CBTU President Statement on Gov. Northam Blackface
Statement by Rev. Terry Melvin
President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
For too long Blacks in America have had to accept that the society around them is overtly and aggressively racist. From minstrel shows, to Blackface, to Back of the Bus, to Trayvon Martin we have been reminded time and time again that our ancestors were slaves and the legacy of slavery still exists. We have witnessed a new surge in the public consciousness that has made it clear this will no longer be deemed socially acceptable. We no longer have to accept Blackface as just a joke, and instead can demand reparations from these insults. Gov. Northam has been exposed as someone who found this behavior acceptable and for that he must resign as consequence for his actions.
Gov. Northam presents a challenge for the American consciousness. Overall he has done good work, and his deeds as governor were not detrimental to the Black population. We can commend the good deeds he has done in office, but we cannot look past his past. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the racism that exists in this nation. And so CBTU calls on his immediate resignation, in addition to the resignation of Representative and White Nationalist Steve King, who is far worse and more egregious than Northam.
Blacks have had to watch videos of our brothers being choked or shot to death by police, banned from the NFL for taking a knee, and our first Black president called every insult under the sun. Our role models are being torn apart, while our children are being criminalized and incarcerated. The least we can demand from our political leaders is to not be overtly racist. The one standard we should agree to is no mockery of any race or creed or color. For these reasons we need to draw a line in the sand and demand all these racists get purged from office, from Gov. Northam, to Steve King, to Mitch McConnell and his confederate flag loving support, down to the bottom of the barrel, Trump. All racists must go and our standard should be hypocritical if their party is the same as ours.
