Gov. Ralph Northam Calls Slaves 'Indentured Servants' in Interview, Gets Corrected
HuffPost US
AMY RUSSO
Feb 11th 2019 7:20AM
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was corrected mid-interview for calling slaves “indentured servants.”
While speaking with “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King, the scandal-plagued Democrat was prompted to discuss his experience in dealing with his own public admission to having worn blackface in 1984.
“We are now at the 400-year anniversary — just 90 miles from here in 1619, the first indentured servants from Africa landed on our shores in Old Point Comfort, what we call now Fort Monroe,” Northam began before he was swiftly corrected by King:
Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract that stipulated they would come to America and work for a certain number of years in exchange for passage, room, board and freedom dues. Slaves were brought here ― against their will ― and forced to work without any hope of gaining their freedom. Those slaves who chose to flee their “masters” were beaten, starved and/or killed.
In the interview, which is set to air Monday, Northam again refused to step down amid widespread and bipartisan calls for his resignation.
“Virginia needs someone that can heal,” he told King. “There’s no better person to do that than a doctor. Virginia also needs someone who is strong, who has empathy, who has courage and who has a moral compass. And that’s why I’m not going anywhere.”
Northam’s tenure took a turn at the beginning of February when an image surfaced from his medical school yearbook showing two men side by side ― one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan uniform. The governor initially admitted to being one of the individuals pictured, then changed his story, claiming he wasn’t in that particular photo but wore blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume in a dance competition that same year.
To further complicate matters, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), the man who would replace Northam if he resigned, has been accused by two women of sexual assault, prompting demands for his own resignation. According to NBC News, both Dr. Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson are ready to testify should an impeachment hearing occur as one lawmaker has threatened.
AMY RUSSO
Feb 11th 2019 7:20AM
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was corrected mid-interview for calling slaves “indentured servants.”
While speaking with “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King, the scandal-plagued Democrat was prompted to discuss his experience in dealing with his own public admission to having worn blackface in 1984.
“We are now at the 400-year anniversary — just 90 miles from here in 1619, the first indentured servants from Africa landed on our shores in Old Point Comfort, what we call now Fort Monroe,” Northam began before he was swiftly corrected by King:
Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract that stipulated they would come to America and work for a certain number of years in exchange for passage, room, board and freedom dues. Slaves were brought here ― against their will ― and forced to work without any hope of gaining their freedom. Those slaves who chose to flee their “masters” were beaten, starved and/or killed.
In the interview, which is set to air Monday, Northam again refused to step down amid widespread and bipartisan calls for his resignation.
“Virginia needs someone that can heal,” he told King. “There’s no better person to do that than a doctor. Virginia also needs someone who is strong, who has empathy, who has courage and who has a moral compass. And that’s why I’m not going anywhere.”
Northam’s tenure took a turn at the beginning of February when an image surfaced from his medical school yearbook showing two men side by side ― one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan uniform. The governor initially admitted to being one of the individuals pictured, then changed his story, claiming he wasn’t in that particular photo but wore blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume in a dance competition that same year.
To further complicate matters, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), the man who would replace Northam if he resigned, has been accused by two women of sexual assault, prompting demands for his own resignation. According to NBC News, both Dr. Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson are ready to testify should an impeachment hearing occur as one lawmaker has threatened.
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