Posted on 02/07/19
Richmond, VA - The Rev. Al Sharpton has called on Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to resign over their admission that they wore blackface in the 1980s.
In a fiery speech delivered Thursday at Virginia Union University, Sharpton said of Northam: “I’m not going to be your minstrel!”
Sharpton spoke to a crowd of about 300 students, faculty, clergy and political leaders at the historically black college.
Northam admitted to wearing blackface at a dance party in 1984. On Wednesday, Herring acknowledged that he too had worn blackface to look like a rapper during a college party in 1980. Sharpton noted that blackface has always been demeaning to African-Americans, “mocking us, making us minstrels!”
Members of the crowd shouted in agreement and jumped to their feet several times during Sharpton’s speech.