Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring admitted that he wore blackface while at a college party in 1980 when he was 19 years old. Herring, a Democrat, issued a lengthy statement apologizing for his actions, explaining that he and his friends "did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others." He said that it happened one time and he will "accept full responsibility for my conduct.”
"That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others. It was really a minimization of both people of color, and a minimization of a horrific history I knew well even then."
Herring becomes the third Virginia official to be caught up in a controversy from his past. Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam, is trying to hold onto his office amid calls for his resignation after photo of a man in blackface standing next to a man in a KKK hood was discovered on his page in his 1984 medical school yearbook. A few days later, the state's Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax, was accused of sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations.
Herring is second in line to replace Northam, behind Fairfax.
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