Racial Transgression or Transgressive Whiteness: Ralph Northam and the Spectacle of Governance

Thomaz Farkas, Brazilian, born Hungary. 1924–2011, Rushing Water Number 1, c. 1945. Racial Transgression or Transgressive Whiteness:  Ralph Northam and the Spectacle of Governance by Wilfredo Gomez and Donavan L. Ramon, Ph.D. | @BazookaGomez84 | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
By now this whole Ralph Northam ordeal is either a terrible parody of Jordan Peele’s brilliant work Get Out, or a (subpar) substantive attempt to engage in a critical reading of unpacking whiteness and white privilege as a theoretical framework that has deliberate intentional and unintentional consequences that serve as metaphor for our current American political landscape. In a matter of three days, we have seen more gross flopping from Virginia’s governor than we could possibly digest in an 82 game season of the National Basketball Association. Anyone care to consult its commissioner Adam Silver?
While we raise this point as a half joking-half serious critique of the issue at hand, it does not gloss over the glaring missteps that conflate concerns over just how critical media literacy, public relations, journalism, political spin, performance, and white privilege intersect to effectively build a wall (courtesy of an elected government official no less) around how conscious and unconscious invocations of white privilege serve not to disrupt larger concerns over issues of access, exclusivity, governance, and electoral politics, but how they are predicated upon pillars of whiteness that dare not deter the forces that distinguish a culture of silence from a culture of violence. This is reflected in recent reporting by the Associated Press and CNN suggesting that on the one hand, the images of blackface circulating in the media went unnoticed by medical students, and allegations of racist images that depicted folks in Confederate garb were brought to the attention of medical school administrators in 2013. All of this coming within the backdrop of a recent New York Times report suggesting that the President’s “natural tan” was due to “good genes.”
Towards this end, mobilizing social media for an analytical perspective seems apropos. In a recent post on Twitter, Ezekiel Dixon-Román, Associate Professor and Chair of the Data Analytics for Social Policy Certificate Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice suggested the following in response to White House claims of “good genes,” “This is an interesting ideological turn. Clearly, this must only be demarcated for those privileged bodies of whiteness, as Trump hasn’t held such esteem for black and brown bodies across the country and the Southern border. Must be nice to pick and choose whose melanin matters.”
Someone should remind the Governor of this. All of this came to the forefront in a very brief exchange that has yet to be fully unpacked and contextualized for television viewers, and the Governor himself. Reporters asked him if he could still moonwalk. His response was pure gold (and not in a good way), as it exposed a disconnect between the magnitude of the moment and the lip service that gets chalked up to the rhetoric and games of the political arena. For starters, there is a multi-layeredness to the invocation and performance of white privilege as evidenced by a.) the question of whether or not the Governor could in fact still do the moonwalk (appropriately unpacked by writer and cultural critic Michaela Angela Davis in her own invocation and performance of comedian and actress, Amanda Seales’ coining of language that exists at the intersections of caucasian identity and the assumed audacity of whiteness that is simply perceived to be the norm, THE CAUCACITY OF IT ALL!!) b.) The reality that Governor Northam not only considered moonwalking on air, but that he entertained the idea of performing an iteration of blackness and measured out the space in which his whiteness would signify upon black cultural traditions predicated upon the legacy and innovation of a man whose very name he could not remember (a kinesthetic whiteness who occupies space in the shadows, a forthcoming of movement that precedes the actuality of the physical body-a movement that is equal parts ideological and checkers not chess).
Not to be overlooked is the search for yet another authentic performance in front of a game audience of journalists and cameras -- a caricature of whiteness, dare we say whiteface, that performs a rehearsed, if not unproblematized cool in anticipation of applause and an evaluative score c.) the Governor's wife, Pam had to remind Northam that his intentions to moonwalk constituted, “inappropriate circumstances” (when whiteness buffers against whiteness) and finally d.) the fact that Northam had to be reminded that he did indeed perform in blackface for a competition for which he would be assessed on his performance and likeness to Michael Jackson, as if a red jacket, black shoes, white socks, wig, and glove wouldn’t paint enough of a picture. This is what happens when the Brett Kavanaugh’s of the world are allowed to assume the governorship.
This invocation of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk raises more questions than it answers. Why was this even relevant in a news conference about a matter as serious and horrific as blackface? Were reporters awkwardly attempting to diminish the severity of the allegation of racism, or tapping into the constant need for Americans to be distracted and entertained by utter silliness? We live in an era dominated by reality television, as evidenced by the reality star who occupies the White House. If Governor Northam performed his iteration of moonwalking, would it prove some type of white “coolness” in front of television cameras? To do what...dull the effects of his painfully racist picture?
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Governor Northam is not in any of the yearbook pictures next to his name (a far-fetched idea, but hear us out), which he indicated during the news conference. He did not help his defense by admitting to wearing shoe polish to look like Michael Jackson for a costume party. Essentially he implied “yeah I have done racist stuff but it was all in good fun and not implicated in my yearbook photos.” Yet why would he have to wear shoe polish to look like MJ in the first place? Google “Michael Jackson 1984” - not even MJ was wearing shoe polish! Governor Northam “darkened” himself up to look like a man who had already began the process of lightening himself. He did not have to moonwalk on Saturday; apparently he already performed what he thoughtMJ looked like in 1984, a distorted if not, ill informed representation of how he conceptualized blackness, irrespective of what Michael Jackson’s body looked like. Perhaps this was the high point of his white privilege in medical school, being able to look Black temporarily “for fun,” before returning to the comfort and privilege of his whiteness. For too many privileged white folks, this is how they still see African Americans, pitch black and dancing.
All of this serves to underscore how Northam’s press conference was dripping in white privilege that got several extra helpings of whiteness along the way. Apology or not, Governor's Northam press conference relies upon and enacts a myriad of identities that speak to and underscore the stages, status, styles, and strategies of white identity and white cultural performance. This begs the question posed by Michael Eric Dyson in his work April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and How it Changed America, of whether or not there is an appropriate corollary to blackness that that can and does consider the fact of whiteness in its incidental, accidental, and intentional forms. That puts forth the question as to whether or not there is a dormant brand of whiteness that is to be juxtaposed, rather strategically, with a whiteness that exists in the public sphere, in comparison to that which exists under the bright lights and scrutiny of whiteness in the political arena. Is Northam’s whiteness accidental whiteness, simply an accident bestowed upon by birth, incidental, a proud identity that is cognizant of whiteness with(in) a broader discourse of identity politics (and the racial history of Virgina), or is it intentional, a manifestation of whiteness that is vital, though not an exclusive aspect of Northam’s white identity?
To this we add, given the contemporary American political landscape, an aspirational whiteness (not ignoring the existence of an exotic anti-racist whiteness that needs to be problematized and unpacked), one perhaps implicitly alluded to by Northam’s wife, a remorseful, yet purposeful whiteness that seeks forgiveness yet enacts that same narrative to craft a more powerful and poignant sequel of redemption. We believe that Northam’s aspirational whiteness is what currently informs his decision to continue governing in the face of calls to resign and allow Justin Fairfax to assume the role.
Let us assume that the redemptive power of aspirational whiteness has both proscriptive and theoretical cache that provides some semblance of redemption when thinking through Northam’s work post-blackface. What types of questions might we posit that affords us insights into how Northam has sought to check his whiteness as a material exorcising of privilege that embraces an evolving brand of identity: Does your inner circle consist primarily of people of color? Did you ever entertain the idea of dating or marrying a woman of color? Have you taught your kids to be bilingual in Spanish? Do you reside in a racially mixed neighborhood? In what ways have you promoted or supported people of color in their ambitions and pursuit of self-actualization? Just how are you “different?” Have you ever embraced the idea of being “othered?” Do you feel it now?
This entire spectacle wreaks of racial violence on multiple levels. Of course the obvious one is Northam’s admission of blackface; even if there is no yearbook photo verifying it, it still resurrects America’s painful history of caricature, mockery, hatred, and unspeakable racist atrocities. The other one implicates the assumptions surrounding Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax who is/was denied the governorship thanks to Northam’s stubborn refusal to step down. By refusing to step aside, he continued to wield the white privilege that was on full display at this weekend’s news conference, while preventing Fairfax from governing the state he was duly elected to serve.
As Jonathan Martin reminds us in this NYTimes piece, Fairfax ran for his position separately in 2017 and was notchosen as Northam’s official running mate. Therefore, Virginians elected him to be the second in command in case Northam messed up --  and while we might have said to ourselves, “well the time has come for him [Fairfax] to ascend to this position because Northam messed up, badly, and his obstinance and privilege are utterly appalling,” we want to be mindful of the ways in which Fairfax’s blackness, its representation,  and projected narratives (utopic and otherwise) essentialize that (very) blackness within a socially constructed and presumed identity that could do no wrong -- do no harm, a blackness incapable of transgressions. This all comes to the forefront with the recent sexual assault allegation against Fairfax, a reminder that (in the age of #MeToo) transgressions predicated upon power, privilege, and masculinity enable cultures of silence when driven by cultures of violence. If the allegation against Fairfax proves to be without merit, this can be construed as a Northam smear campaign to prevent him from assuming office. Northam would then be guilty of thwarting the Black man’s political ambitions and potentially damaging his career -- further manifestations of the white privilege that now cripples the state to which slaves were first brought 400 years ago.
In the thirty five years since Northam admitted to donning shoe polish, his stature has risen, and he should have had the time, space, and education to be self-reflexive and know better about his racist actions. Yet if recent articles about the yearbooks are any indication, Northam’s white privilege extended to his classmates as well. According to an article in the Detroit News, most Eastern Virginia Medical School students did not take the yearbook seriously, so they did not notice the offensive pictures because they were too busy with their careers. This might explain why, according to CNN, the school’s yearbooks included “shockingly abhorrent” pictures as recently as 2013. That year, the provost, Richard V. Homan, decided to discontinue yearbook publication because of “the pattern” of inappropriate images. Now, Eastern Virginia Medical School wants to do damage control, by initiating an independent third-party investigation into “the culture of the school.” What exactly are they trying to explore? The racial writing is already on the wall as evidenced by Northam’s difficulty in explaining the pictures: the school has a long history of privilege, power, and racism, but the students were able to ignore all this thanks to the privilege of their whiteness. We are curious to see what the “independent investigation” will find -- perhaps it will determine if the students were merely posingin KKK robes or actually attending KKK rallies. Either way, this episode epitomizes white privilege.
Northam, like his racist classmates, is a man of privilege; this same privilege is now keeping him from making the logical decision to step aside. Why wouldn’t he though? Kevin Hart recently stepped aside from hosting the Oscars when he was accused of homophobia based on old tweets and jokes. He then publicly apologized on Ellen and she offered him her blessing to host. While opening up a distinct dialogue around homophobic sentiments in a comedic routine and raising questions about redemption, forgiveness, and second chances in an age where transgressions of any kind are out of bounds, Kevin Hart did ultimately decide to step down from hosting the Oscars due to his feeling that such attention would overshadow his hosting and detract from the "humor" and energy he were to bring to the brightest stage in Hollywood. Add to that, given the back and forth exchange between Hart and CNN news anchor Don Lemon, there is also a lingering questionabout the sincere or insincere, giving a nod to the model proposed by John L. Jackson, Jr. in Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness, with regards to thinking through the evaluation, intentionality, and material reality of the significance and meaning of allyship and advocacy (on behalf of the "other") in the context of how that looks, sounds, and feels like in 2019. In short, if Kevin Hart stepped down from a highly coveted entertainment role, should we not expect the same from Northam since the stakes are much higher for him if he continues as a governor unable to govern due to his having lost the trust of Virginia residents?
Is Northam’s whiteness in their previous and current manifestations (given his consideration to moonwalk yet again) a material transgressive or transracial whiteness, or is this another iteration of a racist performing what he wrongly considered was someone else’s blackness? Irrespective of that response, this ordeal highlights a fundamental reality of our history glazed over with black shoe polish: white folks inherently desire/crave blackness, a brand of Black identity separated from the Black bodies whose political forms and social manifestations consistently come up against the systemic inequities that plague, vilify, pathologize, demonize, purge, and ultimately weaponize those very bodies. It is the exotic and illusive “other” continuing to function and circulate within the popular imaginary. Thus, Black American identity is the penultimate known unknown. This spectacle of governance is some Jordan Peele Get Out vibe for real.
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Wilfredo Gomez is an independent scholar and researcher. He can be reached at gomez.wilfredo@gmail.com or via twitter at @BazookaGomez84.
Donavan L. Ramon, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies at Kentucky State University. A specialist in African American Literature, he teaches literature and writing to students in the Whitney Young Honors Collegium. He is a recipient of the 2018-2019 Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Currently, he is editing a collection of journal articles to commemorate the ninetieth anniversary of Nella Larsen’s novella Passing, and is revising his book manuscript on the psychoanalysis of racial passing. Each year, he conducts a summer institute at his undergraduate alma mater, Hunter College, where he trains Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows for graduate study in the humanities. He holds a doctorate in English from Rutgers University.