Public to have access to investigation of Virginia Gov. Northam blackface photo

By Shawn Grant

·April 2, 2019

Black lawmakers are not interested in Gov. Ralph Northam's symbolic olive branch. (Photo by Alex Edelman/Getty Images)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was in the center of controversy in February when a yearbook photo emerged of him wearing blackface, now the details of the investigation will be made public.

The photo is from the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) yearbook page but Northam denied that he can is one of those featured in the image, a change in admitting that he was one of the two students back in February. The picture also presents a man dressed in Ku Klux Klan attire.

“I reflected with my family and classmates from the time and affirmed my conclusion that I am not the person in that photo,” Northam said.

Now the photo is the subject of an investigation that will deliver the results to the medical school’s board of visitors and the general public.

According to Norfolk, Va., station WVEC-TV, the results will be compiled into a single report by former Virginia Attorney General Richard Cullen. Cullen is representing the McGuireWoods law firm that has been hired by EVMS to investigate.

“Eastern Virginia Medical School has committed to an independent external investigation of the circumstances, has placed no limits on the scope of the investigation and has committed to making the results of the investigation public,” EVMS spokesperson Vincent Rhodes said.

Rhodes also added that 6,000 emails and 5,000 letters were sent to alumni regarding the investigation and detailing the terms of the agreement with McGuireWoods to disclose the findings.

There is no time table set for turning around of the information and no details on when the photo was first originated.

Shortly after the image believed to be Northam emerged online, members of his representing party called for his resignation, which he has resisted.

The calls for his resignation also were issued in a formal letter from Black elected officials who requested that Attorney General Mark Herring also resign. Shortly after the alleged image of Northam emerged, Herring admitted to wearing blackface in 1980 to dress up as Hip-Hop icon Kurtis Blow.