A series of accusations of racism and harassment spark a political earthquake in Virginia | Internationale

Virginia's considerable efforts to become a democratic territory are under serious threat. The state of the Republican tradition until 10 years ago is likely to become a conservative governor again because of the wave of scandals that is shaking the high command. Old photographs of Democratic Governor Ralph Northam with a black face led both sides to demand his resignation. To retire, his successor should be Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. However, a woman accused her of badually abusing her in 2004. Should the two directors be left out, Attorney General Mark Herring should take over. He put the patch before the injury and acknowledged that he had also painted his face black when he was young. No one has yet resigned, but in case the three would step down, the Speaker of the House of Delegates was to badume the government: Republican Kirk Cox.

Racial trauma is still alive in the United States. That white politicians spoil bitumen to caricature an African-American is an explosive affair. It must be remembered that less than two years ago, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a group of white supremacists staged a protest that ended with a neo-Nazi movement opposing it. of those who protested against the far right. President Donald Trump took advantage of Thursday's controversy to criticize the opposition: "If the three falling politicians were Republicans, much more radical measures would be taken: Virginia will return home in 2020!" He posted this morning on his Twitter account.

The controversy began last Friday when the far-right blog Big League Politics published photos of the 1984 Yearbook of the East Virginia School of Medicine. The page dedicated to Ralph Northam contained an image in which appeared two boys: one with his face painted in black with clothes of the 50s and the other dressed in the Ku Klux Klan, with a white coat and a capirote of the same color. The governor reacted quickly and apologized, but the story took a turn. The next day he came out to say that he was not one of the two individuals in the photo that was circulating and that he would not leave office. However, he added that that year he was wearing waxing to look like Michael Jackson in a costume contest. The excuses only lift the minds of his political opponents and his colleagues. "You have to resign, there is nothing to debate," said former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, among others.

The Democrats were calm when they asked for the resignation. They expected Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax to take office in accordance with the law. But at that moment came the second setback. The same portal that exposed Northam published Sunday night information about Vanessa Tyson, a member of Stanford University, who claims to have been badually badaulted by Fairfax at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. The publication was not at all convinced because it was based on private conversations of the alleged victim with a friend who had taken screenshots of dialogues. However, on Monday, Tyson confirmed the charge: "What started as a spoiled kiss ended in badual harbadment (…), Mr. Fairfax forced me to practice the oral bad, "he said. The political science professor hired Katz, Marshall & Banks, the same legal team as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of abusive badual behavior.

Fairfax argues that the relationship with Tyson has been granted. In addition, he explained Monday on his Twitter account that the alleged victim had told his story "more than a year ago" to The Washington Post and the US newspaper did not publish the information because of a lack of consistency. While both say their truths, Democrats already think of the third in the chain of succession to fill the post: Mark Herring. The Democratic Attorney General since 2014 has taken the last turn – until now – of this story. He confessed Wednesday that in the eighties he had also painted his face in black for a university party where he and his friends had disguised themselves as rappers. He apologized and apologized that at 19, he was "ignorant". "He was insensitive to the pain he could cause to others," he said.

Sign of inconsistency

Although, in the case of Fairfax and Herring, the Democrats were more benevolent than with Governor Northam, if he did not stand the pressure and resigned, not asking the same thing the other two members of the list would a sign of inconsistency within the party. This exceptional scenario would push the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Republican Kirk Cox, to take office. Cox, a 61-year-old curator, is the elected representative of this chamber over the last 29 years of his career. Obviously, a profile very different from that of the Democratic leaders who voted voters in November 2017 when they elected the current governor and vice-governor.

In the legislative past, Democrats got 9% more votes than Republicans, but the distribution of districts benefited the Conservative party, which remained in the Senate and the House of Delegates. But not a lot. 15 seats went from red to blue, leaving a room with 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats. And if all goes wrong for the latter, the votes will not have served to conquer the government either.