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Gov. Northam to make first public appearance confronting blackface scandal

The embattled governor will have his first public event Thursday related to Virginia's blackface scandal - but his role will be silent.

RICHMOND, Va. — The scandals that plunged the Commonwealth into chaos and changed the trajectories of Virginia’s three top elected officials are not even three weeks old.

But a test of how Virginians will receive Gov. Ralph Northam is set to unfold Thursday, when the embattled governor makes a key public appearance after the now infamous yearbook photo and blackface admission.

Northam (D) is set to appear Thursday morning at Virginia Union University in Richmond, one of the oldest historically black universities in the South.

The governor will attend a public discussion titled, “Faith, Identity and Social Justice,” moderated by former Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones.

University officials initially said the event would be part of Northam’s “apology tour in the aftermath of his blackface photo controversy.”

But facing swift pushback from Northam aides, VUU retracted the description.

“An earlier characterization of the governor’s attendance as the start of an apology tour was incorrect,” the university said in a statement.

“It is part of his promise to start a conversation about racial injustice and the need for reconciliation where he intends to listen, learn, and continue to grow as a leader.”

Although the university’s goal is to begin a conversation, officials made it clear Northam is not scheduled to speak.

The governor’s spokesperson confirmed Monday he will be attending a chapel service with no speaking role.

The venue has been home to sharp rhetoric from Rev. Al Sharpton, who addressed the controversy before a VUU audience on Feb. 7.

“I flew out of New York to tell you that your political days are over,” Sharpton said of Northam. “I’m not going to be your minstrel!”

The Thursday event will be Northam’s first public event directly confronting the scandal, but it is not his first time leaving the Executive Mansion since news of a blackface and KKK photo in his medical school yearbook surfaced.

The governor appeared at a police graduation Friday and a police funeral Feb. 9.

VUU’s discussion is free and open to the public. Details below:

  • Thursday, February 21, 2019
  • 11 a.m., Virginia Union University
  • Coburn Hall, Allix B. James Chapel
  • 1500 North Lombardy Street
  • Richmond, Virginia 23220

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