User:Laurenoneil82/sandbox

According to Axios, a wide list of state and national politicians, activists, and public figures called for Northam's resignation. Among them was Representative Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, who stated: "We now know what Ralph Northam did when he thought no one was watching. The person in that photo can’t be trusted to lead. Governor Northam must resign immediately." State leaders and organizations such as Representative Donald McEachin, Representative Scott Taylor, the ACLU of Virginia, and the Richmond Times Dispatch all called on Northam to resign, and this call transcended party lines as both the Virginia House Democrats and the Virginia GOP demanded resignation. Nationally, figures such as Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Tom Steyer, and Chuck Schumer all made statements admonishing Northam's actions and asking for an apology and a leave of his position. In a join statement, Senator Warner, Senator Kaine, and Representative Bobby Scott issued a joint statement including the assertion that "After [they] watched his press conference today, [they] called Governor Northam to tell him that [they] no longer believe[d] he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign."

In a statement on February 6, 2019, just a week after the Northam picture surfaced, Herring divulged the reasoning behind his actions, voicing that "In 1980, when I was a 19-year-old undergraduate in college, some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song. It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes – and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others – we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup. " Following the admittance of wrongdoing, Herring went on to cite his record of work addressing systemic racism within the criminal justice system, access to healthcare, and voting rights. In addition to the online statement above, Herring rushed to speak to the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus(VLBC) about his time wearing blackface and listen to their concerns on the defensibility of Herring remaining in office as the Attorney General. The Republican Party of Virginia released a statement that "As [they] renew [their] call for Governor Northam’s resignation, [they] must regretfully add Mark Herring’s name to the list of Democratic elected officials that have lost the trust of the people of Virginia and have lost the moral authority to govern.”

"Southern assumptions: normalizing radicalized structures in the Deep South" by Dina C. Walker-Devose articulates that students at southern universities, regardless of the student's race, acknowledge that racism and racial segregation is pervasive in University culture. This racial divide becomes particularly important in Greek organizations and social clubs, where African American students are tokenized or excluded even today. This system of racial oppression is codified in school yearbooks, pictures among friends, and lasting nicknames, such as Northam's nickname "Coonman." This racial divide appears particularly harmful at American Military Academies, including the Virginia Military Institute(VMI) where Northam completed his undergraduate years. VMI was the last public college in Virginia to admit African American students, and a 1999 Congressional survey documented that 75% of African Americans serving in any branch of the armed forces reported having experiences racially motivated and offensive behavior from peers, and 50% of those who reported the behavior believe that the incident(s) wasn't adequately addressed by majority white superiors.

These allegations led to Justin Fairfax resigning as partner of the Richmond law firm Morrison and Foerster following a leave of absence and Fairfax became entangled in a variety of lawsuits regarding the allegation. While the Lieutenant Governor filed a $400 million lawsuit in early September, 2019 against CBS for defamation over interviews with his accusers, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Fairfax, titled Judicial Watch et al. v Justin E. Fairfax et al. regarding the Freedom of Information Act after staff in Fairfax's office refused to disclose records to the group. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated that "It speaks volumes that Lt. Governor Fairfax refuses to produce not one document about his handling of the rape allegations against him." Despite a tumultuous year since the allegations came to light, Justin Fairfax told WAMU 88.5 in December 2019 that he was strongly considering running for Governor of Virginia and believes that his appeal can be centered in black churches. Fairfax stated that ""They[Voters in African American churches] want people who are helping us rise to our higher values... If you take some of these smear tactics and campaigns into the black church, they'll be shut down immediately because that's not what people want to see," and may join the list of Virginia political figures considering running in the next Virginia gubernatorial election.

Herring admitted to wearing blackface in 1980 as a 19-year old undergraduate at the University of Virginia, stating that he was trying to look like rapper Kurtis Blow at a party. However, many state politicians held off on calling for Herring's resignation. Herring was originally the only one of the three top government officials (Northam, Fairfax, Herring) to admit to wrongdoing, and Virginia state legislators, policymakers, and community figures were slower to call for the resignation of Herring or Fairfax due to the risk of losing Democratic control of the executive branch in Virginia. US Democratic Virginia Representatives Don Beyer and Jennifer Wexton were two of the more vocal Representatives calling on Northam and Fairfax to resign, however when asked why they are not calling on Herring's resignation, Wexton stated that "The attorney general came forward proactively, is very regretful and contrite. He reached out to all the African-American leaders and other leaders, very heartfelt anguish about what he had done. But he's got a lot of work to do to regain the trust of the people of Virginia." This demonstrates Virginia democrats' differences in response to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor's actions versus their response to the Attorney General's actions.