Why does Gov. Northam’s yearbook page include blackface and KKK robes?

By: Ned Oliver - February 1, 2019 5:37 pm

Gov. Ralph Northam walks to the governor’s Mansion after presiding over a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Capitol. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

Gov. Ralph Northam’s bad week got way worse Friday afternoon after a conservative media outlet posted photos from his medical school yearbook page showing a man in blackface and a person wearing KKK robe.

It’s not clear from the photo that either of the individuals are the governor, but the image appears alongside a head shot of Northam, a photo of him with a classic car and a photo of him wearing a cowboy hat.

BREAKING: Gov. Ralph Northam yearbook page shows blackface and Klan photohttps://t.co/6A89ejp5Ho

— The Virginian-Pilot (@virginianpilot) February 1, 2019

Northam’s press office, which spent the week fending off accusations he advocates for infanticide (he does not), did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The images began circulating Friday afternoon after they were uncovered by right-wing news site Big League Politics.

Staff at the Eastern Virginia Medical School library confirmed the images were genuine and The Virginian-Pilot has also independently obtained a copy.

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Ned Oliver

Ned, a Lexington native, has been a fulltime journalist since 2008, beginning at The News-Gazette in Lexington, and including stints at the Berkshire Eagle, in Berkshire County, Mass., and the Times-Dispatch and Style Weekly in Richmond. He is a graduate of Bard College at Simon’s Rock, in Great Barrington, Mass. He was named Virginia's outstanding journalist for 2020 by the Virginia Press Association.