When NBC terminated Megan Kelly, I remember thinking how silly it was for a corporation to get rid of an employee for defending blackface. It was as if NBC had another agenda for firing her and used her comment to settle an ax they already had to grind. I had similar feelings when news about Ralph Northam and a blackface photo from 1984 appeared on my timeline. I really didn’t care to much about it, until I noticed a great deal of people, especially African Americans, were so outraged. I still couldn’t help but wonder, why?
The outrage was fierce. News shows were all running stories with guests that were livid and offended by the snapshot. I expected Fox News guests to be fake-offended, after all Northam is a Democrat, but when guests appeared on CNN demanding Northam resign, and Al Sharpton said the same thing on MSNBC, my eyebrows rose. I was baffled. Baffled because to think something a person did 30-years ago would suddenly crop up and destroy their career wasn’t very liberal and very disturbing. Even more importantly in this last election cycle Democrats suffered huge upsets in the governor races with the losses of Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Andrew Gillum in Florida, now here we are trying to oust another Democratic Governor over a 30-year old photo.
Don’t get me wrong I understand why blackface can be offensive. During the nineteenth-century white men in Minstrelsy shows painted their faces black, enhanced the size of their lips and depicted African Americans as violent, outrageous and stereotypical caricatures. These shows traveled around the world depicting images of black men as rapists or stupid; black women as fat ugly Mammy-like or overly sexualized characters. These shows often twisted the slave experience presenting happy go-lucky slaves that danced around with glee as if slavery was sanctioned by God himself. But minstrelsy shows are a thing of the distant past. So, the question I had as an African American was: does this mean no whites could every wear blackface? It’s absurd. Especially when you consider the fact that blacks have worn black face themselves.
Meet Egbert Williams an African American man considered by some to be the First American actor and the greatest comedian that ever lived. He’s a black man that wore blackface. And he’s a trailblazer that paved the way for many African American Actors all because he wore blackface. He brought the first all-black minstrelsy show to Broadway: In Dahomey in 1903. Was he racists? The answer of course is no, his record makes it clear he had African American interest at heart when he performed.
What I concluded is just because a person paints their face black doesn’t make a person a racist. No more than it would make people that paint their face red, white or blue racist. And we certainly can’t just claim a person is a racist because of a photo taken 30-years ago that may or may not be the person in the frame. The only way to determine if a person is truly a racist would be to check their record.
So, I checked Mr. Northam’s record. Northam was an army medical doctor and a Pediatric Neurologist, he’s probably saved countless lives, including the lives of African American babies. He’s a Democratic governor that supports pro-black policies and his interest seem to fall in line with interests of my own. Heck, Northam had the State of Virginia remove confederate statues. That doesn’t sound like a racists. So why should he resign?
I’ve heard all the arguments. Some say people wore black face to make fun of African Americans, particularly slaves—when the facts are some people did, some people didn’t. Some say the photo is cringe-worthy because those in the photo are’ future doctors—and may have to one day deliver black babies. They speak in present tense to leave out the fact that some of them were doctors and probably delivered many black babies, including Northam. I even heard arguments that Northam should resign because he can’t lead; and yet he has led.
I think this situation speaks to an even bigger problem with social media and the internet. The fact that someone could go back 20, 30, 40 years and dig up something from your past and use it to destroy you, is terrifying. That shouldn’t be condoned, unless you committed some heinous, vicious act against someone, such as the sexual assault Christine Blasey Ford claimed Judge Kavanaugh committed against her, and even in that situation Blasey Ford only spoke her truth because Kavanaugh was vying for a seat on the highest court in the land. Other than that, your record should be used to determine your character. The media needs to realize you can’t condemn people for their past, unless a person has demonstrated a continued pattern of racism or hate—like Donald and Mitch.
In my opinion I think African Americans need to stop acting as if we have the power to ban certain things because racists people have used them against us in the past. Black paint and words like nigger are not racist—wake up!
