CCAN Denounces Governor Northam’s Racist Yearbook Photo, Demands Resignation
Harrison Wallace, Virginia Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, released the following statement:
“Last night, on the first day of Black History Month, a disturbing photo of Governor Ralph Northam from his Eastern Virginia Medical School Yearbook resurfaced on the internet. The image brought Virginia’s dark history of racism back into the limelight and opened many unhealed wounds within Virginia’s most traumatized communities. No matter the era, or the messenger, blackface costumes and Ku Klux Klan regalia have represented terror and fear for communities of color since Reconstruction. There is no excuse for wearing them.
“From Buckingham to this bombshell, Governor Northam has offered inadequate apologies to communities of color and has refused to atone for the harm he has caused them. At this point, the only way for Virginia to begin to heal from this dark reminder of our turbulent racial history is for Governor Northam to resign.”
Previously: STATEMENT: GOVERNOR NORTHAM FAILS TO PROTECT CITIZENS OF UNION HILL
CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, 608-620-8819, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org
Harrison Wallace, Virginia Director, 804-305-1472, harrison@chesapeakeclimate.org
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