Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has been under pressure to resign because of a photo in his medical school yearbook from 1984 that had his name captioned under a racist image.
As information about this event—and the calls for his resignation—has spread, I have begun to wonder where the threshold for resignation from public office is. As a 2017 graduate from EMU, I felt compelled to share my thoughts in The Weather Vane because I recognize how passionate EMU is about racial and social justice. I hope to contribute a perspective that encourages accountability with grace in a time where many jump to extremes.
In today’s political climate, it is easy to lose a career due to the possibility of a scandal. It happened to Paula Deen when it was discovered she used a racial slur decades prior. It nearly happened to Justice Kavanaugh, who was under fire for sexual assault allegations from his high school years. Many other public figures have gone through this trial of historical scandal—things that happened in decades past that are relived in front of the public.
I have to wonder, why does the reemergence of these events end public careers? And what are the ramifications of this kind of judgment on everyone else?
I can think of two similar reasons why old skeletons end careers. The first comes from the Declaration of Independence, the philosophical foundation of American government. The ethos of the declaration is that all are equal with inalienable rights. When the declaration was signed, the ideal did not instantaneously become reality. Slavery continued to exist for 90 years. Racial equality is a continuing work in progress. A plethora of other issues question America’s adherence to that ethos. These issues do not delegitimize the declaration as America’s aim, but rather show the ideal that America is committed to strive for. We as a society will begin to meet these ideals over time, slowly and gradually, with many bumps in the road.
All of this to say, because of America’s ethos, we expect much from our political leaders. We expect them to be the torch bearers, leading us towards absolute liberty with equality among all humans. Thus, historical scandals seem like a betrayal of what our leaders are supposed to do.
The second reason rests in the ideals of the Enlightenment. While conservative intellectuals will question the extent of the Enlightenment’s role in America’s founding, as seen in Calvin Coolidge’s speech on the 150th anniversary of the declaration’s signing, many Americans ascribe to the Enlightenment’s ideals. One of these ideals promoted by Kant, Condorcet, Voltaire, and others was that as reason spread through society, humanity and people will continue to progress physically, intellectually, and spiritually, with no limit The logical end of the Enlightenment is that humanity will eventually reach perfection. This results in high expectations of our governing officials and results in arguments akin to “we’re in 2019” or “society is too modern for [insert behavior here].” A historical scandal looks bad to those who follow the Enlightenment because then the official in question seems to be stuck in a more primitive past, making errors that deem him or her unfit to lead society towards this perfection.
Traditional conservatives see major problems with these lines of thought. While they agree that the declaration’s ethos creates a goal for governance, they would see attaining perfection as impossible because of human Nnture. Edmund Burke, Maistere, Pope Leo XIII, and other conservative thinkers saw human nature as a mixture of our good and bad traits. People are good and made in the image of God, but have this sinful nature because of the fall of man. Thus, they would contend that perfection is impossible, and that frankly all of humanity has made errors, albeit to varying degrees of severity, but the point still stands. A traditional conservative cannot legitimately hold an official to such a lofty standard that something from decades ago disqualifies them from office. People are to prone to errors or mistakes. If such a standard is held, then all in some form would be deemed ineligible.
To be clear, there is a big difference between a historical scandal, and a scandal while in office. An official who misuses an office or shows poor conduct while in office should face the consequences deemed appropriate: impeachment and removal from office.
However, a historical scandal is much different. Because of the complexity of human nature, the fact that people change over time, and the fact the controversial matter took place ages ago make such a transgression an imperfect reflection of the current man. The man of 1984 is not the same man of 2019. If we cannot trust officials to have changed from decades ago to conduct their office with the best of their ability, how can we expect felons to ever become worthy of regaining their voting rights? How can we expect our fellow members of the community to ever be worthy of leadership?
That being said, I am not stating any historical scandal is irrelevant or should be swept under the rug. How an official handles such allegations is important. If they deny the scandal and they are proven wrong, they are being disingenuous. They are not showing remorse but rather their insecurity over prior actions. They would rather cover themselves than admit their humanness— something we need more of our politicians to show.
However, if the politician admits their errors, takes responsibility, and shows how they have grown since then, I see no reason why a scandal from the 20th century should bear much weight on a governor’s legitimacy today.
Because of our humanness, we need to give each other some slack. This does not mean we look the other way when someone does something wrong, but rather that we recognize people come from different places and have their own battles with their human nature.
Just because we live in a society that is progress – and perfection – oriented, does not mean that we place impossibly high standards on an office. That merely institutes a new elitism that bars many from ever serving their communities and their country.
People have made and will continue to make mistakes. Ralph Northam is no different. If ancient events can end political and entertainment careers, then we are subscribing to a life of fear for all of humanity, especially if people ever want to run for office in the age of social media.
