Mark Herring latest: Virginia attorney general apologises for wearing blackface to a college party in 1980

Mark Herring made the revelation in a statement
Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Jacob Jarvis6 February 2019

A prominent US Democrat has admitted to wearing blackface after another previously said he painted his face to look like Michael Jackson.

Mark Herring, the serving Attorney General of Virginia and a candidate to become Governor in the state in 2021, did so at a college party in 1980 when he was 19.

The man he would like to succeed as Governor, Ralph Northam, has been in the midst of a scandal after a racist picture from his medical school yearbook.

Following this image, which showed one person dressed in blackface and another in KKK robe garments, Mr Northam admitted donning blackface using shoe polish to impersonate Michael Jackson.

Ralph Northam admitted to wearing blackface in 1984
AP

Mr Herring had been among those calling on him to resign ahead of making his own blackface revelation.

In a lengthy statement, shared on social media, he said: “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."

Following on from this, Mr Herring said it seemed "ridiculous" while he was writing it.

“This was a onetime occurrence and I accept full responsibility for my conduct.”

He said the “shame of that moment has haunted me for decades” and described himself as having a “callous and inexcusable lack of awareness”.

"This conduct is in no way reflective of the man I have become in the nearly 40 years since," he added.

Kurtis Walker, known by his rap name Kurtis Blow, was someone Mr Herring said he tried to dress up like
AP

Furthering his apology he said he was "deeply, deeply sorry for the pain that I cause with this revelation” and stated "honest conversations and discussions will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve as attorney general."

Rumours had circulated around the capital there was a blackface photo of 57-year-old Mr Herring, though he did not mention this in his statement.

The disclosure further roils the top levels of Virginia government amid a raft of scandals.

On Monday, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would become governor if Mr Northam resigned, was confronted with uncorroborated allegations of sexual misconduct dating to 2004. He denied the accusations, calling them a political smear.

Mr Northam has come under pressure from nearly the entire state and national Democratic establishment to resign

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in