In rejecting calls to step down, the 59-year-old white son of Virginia came across to many Black people as displaying a sense of white privilege. In 1984 when the photograph was included in Northam’s yearbook page, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson was running for president. A day later, he denied being in the photograph at all, while admitting to wearing blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest. Also last month, videos surfaced of people in blackface at the University of Oklahoma, including a man walking near campus. The trust Northam, a pediatric neurologist, established with his patients was not unlike the faith he sought from voters.

Source: thestar February 04, 2019 14:37 UTC