"Coonman" is NOT Franken. It's reprehensible.

[Baltimike]

This is NOT an Al Franken situation. Franken had VERY flimsy stories from Roger Stone associates that did not pass the smell test.

OTOH, this right here stinks to high heaven.

We are politically astute, and that's why we're drawn here. We know, and politicians know that they have to do the opposition research on their own people before they can craft a message about their candidate. Part of that procedure involves asking your candidate about their skeletons.

This was surmountable if he said, "Yeah, I did something stupid when I was in my twenties. I regret it now, but there it is".

He did not do this.

This isn't a flimsy allegation, it's the cold hard, in your face, black and white (no pun intended) truth

We *are* a forgiving people...we Americans. But he didn't disclose his mistake, and he damn well should have.

Also, he *PUBLISHED* that shit. Like *HE* picked THOSE photographs and submitted them to a yearbook committee, or editor or whatever.

I think Northam should resign for not disclosing these pics

[TDale313]

1. Thank you!

I’m pretty disgusted by the number of posts/posters willing to dismiss this.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Is it proven he picked that photo himself? Or has he admitted it?

Sometimes in yearbooks you get to pick some pics, but like the 'yearbook team' gets to pick a photo or two for you as well. And they often go for something funny or embarrassing.

I obviously think it reflects significantly worse if he absolutely DID choose it himself.

[Baltimike]

3. his other yearbook refers to him as "Coonman". This isn't isolated. nt

[Ms. Toad]

23. Who chose that nickname? Did Northam have the right to veto it?

Did he even see it ahead of time?

As to photos - I was a photographer on my college yearbook staff. The photos included were not chosen by the individuals in them. I don't recall (in the same era) being required to get a photo release to publish photos - and I doubt everyone who was in the photos I submitted for publication knew their photos were in the yearbook. Those who didn't buy a yearbook wouldn't necessarily ever have known their photos were included.

So your assertions that he chose the photos, or somehow embraced the nickname aren't supported by their mere presence in the yearbook - unless you know more than I do about the editorial policies of that particular yearbook

That doesn't excuse the behavior - it was racist, as he has acknowledged. I appreciate that he made a sincere apology - without the kind of equivocation most recent apologies have had. I want to see what changes he has made - and whether is is now proactively working for racial equality and justice (from what I see, there is at least some suggestion that he is).

But to the extent the focus is on the photos - it is not even clear to me that he knew about them (either in advance or after the fact), based on what I know about the publication of college level yearbooks in that era.

[Joe941]

4. Agreed.

[Jarqui]

5. Here's his 1981 year book (3 years before the 1984 med school yearbook)

with "Coonman" as his nicname

[mr_lebowski]

9. Personally I'll wait for an explanation on that one, hopefully one will be forthcoming ...

I've never heard 'Coonman' used as racial slur, personally.

Maybe it's some character from a movie he liked. Maybe he told his mates about a story of shooting a raccoon that invaded the garbage cans and someone came up with a stupid nickname.

It ain't THAT cut and dry is my point.

[LovingA2andMI]

29. Need Help???

Coon- Defined

noun
1. raccoon.
2. Slang : Extremely Disparaging and Offensive . a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person.
3. a rustic or undignified person.

Available on Dictionary.com by a Simple Search Engine Named Google.

#ByeRalph

[mr_lebowski]

31. Don't be ridiculous ... of COURSE I know 'Coon' ... DUH ...

I said I never heard 'Coonman'.

For all you freaking know, it's a nickname his dipshit whiteboy Virginia military friends gave him because he was always sticking up for Blacks ... "Hey look, Here's Coonman!"

You don't KNOW what that nickname meant ...

[LovingA2andMI]

32. Combination Words....

Combination - Defined....

noun
1. the act of combining or the state of being combined.
2. a number of things combined:
3. a combination of ideas.
4. something formed by combining:

Again, available by a simple Google Search with the search term Combination Words.

#ByeRalph

[mr_lebowski]

33. See my edit, and don't bother replying

You are speculating, period. And so am I. Which was my point. It's not that cut and dry. You may THINK it is, but it's not.

Good day!

[LovingA2andMI]

34. Nope and Yep....

Good Day To You....

[Demonaut]

39. you're wrong..but it's your right

[MadDAsHell]

36. Wow, you're fun for people to chat with. Keep it up. nt

[Demonaut]

37. I agree, it's not cut and dried

[pintobean]

11. You hot-linked that pic from Kyle Olson's site

[Jarqui]

19. I do not know who Kyle Olson is

I copied it from one of many media reports with a pic from that year book

here's the link from Huffpost via a CBS report to a link at archive.org
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ralph-northam-response-racist-yearbook-photo_us_5c54bca6e4b0871047536bed?ec_carp=7202287420686969154

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ralph-northams-yearbook-page-shows-man-in-kkk-costume-and-another-apparently-in-blackface/

https://archive.org/details/bomb1981virg/page/90

[pintobean]

20. theamericanmirror.com

Kyle Olson's rw site is where your image is hosted.

[Jarqui]

22. It's all over twitter and the news sites

USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/01/virginia-gov-ralph-northams-yearbook-page-shows-blackface-kkk-photo/2747748002/

NBC
http://www.nbc12.com/2019/02/02/reaction-swift-harsh-following-governors-clearly-racist-yearbook-photo/

[pintobean]

43. Let me simplify it for you

Here's the image link that you copied from *somewhere* on the internet and pasted into reply #5 above. I put a space between the last two letters so the link is broken and doesn't automatically convert to showing the image.

http://www.theamericanmirror.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-01-at-7.25.10-PM-1-e1549067229392.pn g

You didn't get that from NBC or USA Today.

[Jarqui]

45. Let me simplify it for you

Huffpost, CBS, USA Today, Mediaite & NBC all had the story. It was massively reported on Twitter. I'd seen it in several places before I posted. The problem with the CBS image was that it did not result in a postable image - it went to archive.org - a link - not an image. So I right clicked other images of it until I could get a png or jpg image that would post as an image. Big crime.

Since then I see ABC News, Washington Post, NY Times, CNN, Yahoo News, Google News, US News & World Report, Daily Beast, etc were also or are also carrying the "Coonman" story.

Where I actually got the image is absolutely immaterial. The story is real. Anyone is entitled to images of real stories - including right wing sites. At the time I had no idea Americanmirror was the source of the posted image nor that americanmirror is a right wing site because I was not of aware of americanmirror - I've never heard of them. Since the image matched CBS & their link to archive.org, it did not matter.

[nolabear]

21. I had to look to see if Onancock was a real place.

It is. Boy would I change that.

[Codeine]

28. It's an up-and-coming place. nt

[nolabear]

38. ...

[DonaldsRump]

7. When Trump resigns for his words and deeds

on racism, sexual harassment, idiocy, etc, I will agree with you.

Northam f'cked up 35 years ago, not today. Indeed, Trump f'cks up every day on the racist stuff, and he's still around. He will get knocked out because of Russia and his criminality, but not because of his disgusting racism.

When Trump resigns for his decades long racism that is still evident, Northam et al should resign for his decades old racism to the extent it's still around now. In Northam's case, unlike Trump, I see no evidence that it's around today.

[Baltimike]

8. I can see your point for sure

but he can't survive this.

He should have told us about it...FIRST

For Chrissakes, we forgave Robert Byrd.

[DonaldsRump]

10. Why is Trump surviving this when he is a racist today.

Get over it. Northam has done nothing wrong TODAY.

[Baltimike]

13. This is "whataboutism" and it's a false comparison

Trump is under the largest counterintelligence investigation in our nation's history.

Also, he is the leader of the racists, and we are the inclusion party.

[DonaldsRump]

15. Trump will pay his own price for dancing with the Russians

That has nothing to do with Northam's pics from 35 years ago!

[JI7]

12. Robert Byrd was still a bigot while in office. Northam has been supportive of minorities and women

[Baltimike]

14. Maybe he weathers the storm since his conduct has been counter to the photo. nt

[JI7]

16. not sure he will. but I believe the point needs to be made this is a better person today

with years to show for it.

[Baltimike]

17. How do we craft that message for him?

Seriously...the point can be made that the VA house will just go after the LT Gov in the exact same way.

If he is to be saved, how do we do the saving?

[EffieBlack]

25. That message would have worked if he hadn't concealed his past

[delisen]

26. You are misinformed

[LovingA2andMI]

30. Different Times....

Racist President In Office.

This What-A-Bout-Ism is ringing Pretty Hollow In The Age of Donald J. Trump.#FYI

#ByeRalph

[jalan48]

18. Buh bye Coonman.

[procon]

24. He had a choice and it really bothers me

that he opted to ignore the issue rather the transparency and a public acknowledgement right from the start. Openness and a sincere admission of remorse would have gone a long way to redeeming his stupidity and possibly salvaging his political future.

[LovingA2andMI]

27. Exactly!!!

And One Has To Wonder Why Some Are Using Some Sick As Hell Sort Of What-A-Bout-Ism To "Compare" Al Franken situation to Ralph Northam's Blackface, KKK Uniform with a Nickname of Coonman of being ANY SORT of the Same Thing.

It's BS. Period!

#ByeRalph #GTFO

[Baltimike]

40. They're not even close. Franken did not do what they said he did and it was pretty obvious

Like when one lady said he grabbed her ass...there are at least a half dozen people in the background behind them...no one saw a thing, eh? And no mention of it until Roger Stone sent the signal? OMG, it pisses me off to this day

[LovingA2andMI]

42. Exactly!!

This Right Here. No Comparison!!!

[Demonaut]

35. hello

[quickesst]

41. I don't know how many times....

... I have replied to an anti Franken post only to never hear from them again unless it's in another post, and in another thread. Defending Al Franken with a little logic and common sense is not hard to do.