What troubles me the more I look at this mess, Virginia was a member of the confederacy during the civil war. As a matter of fact, Richmond was the capital of the confederacy. I believe there is a bigger problem than what appears. This was condoned by a very prestigious military academy in the USA and it has far deeper roots than simply bad taste.
I am worried there is a culture from the past that is still held in esteem at VMI. I find it hard to believe this is simply an outliar from VMI. If it is an outliar and the governor is a real jerk, then it ends with him, but, this appears in VMI's yearbook. Every yearbook has an editorial staff and this staff looked the other way and/or thought it a really great photo. That means it is institutionalized. That is the real issue here. Why was this simply tolerated as boys being boys. This is really surprising.
By Marie Albiges and Gordon Rago
Norfolk - A photo from Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook (click here) shows him and another person in racist costumes — one wearing blackface and one a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood, though it was not clear which person was the future governor.
The photo, which The Virginian-Pilot obtained a copy of Friday from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library, comes from the 1984 yearbook, the year Northam graduated.
On the half-page set aside for Northam, there is a headshot of him in a jacket and tie, a photo of him in a cowboy hat and boots and a third of him sitting casually on the ground, leaning against a convertible.
The fourth photo on the half-page has two people, one wearing white Ku Klux Klan robes and a hood, the other with his face painted black. The person with the black face is also wearing a white hat, black jacket, white shirt with a bow tie and plaid pants. Both are holding canned drinks....
