It has been well over a year since Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) had to confront allegations he appeared in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook in a racist costume. To this day, he continues to deny he was pictured in those photos.
During an interview that aired on NBC’s “Nightly News,” Northam offered his thoughts on the current racial turmoil to network correspondent Geoff Bennett.
“A lot of people that look like me have learned a lot,” he said. “And people are now standing up and saying ‘enough is enough.'”
Northam once again denied that he was pictured in the yearbook but said the focus was not about him but race issues.
“We’ve had two very thorough investigations,” Northam said. “Those investigations showed no evidence of me being in the picture. But I would tell you, Geoff, this isn’t about me anymore. This is really about Virginia. It’s about this country. It’s about black oppression. It’s about systemic racism.”
When asked by Bennett about the issues he had to confront stemming from the so-called “blackface” incident, Northam said he had to realize “black oppression” still exists.
“What I didn’t realize and what I have learned is really black oppression exists here — is alive and well in 2020,” Northam said.
“I think white people need to listen, and I think they have recognized or are recognizing the pain that exists because of the protests,” he added. “I think they also realize the burden of educating and of making people aware in this country of our 400 years of history — that burden needs to shift from people of color to people that look like me.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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