Early black graduates of Northam's medical school say blackface was never OK
The scandal involving Virginia's governor has African-American alumni of Eastern Virginia Medical School reexamining their experiences.
Feb. 8, 2019, 2:30 PM CST
By Erik Ortiz
When Marcus Martin became the first black graduate of the Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1976, his yearbook included a throwback picture from his first day as a student, making an impression in a suit and striped tie. The caption read, "Better get your smiling done now."
On his personal page was his favorite quote, "Woe is me," referring to the marathon hours he spent studying, as well as a list of his hobbies and his specialty: internal medicine.
What he calls a "very innocent" yearbook stands in sharp contrast to ones made in subsequent years — most notably in 1984, when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam attended the Norfolk-based public medical school and included a picture on his personal page of someone in blackface next to another person dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe.
Another graduate, Michael Breiner, who is white, included a picture of himself in the 1985 yearbook dressed up as Diana Ross and wearing black makeup at a Halloween party.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/early-black-graduates-northam-s-medical-school-say-blackface-was-n969031
http://tinyurl.com/y7z4z8vb
Michael Breiner, in blackface,
as he claims he was pretending
to be Diana Ross. Not a very
close resemblance.
