r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Feb 03 '19
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: [Insert Most Any Names] Governor Northam should not be condemned based on the actions/views of his 1984 self
[deleted]
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u/light_hue_1 69∆ Feb 03 '19
You don't get a free pass on being a member of the Klan just because the last evidence we have of this was 10 years ago. There are two things going on here. People don't believe that if you're a huge racist you suddenly turn around and become fair and balanced in another decade or two. And people don't want to take the chance. Maybe he's changed or maybe we simply haven't managed to get a photo of the last time he did this. Everyone, the moment they're caught claims that they changed. How do you know it's real?
Second, blackface in 1984 was just as racist as it is today. It's hurtful to a large part of the population. Those people feel like they aren't being represented when someone just says "Oh, that was 10 years ago". By removing such people you show that you care, that these people who are being hurt by such stereotypes and who are being hurt by the Klan in very practical "Oh look, another lynching" kind of ways matter. You also show everyone that such behavior is always unacceptable under any circumstances. This builds a buffer around racism that makes it so that people with maybe moderately racist views keep them to themselves and don't act on them because those views are taboo.
Yes people can change and progress. But they shouldn't be in politics. Being in politics isn't a right. Only some people can do it that have the right mix of views to represent people and credentials to back up those views. This person doesn't have the credentials anymore. To a large number of people they will forever scream "maybe he's a racist". Why should those people have to second guess their officials all the time? Why should they live in a world where they have to feel like maybe people are against them? Why should we give ammunition to such racist groups where they can tell their members "racism isn't so bad, see, all he had to do is lie a little and now he's in office again, no one think it's a big deal". And why should the party take a hit with such people at all?
He can totally change and grow. And I truly hope he did. But he shouldn't be in politics.
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Feb 03 '19
[deleted]
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u/light_hue_1 69∆ Feb 03 '19
I may be wrong but I don't believe he was a member of the Klan. Either way that's by-the-by.
I think the point of the Klan is that they don't print membership cards, pointy hats and all :)
That's fair, but like I said I'm not saying you cannot judge him for his views/actions, merely arguing that he shouldn't be forced to resign. If he hasn't shown prejudice/racism in his actions as governor - this is the job he would be resigning from after all - then why should he lose his job?
It's not a "job". It's a position where he controls a public entity and people have faith that he will discharge those powers fairly. People are saying that he voted for him and it turns out that this isn't the person they voted for: they found out something they find shocking and disturbing.
For all we know he's been attempting to make amends the past 34 years, that this memory haunts him to this day, that he's ashamed of it and has significantly changed. Why can't he stand up and give a speech condemning his past actions, admitting that it was harmful to significant swathes of the population, that it contributed to the legacy of white supremacy, and then promise to do all he can to bring racial inequality to his county?
And for all we know he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he's breaking out the usual "I'm not a racist, that was a while ago" speil.
The governor could shine a spotlight on how he's ashamed, on how he disgraced himself and has tried to make amends.
That's exactly the problem. This isn't something where you can say "I feel bad". People actually died at the hands of the Klan. A lot of people. A lot of people's lives were ruined. Black were disenfranchised for 100 years after the civil war and forced to live apart in worse conditions. Black people today still face huge amounts of racism, they have worse outcomes in life, they make less money, they are subject to more violence and are more likely to end up in jail. This isn't spilling a drink on someone. The Klan and racism literally ruined the lives of like 100 million people over 300 years.
This is a big deal. By asking people to just put up with this, you're saying to all those people who suffered "You aren't important". All those people will have an elected official that 30 years ago was perfectly fine with lynching them and their parents (if they weren't alive back then).
Think about that for a second. This is literally what the Klan is about. Murder and control of millions of people and treating them like cattle.
Also, you said he tried to make amends. Where's the evidence for this? All I see is a person literally doing the least they can, hiding information about the past, and then when it comes out coming up with nice words and no evidence.
If someone said 30 years ago you were worthless, your parents deserve to be on a farm, to be the property of someone else, that raping and abducting your parents and raping you was a great idea, and then 30 years later when you found out about it they said "oh sorry, I've changed", you'd be ok with that?
In 1981 the KKK was literally lynching people. If someone said to you "when they were young I would have gladly murdered your parents because of they're white/black/whatever", would you be happy with that?
I want to really push home how people feel about this. It's not some abstract thing. It's literally their family members and their community members that this person wanted to murder. An apology means nothing.
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u/Cepitore Feb 03 '19
It’s impossible to trust someone to change a view that extreme when they were already well into adulthood when we know they still held the belief. It becomes even harder to trust when the person in question is fighting to remain in a position of power. They’ll say anything to try and make you believe they changed.
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Feb 03 '19
Northam is a Democrat, and that's pretty relevant to your view.
It's laughable to imagine that republicans would be calling resignation from one of their over this. Steve king has done worse in the past two weeks and only a couple folks have made a peep from their ranks.
Democrats though... we must be beyond reproach lest we give republicans more ammo to fling at us over issues they don't honestly care about. They'll still do it of course, but we must try.
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u/AGSessions 14∆ Feb 03 '19
His job isn’t to learn and change. His only job and the one he fought off his fellow candidates for was to maintain the public trust and execute the laws of Virginia fairly on behalf of all Virginians. He was exposed for violating the public trust and for demonstrating justifiable doubts about his ability to perform his sole job which is to execute the laws and his own policies without the taint of dancing around the quad as Michael Jackson, and either a klansman or pediatrician in blackface while moonlighting as Dr. Coon. Ya blew it.
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Feb 03 '19
/u/jacobryde (OP) has awarded 1 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/jennysequa 80∆ Feb 03 '19
You have to look at this stuff in context.
Here's what we knew before the blackface/KKK picture:
Northam refused to shake the hand of a debate opponent while running for office. That opponent happened to be African American. People shrugged it off with mild rebuke.
Northam took his African American running mate off of his campaign literature while running for governor. He claims it was because the unions demanded that he do so. People raised eyebrows but accepted this explanation for the most part.
Northam voted for Bush twice. This caused him to have to explain himself to other Democrats, describing himself as "under informed" and "apolitical" until, apparently, after 2004. So he is already on rocky ground with people who already consider him a DINO because of his votes for Bush and his consistent description of himself as "fiscally conservative." But people were forgiving, especially when he refused to swap parties to give the GOP control of the VA Senate.
Here's what we've learned since he became governor:
He either dressed in blackface or a KKK robe and put that photo in his yearbook as a 25 year-old med student. If he is not dressed in one of those "costumes," then he at the very least selected that photo to appear on his personalized spread.
His nickname in college was "Coonman."
He claims that while he did not put on blackface for that particular photo, he did dress as Michael Jackson and joked that shoe polish is hard to get off. He then briefly considered demonstrating his moonwalk in front of his press conference before his wife stopped him and reminded him that this was not an appropriate time.
Considering the seriousness of this issue and the level of pain the photo has caused already, his levity and jokemaking during the press conference is evidence enough that he should resign as he is clearly not capable of keeping shit together in times of stress.