Author Interviews Northam 14X But No Answer on Who's in Racist Yearbook Photo
WHO IS IN THAT PHOTO? Right up there with is big foot real and who killed Jimmy Hoffa is the question of who is in the 1984 yearbook photo on the Eastern Virginia Medical School page of former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.
That no one can get to the truth of that question three years later is part of how racial dynamics in America work — particularly in the South. Surely someone knows the answer but no one will say. So much of finding truth is the will and desire to find it. As they say daily on twitter at Equal Justice Initiative, to overcome racial inequality we must confront our history.
The unseen rules of protection of racists and racism is about the protection of power. It is the protection of who wields that power. The casual displays of what is focused on and what is ignored, is likely to be at issue in Margaret Edds’ upcoming book What the Eye Can’t See, but only a careful read will reveal the complete answer. Edds, who was a journalist at The Virginian-Pilot, has written books on Oliver Hill and Doug Wilder. Her new book officially drops in November but Associated Press’ Sarah Rankin provides a few hints in an August 11 piece.
🚩 One can bet that most of What the Eye Can’t See will focus on the “racial redemption” of Northam given he agreed to 14 interviews. The “falsely accused white” hero and/or the “white savior” hero meme is a thing in American culture. See The Fugitive (1993), Hidden Figures (2016), Shawshank Redemption (1993), Green Book (2018) or To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Amistad (1997) for more on that.
AP/RANKIN: “A Virginia author's investigative effort to uncover the origins of a racist photo on Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page has ended inconclusively…”.
📖 Edds was unable to uncover who exactly is in the racist 1984 photo that prompted many to demand that former Governor Northam resign in early February 2019. On Feb. 1, 2019 Northam stated he was in the racist photo. The next day, Feb. 2, 2019, he said he wasn’t. Suddenly, 24 hours later, an individual with a connection to a Richmond City Hall staffer of Levar Stoney publicly accused Virginia’s Black Lt. Governor of an unprovable crime from 13 years before… Black history month 2019 in Virginia remains one of the most memorable ever.
Edds didn’t speak with former Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who met with Northam on the night of February 1, 2019, so it appears she didn’t quite interview everyone. Edds did interview Northam 14 times with no answer to what is undeniably the biggest question of the Northam scandal: Who exactly are the two people in racist yearbook photo. Eastern Virginia Medical School handed McGuireWoods $368,000 to fail to answer that question. Many in the media have investigated but have failed to find the answer. Some have not ruled out that Northam is in the photo.
RACIAL NARRATIVES. Whitewashing of stories is not new and never surprising. Newsrooms are a reflection of the greater society and their leadership is typically white, elitist and over-educated. That upper 1% racial, social and economic voice is seen in what is published.
The Washington Post’s Northam tribute article on January 9, 2022 as he departed office is an example. The article pretends that out-of-the-blue allegations against the Black Lt. Governor (that the FBI is reportedly asking questions about) played no role in the events of Feb. 2019 — and erases any mention of it. But it’s clear that the allegations against the Black Lt. Governor are the primary reason Northam was able to remain in power. The Washington Post erases Virginia’s second Black statewide official in this article as their reporting side continues to look away from what the eyes can see: That a sudden unvetted set of allegations against a Black official was a major factor in Northam’s ability to continue.
That one of the oldest racist tropes in southern history was the reason that Virginia’s second only Black elected statewide official was unable to take power and assisted a white elected official to remain in office should be reason enough for curiosity and deep analysis. The moment in undeniably uncomfortable to analyze but clear-eyed investigation of all the events of Feb. 2019 are essential for change moving forward.
The events of 2019 were also driven by a press quick to immediately publish a rape allegation 30 minutes after an e-mail to media from New Jersey attorney Nancy Erika Smith and NJ PR firm Evergreen Partners. Was race a factor? Take a glance at the coverage of Joe Biden after he was accused by Tara Reade of sexual assault a year later in April 2020 and think deeply.
The Kansas City Star took a long and honest look into the mirror of their coverage of Black people in Kansas City over decades. Their conclusions were striking. The Washington Post should do the same.
An analysis of all of the above, not just some of the above, would make quite a book wouldn’t it? We will conduct a more detailed analysis of What the Eye Can’t See when we are able to review the entire book. ☀️
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