Blackface

         Ralph Northam is more than likely on his way out as Governor of Virginia because of this photo -  one of its subjects purportedly being himself -  posted on his page in his 1984 medical school yearbook.

       Everything about that photograph is appalling: That two men (or maybe the one in the KKK getup is a woman?) thought it was acceptable to show up at a party in those costumes and make-up; that someone found their costumes and make-up acceptable enough that they snapped a photo; that the yearbook staff considered the photo acceptable enough to publish it.

       (Sigh). It never ceases to amaze me the appalling things people will do as long as they believe what they're doing is not illegal or grossly socially unacceptable. 
        But here's what really amazes me about that photo:
        The picture was in a 1984 yearbook.

...not a 1954 yearbook. I mean, by 1984 nobody - least of all intelligent, educated future doctors - would have found the sort of thing going on in that picture the least bit funny or acceptable, right? All decent people would have found that sort of thing offensive, wouldn't they have? Such nematodes the likes of which were pictured in that photo had slithered under a rock decades earlier, hadn't they?
      Apparently not. At least not in Eastern Virginia Medical School.
      Governor Northam, who initially owned up to and apologized for having appeared in the photo, has now done a verbal pirouette and claims that he's not actually the person in the photo. We are to believe that some layout editor randomly chose this picture of somebody else to post on Northam's yearbook page. 
       Well, whether or not he's in that picture should be easy enough to sleuth out, should anyone care to make the effort, though I think the point might be moot: Northam has confessed that in the same year as the yearbook photo he donned blackface in parody of Michael Jackson for a dance contest. The guy apparently had a propensity for putting on blackface.
         (And for arrogance, too, judging from the obnoxious ― and for a future doctor, insensitive ― quote he chose for his yearbook page).

     But there's a lesson in this story, though too late for the learning for Ralph Northam, just as it was too late for Megyn Kelly, who also lost her job over blackface.

     The lesson is this: If there's still any debate over whether whites wearing blackface for Halloween or any other occasion is harmless good fun or insensitive racism, it's time for the debate to end now. 
     Enough people of color have spoken out and made it clear that for them blackface is insulting, demeaning, and reminiscent of what they know of the suffering and humiliation of their ancestors.
     People of color have spoken out enough on the subject of blackface. They shouldn't have to speak out anymore.

Reference:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/yearbook-page-virginia-governor-ralph-northam-shows-photo/story?id=60791140

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/politics/northam-blackface-photo/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/politics/northam-racist-yearbook-photo/index.html