Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered all Virginia schools to close until the end of the academic year.

Patrick Fort / WAMU

Update 6:26 p.m.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam apologized Friday for a “racist and offensive” photo from a 1984 medical school yearbook page shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe. In the statement, Northam confirms that he’s in the photo.

“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,” Northam said.

Original

A photo appearing on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook page shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

A conservative blog posted the photo Friday afternoon, and the Virginian-Pilot newspaper found the same photo in a physical copy of the Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. WAMU has not independently obtained a copy of the image.

It shows one man wearing white Ku Klux Klan robes and a hood. The other man’s face is painted black, and he’s smiling. The people in the photo are not directly identified.

The photo is under Northam’s full name and next to three other photos of Northam. Under the photo in question, Northam’s undergraduate alma mater is listed, Virginia Military Institute, pediatrics is listed as his interest, and there’s a quote: “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”

As of Friday evening, the Governor’s office has not responded to requests for comment.

The Virginia Republican Party shared the photo on Twitter and called for his resignation.

“Racism has no place in Virginia,” said Virginia Republican Party Chairman Jack Wilson. “These pictures are wholly inappropriate.”

“If Governor Northam appeared in blackface or dressed in a KKK robe, he should resign immediately.”

The photo appeared the same week that Northam came under fire for comments about legislation on late-term abortions.

Republican General Assembly leaders including Speaker Kirk Cox and Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment issued a statement saying, “This is a deeply disturbing and offensive photograph in need of an immediate explanation by the Governor.”

The photo was released on the first day of Black History Month.

This story was first published on WAMU.

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