In my opinion, one of the reasons that some people here on DailyKos.com are defending Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia is because he is a Democrat. I understand that initial gut reaction. When a Democrat is attacked, my first instinct is to defend him or her. Many do not want to see another Democrat go down in flames. However, defending Ralph Northam is doing no one in the Democratic Party, or, for that matter, the entire country, any favors. Furthermore, every day that Northam remains in office risks damaging important support from many Americans who have supported the Democratic Party for a long time.
I understand that some might think Ralph Northam’s posing in a racist picture was a very foolish act done one time by someone a long time ago, but when people realize that Governor Northam was still doing things that could potentially hurt African Americans as recently as November 2018, I think that many will realize that Northam has not changed his ways and must be sent packing as quickly as possible.
In Virginia, there is a company called Dominion Energy. Dominion Energy would like to build a compressor station to support it’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Here's the problem: according to an article entitled, “Environmental Racism?: Dominion Energy's plans threaten African Americans in Union Hill”...
Dominion Energy's proposed compressor in Union Hill will endanger residents (many of whom are African American) with toxic fumes, polluted water and the risk of explosions.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is immorally using eminent domain for private gain by seizing the land owned by ancestors of African American freedmen.
The energy carried by the proposed pipeline is neither needed nor will it be available to the communities whose lives it threatens.
So, what does Governor Northam have to do with this? Well, it turns out that in November 2018, he replaced two members of the State Air Pollution Control Board that were on the board that regulates things like new compressor plants. Why does this matter? Well, it turns out that the two board members that Northam replaced happened to be resistant to the compressor plant—inconveniently asking lots of tough questions about it.
So you see, Dominion Energy wanted to use eminent domain to steal historically African American land and then set up a compressor plant that would spew toxic fumes on African Americans who were living near where the proposed plant would be built, and those two pesky board members got in the way. So, Governor Northam just had them replaced. In addition, it just so happens that Dominion Energy showered both Ralph Northam and many members of the Virginia legislature with money and/or gifts. Governor Northram had to choose between the health and welfare of many African Americans living in Virginia on one hand, and the gravy train on the other hand. Surprise, he chose the gravy train. Why didn't he choose the health and welfare of African Americans? Perhaps 1984 Ralph Northam can answer that.
As you remember. this is the same Ralph Northam who at the age of 25 in 1984 thought it was a peachy keen idea to be in a photo featuring a man in blackface standing next to a man in a KKK uniform. He apparently loved the photo so much that he made sure that it was one of the few that appeared on his medical school yearbook page--because when one is embarking on a noble career in medicine, one must make sure that no racist photo is left behind. This is the same guy who at first admitted being in that photo and now is lying about it.
Governor Ralph Northam is also the same man who in 1981 had listed on his VMI yearbook that one of his nicknames was “Coonman”. So when we add up what he did in 1981, what he did in 1984, and what he did in November 2018, it turns out that Northam has a long, proud, and ongoing history of blatant racism against African Americans.
Finally, when one realizes that we have the awesome Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax waiting in the wings--a man who got more than 50% of the vote in his election for Lt. Governor--ready to become Governor the moment Northam resigns, we realize that we only gain by having Northam resign. Northam needs to go, and he needs to go, now.