It's the last day of Black History Month and we're ending it with a story on Mrs. Northam, our "1st lady of Virginia" and how she handed out cotton to black students while giving a tour of the governor's mansion and telling them to imagine being slaves in fields.
Apparently this was suppose to be a teaching moment as the students were to get a feel of what it felt like to pick cotton all day. Leah Walker's daughter, who was also on this tour, knew something was wrong with this scenario and immediately told her mother. In a letter written to Pam Northam, Walker's daughter wrote, " The comments and just the way you carried yourself during this time was beyond inappropriate, especially considering recent events with the Governor." Those "recent events" she's referring to? We actually kicked off BHM with the Northams. Gov. Northam was allegedly seen in an old yearbook picture posing either wearing the blackface or a Klu Klux Klan hood. He later denied that either of the people in the picture were him. Read more on that here.
The disrespect and ignorance are simply unacceptable..and I'm being nice with those words. I could use some others.