Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam apologised after his 1984 medical yearbook page emerged, showing a photo featuring men in racist costumes.
Ralph Northam confirmed that he was in a racist yearbook photo showing one person dressed in blackface and another in the KKK’s signature white hood and robes, and apologised for ‘the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now.”
Black politicians in Virginia called the image “disgusting” and Republicans urged the Democrat to resign, a report in BBC said.
The picture showed a man in blackface and another man in Ku Klux Klan robes.
It appeared on a page with other photos of Mr Northam as well as personal details about him.
He did not elaborate on which costume he was wearing, but said he appeared in a photograph that was “clearly racist and offensive”.
“This behaviour is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment,” the governor said in a statement after the image was made public.
He further said “I recognise that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused. I am ready to do that important work. The first step is to offer my sincerest apology and to state my absolute commitment to living up to the expectations Virginians set for me when they elected me to be their governor.”(UNI)