from the ticket. But no, the ratings were more important. The racism has always been here, but IMO she was the beginning of the Teaparty folks trying to make their bigotry acceptable in the public sphere.

[yardwork]

18. I have no words.

[MineralMan]

19. Apparently, wearing blackface at parties was a thing in some places.

Fraternities, colleges, whatever. It never was anywhere I lived. Personally, I find it all really offensive, especially in the 1980s, for pete's sake.

The innate racism of it should have been apparent to everyone by then. Apparently, however, it was not for some in some places. More's the pity.

[sweetapogee]

50. I went to college

in nearby West Virginia late 70s early 80s and belonged to a campus greek organization.

We never did it.

[MineralMan]

64. I went to college in the 60s.

I never saw blackface in use anywhere.

[still_one]

20. Who is 4th in line

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. A Repuke

[stopbush]

27. And the difference wil be that the Repuke won't admit they wore blackface.

[Bettie]

53. And even if they did

they don't care and their party doesn't care.

The only thing that will matter is that they have taken power and will change the rules to ensure that a Democrat never is elected again.

[lagomorph777]

83. They've been pulling every possible trick to cling to power in VA.

In 2017 they stole one seat by fabriacting a single vote in a close race, and maintained their dirty grip on the Gerrymandered Assembly.

[qazplm135]

22. welp

At this point, I say:

Appoint a new LT GOV (since apparently he committed sexual assault), then resign as GOV.

Then whatever the process is for selecting a new AG, start that up.

Try to make sure they aren't rapists or racists though please...thanks.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

29. I may be mistaken but the gop legislature picks the LT Gov.

We might as well hunker down because we are going to end up with a repig who wore black face and is proud of it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. Is don't do racist shit that can be memorialized that high a bar?

[onenote]

61. Not necessarily. The law is a bit unclear. But the legislature does pick the AG

[Empowerer]

42. It's not apparent the lieutenant governor committed sexual assault

Last edited Wed Feb 6, 2019, 03:15 PM - Edit history (1)

It's only apparent that he's been accused of it and that accusation has still not been made publicly.

[qazplm135]

98. it's trending that way

she named herself, and she's a professor, and she's given some details.

This is different from Christine Blassey Ford in only that she hasn't made a in front of the cameras statement/been questioned publicly about it.

Which is why I used the word apparent, meaning "seeming real or true, but not necessarily so"

[temporary311]

25. Not surprised, really.

Wonder if Dems will let themselves be ratfucked into a Republican-gerrymandered supermajority in Virginia for the next decade+.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. Nobody made these clowns wear blackface.

[theboss]

33. Stop using "ratfucking" here

You don’t know it means.

Someone pulling a photo of you looking like Amos n Andy is not a dirty trick.

The Access Hollywood tape was not ratfucking.

If someone had selectively edited it, it would have been.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. +1

These clowns gave their enemies a sword.

[temporary311]

45. The photos and sex assault allegation aren't the ratfucking.

The ratfucking is the bad-faith actors pushing it out now in an attempt by Republicans to steal Virginia right in time for 2020 redistricting.

[theboss]

49. No, that's called politics

Did we ratfuck Kavanaugh?

No, we did not.

Demanding these jags resign is accountability.

[Empowerer]

46. Thank you

If they're exposed you actually doing something wrong, that's not ratfucking

[emulatorloo]

87. Thank You

[Codeine]

44. Ratfucking?

It’s not like somebody secretly photoshopped blackface on to these dumb motherfuckers, they willfully and deliberately chose to paint that shit on because they honestly believed demeaning another human being for their skin tone would prove hilarious.

Finding evidence of past jackassery isn’t ratfucking.

[Vinca]

30. So who the hell is next in line???

Is there a secretary or janitor or anyone who hasn't done something offensive in that government???????

[underpants]

67. Speaker of the House Kirk Cox (R)

Who is going to face a tough re-election once the court ordered redistricting happens.

He’s from Colonial Heights or Colonial “Whites” as many people call it.

[hueymahl]

34. For everyone with their pitchforks out

I urge you to step back and think strategically about what you are doing. These dumbasses should not be in office, and would not be if this had come out prior to the election. But what is in our strategic long-term interests here? Is immediately punishing these guys (and they are all men) worth turning over the Virginia governorship to Rethugs? Or can we wait and primary their ass at the next election.

Yes, what they did was racist and stupid and deserves to have consequences. But are we willing to potentially throw away virginia for the next 4 years, a period when the census is coming out, a period when what should be a blue state will become red, allowing the GOP to enact REAL racist polices affecting today's generation and tomorrow's? Is it worth it to make a point about something that happened 35 years ago? Because I have not seen ANYONE allege that the two accused of wearing blackface are racists today.

It is not an easy choice, but I am not willing to turn over Virginia to the real racists to prove a point.

[theboss]

36. It's Flight 93 all the time, I guess

When is the right time to hold these shit heels accountable then?

[hueymahl]

47. Like I said, primary them at the next election

If you would prefer to have a republican governor of Virginia, then by all means force them out. For some, the principle is worth it, no matter the cost. I can respect taking a position of principle over practical, real-world consequences. For me, I tend to lean toward what is best for the whole state, and that means delaying the rest of the consequences for these people. But it is not like they are getting off - they are suffering significant consequences currently, and when they are removed from office at a time that will not put a rethug in charge, they will suffer the rest.

[Empowerer]

54. This behavior should have consequences

As much as I hate the possibility of a republican governor in Virginia, maybe it will Democrats take this kind of thing more seriously in the future.

One of the problems we've had with dealing with racism in this country is that too many white people treated as if it doesn't affect them and therefore they don't feel compelled to go out of their way to address it. If white people start yo find themselves also affected by the consequences of racism, maybe they'll be more willing to step up and do something about it.

[hueymahl]

70. I respect that position, and agree they need to face consequences

I just don't to want to subject several million people to GOP rule and the actual racism embedded in their policies if I don't have to.

[Empowerer]

77. I don't either

But maybe if some of those several people who continue to ignore or dismiss racism because they think it doesn't affect them, they'll actually wake up and do something about it.

Not an ideal outcome, but if we do end up with that outcome I hope people learn from it.

[GrapesOfWrath]

56. +1

Agree completely

[OliverQ]

35. This is going to result in a Republican Governor.

Sounds planned.

[theboss]

39. If it was planned, why not drop all this in October?

I refuse to blame republicans for democratis being racists and rapists.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

40. Did they rob Doc Brown's Delorean, go back in time, and force these clowns to put on blackface?

[Codeine]

48. Planned?

Mad skillz indeed to play a forty year con on a college student.

[OliverQ]

69. I'm referring to the timing of the release.

All 3 Democrats all have scandals break at the exact same time, when the next person in line is a Republican.

[theboss]

78. And all three could have had these same scandals in November and eliminated the middle man

Maybe to avoid this in future, we ask our candidates if they wore blackface.

[theboss]

79. If these stories had dropped in October, you would be screaming about the timing then as well

It's too late to replace our candidates. This should have come out last year.

Like I said, it's Flight 93 all the way down.

[Empowerer]

51. This may be a different situation, but at this point it doesn't matter

He says they we're imitating rappers and wore brown makeup and wigs. If that's the case that's really not the same as putting on blackface. But at this point it doesn't matter

[theboss]

90. What year was this? I thought it was 1980

Imitating rappers in 1980 would have been an incredibly bold choice for a white dude. There were, like, 12 white people who knew any rappers not named the Sugarhill Gang then.

[Empowerer]

93. He said they were dressed like Kurtis Blow to perform a rap song

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

57. there is nothing that says Democrats are free from sin and bad judgement.

In fact, if anything, this is showing all of us how deeply this is rooted in American culture...…………..

[MFM008]

59. I went to college in the 80s

And distinctly remember NOT wearing black face.
What MORONS.

[pwb]

62. For fucks sake..

We are better than that. Don't go there. We only want perfect people in our party. The Pukes forgive everything but murder.

We have seen the enemy and he is Who?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

65. Is don't do racist shit that can be memorialized that high a bar or asking for moral perfection?

We're not asking them to be Jesus Christ, just fundamentally decent people.

[pwb]

68. Forgiveness is a high bar too.

I am not perfect and don't expect many others are either.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

71. Then why did Attorney General Herring call on Ralph Northam to resign?

Virginia Attorney Gen. Herring calls for Northam to step down

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/virginia-attorney-gen-herring-calls-for-northam-to-step-down

He seem to believe some transgressions can't be forgiven.

[andym]

72. There was plenty of racism, bigotry and prejudice in the 80's

and there still is. Not all of it is from blatant Archie Bunker racists. Lots of white folks are insensitive regarding racism-- one reason why Trump got elected. There are even plenty of folks who are not aware of their racism, perhaps some even here.

From Psychology Today in 2012:
"Dr. David Williams, professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, cited studies documenting that when Latinos and African Americans were treated by physicians for a broken bone in their leg, they received pain medication significantly less often than white patients with the same injury."

" minorities are less likely to be given appropriate cardiac medications or to undergo bypass surgery, and are less likely to receive kidney dialysis or transplants. By contrast, they are more likely to receive certain less-desirable procedures, such as lower limb amputations for diabetes and other conditions.'

"The data beg an obvious question, and Williams did not disappoint. “How on earth do we make sense of this?” he asked. “How is it possible for the best trained medical workforce in the world to produce… care that appears to be so discriminatory?"

"The answer, Williams argued, is unconscious discrimination. According to Williams, the research shows that when people hold a negative stereotype about a group and meet someone from that group, they often treat that person differently and honestly don't even realize it. Williams noted that most Americans would object to being labeled as “racist” or even as “discriminating”, but he added, “Welcome to the human race. It is a normal process about how all of us process information. The problem for our society is that the level of negative stereotypes is very high.”...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-lines/201204/studies-unconscious-bias-racism-not-always-racists

[OriginalGeek]

75. I grew up in Dallas in the 70s and early 80s

but lived all over the south - including Florida, Kentucky, Maryland and Georgia. My mother and step-father were racists. The church we attended was racist. Our pastor told "N" jokes from the pulpit and was well received. My youth pastor said flat out "I hate N...s" He wouldn't let his brother come visit because his brother played banjo in Dixie-land jazz band and he hated N music as much as he hated Ns. The christian high school I graduated from was run by the same racists that ran the churches we all went to. The KKK was praised as a charitable organization by teachers and students alike. Everyone I knew was racist and most of them still are.

I still never saw anyone in blackface.

Although I bet at least one or two of them have done it.

Thank the universe for my grandparents. I remember distinctly being 5 years old and telling my grandma I didn't like black people. She picked me up and carried me to the couch and explained why that was wrong. She knew where I had gotten that from and she didn't yell at me or scold me but she quietly taught me to be better. She knew I would be ending my visit soon and going back home but she planted that seed.

I can't tell you all I was always mindful of that lesson. As I was growing up I saw racist things and heard racist things and I didn't speak up when I could have. I was young and afraid to be different. As I got older I wanted to fit in. But in the back of my mind I always knew that simply smiling and nodding was not good enough. Not actively participating is not the same as actively denouncing. I finally grew a spine and left home at 17 about 3 months after HS graduation in 1981. I've been working to be better ever since.

I could probably get away with running for office because none of my school papers or records still exist. My HS yearbook had no overt racist images and the school no longer exists. But I won't run because I know stuff did exist. Even though it's gone now and I have been working hard to check my white privilege and to help when and where I can there's no way I could look a black man or woman in the eyes and ask for their vote knowing how I was raised and what I was silent about when I could have been loud.

Yes I believe people can change for the better but we ought not be a hindrance. These dopes are being a hindrance.

[Javaman]

89. at this point, they should just put out an announcement...

who ever didn't wear blackface come forward.

I'm suspecting very few will.

How fucked up is that?

[KWR65]

91. Another Privileged White man that is going to be sitting in a recliner soon.

One by One white men are going to no longer be in power. We need to examine all white men in power to find their sexism and racism. They all have done it.

[MustLoveBeagles]

92. I don't know what to say right now

[mcar]

95. What the hell is wrong with these people?

[MiniMe]

96. Is this from Breitbart too?

I think that is who reported the Northam and Fairfax stories. Not sure, please correct me if I'm wrong

[DemocratSinceBirth]

97. All three have been reported on by mainstream news sources.

[MiniMe]

100. I thought the first 2 started on Breitbart

Like I said, I could be wrong.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

102. Big League Politics broke the Fairfax and Northam stories.

To the best of my knowledge Herring outed himself.

[MiniMe]

103. OK, thanks.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

104. You're welcome.

[Garrett78]

101. I'm starting to wonder if whites in the south who have not worn blackface are in the minority.

[Hoyt]

105. Think it was popular among southern fraternity crowd. No thanks.

[Pisces]

106. Must be common in Virginia.

[mr_lebowski]

107. The argument of 'I Grew Up Surrounded by Racists' and never saw Blackface ...

I hate to break it to y'all but there's a reasonable alternative ... to what you are concluding.

First off, the idea that you grew up around cross-burning, hood-wearing, n-word hurling, lunch-counter harassing assholes ... but DIDN'T see 'blackface' ... because everybody just KNEW that was SO horrible that they wouldn't even 'cross that line'? That is tenuous logic at best ... If you'd throw around the n-word to black's faces, you didn't give a shit about offending them ... please!

If you really grew up around that, there's just as much reason to believe that your never 'seeing blackface' was cause it wasn't nearly racist ENOUGH.

IOW, if you went out like that, your racist friends wouldn't have been all 'Right On! Great Racism!' ... they'd have gone ... "Merle, WHAT the HAY-ELLL you dressed up like a N***** FER?!?" Racists didn't do it ... cause there was no reason to do it ... because you weren't showing off your racism by doing so ... you just were pretending to be black, for whatever reason.

Thus, your observations of not seeing it in the South in the 80's doesn't necessarily mean it was considered as highly racist at that time ... as you're arguing. In fact, the opposite ... is fairly logical as well.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

109. I had one garden variety racist friend. He was from the Bronx. But no blackface .

I was from Queens. Moved to FL when I was 12. Very few racists in my peer group in the mid to late 70s. We were too busy getting high.

[IronLionZion]

108. I blame millennials for this problem

Are there any good liberal women, minorities, or younger people in Virginia who can run for office as a Dem? There has to be someone better than these 3 guys.

Virginia was going blue for a bit.

[leftyladyfrommo]

111. Man, that was a popular costume in Virginia back when. nt