Tennessee Governor Bill Lee wore confederate uniform in 1980 photo: report

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee wore a Confederate uniform on a photo published in his 1980 college directory, Tennessean newspaper reported Thursday.

Lee (R), who won the elections in November, confirmed to the newspaper through the intermediary of his office that he was wearing the uniform at an "Old South" party as a as a student at Auburn University in Alabama.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Lee said he regretted wearing the uniform.

"Although I have never acted intentionally to hurt anyone, I have the benefit of 40 years of hindsight to find that participation was insensitive and I came to regret it," Lee said. .

A spokesman for Lee added that the governor had never worn blackface.

According to the Tennessean, the photo of the confederate garment – which Lee's office initially said she did not know – appeared in a section of the directory devoted to members of the Kappa Alpha Order. A profile of Lee appears in the alumni section of the fraternity website; the group also describes General Robert E. Lee as his "spiritual founder".

In 2010, the national leaders of the fraternity banned the wearing of the Confederate uniform at parties and parades organized in the "Old South" as a result of complaints from black students.

Another former senior member of Kappa Alpha, Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves (R), was recently criticized for participating in fraternity parties in the 1990s, in which his members wore uniforms confederate. Reeves' office did not say whether he wore a Confederate costume during the holidays.

Lee's photo update comes weeks after the revelation that two senior Virginia officials – Governor Ralph Northam (right) and Attorney General Mark R. Herring (right) – were dressed in black during the university, causing a bipartisan outcry.

Northam and Herring both rejected calls for resignation and Northam announced that he was considering making racial reconciliation a centerpiece of his remaining years. University of Virginia.