Northam told “CBS This Morning” that he overreacted and mistakenly took responsibility for the picture because had never seen the image before, even though it was on his yearbook page.
“When you’re in a state of shock like I was, we don’t always think as clearly as we should,” said Northam, who worked for years as a pediatric neurologist before entering politics.
But “when I stepped back and looked at it, I just said I know it’s not me in the Klan outfit. And I started looking in the picture of the individual with blackface. I said that’s not me either,” he said.
His first lesson from all this, Northam said, was to understand what it means to be “born in white privilege.”
“I have also learned why the use of blackface is so offensive, and yes, I knew it in the past. But reality has really set in,” Northam said. “I’ve still got a lot to learn but this has been a week that has been very eye-opening for me.”
Northam also charted a path forward, saying he would dedicate the rest of his tenure to policies aimed at helping his black constituents.
