blackface

News / Governor / State

Republicans resist Alabama NAACP call for Ivey to resign

On Thursday, Alabama NAACP President Bernard Simelton called on Gov. Kay Ivey to resign from office after it was revealed that Ivey had performed a skit in blackface and overalls making fun of poor Black sharecroppers crawling around on their knees for cigar butts while she was a college student at Auburn University during the … Continued

September 4, 2019

What can we do in the aftermath of blackface controversy?

In the immediate aftermath of the revelation that as a college student Gov. Kay Ivey had worn blackface over 50 years ago, she was called a racist by some and defended by others; as news outlets and social media pages offered a myriad of commentary right and left. Lately, it seems that there is a … Continued

September 2, 2019

Kay Ivey has an opportunity to do some real good

Dressing up in blackface 50 years ago doesn’t make Gov. Kay Ivey a racist. It just helps explain why she’s a racist today. Think of it sort of like those superhero origin stories that are popular now. The blackface incident at Auburn was just one early clue that Kay Ivey was going to be a … Continued

August 30, 2019

Sewell reacts to Ivey’s blackface revelation

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey admitted Thursday that during her years as a student in college she did perform a comedy skit in blackface. Congresswoman Terri Sewell, D-Selma, the only black woman to represent Alabama in Congress in the two-hundred-year history of the state, called the governor’s conduct at the time “reprehensible.” “Racism – in any … Continued

August 30, 2019

Governor admits to blackface incident, offers apology

An audio tape over 50 years ago shows that as an Auburn student Gov. Kay Ivey attended a party dressed in blackface. “I have now been made aware of a taped interview that my then-fiance, Ben LaRavia, and I gave to the Auburn student radio station back when I was SGA Vice President,” said Ivey in … Continued

August 29, 2019

A little diversity could have saved everyone from a lot of blackface embarrassment

Diversity is important. If nothing else, I’ve learned that much from the last week-plus of debates over blackface. Chances are, if the governor of Virginia or any of these other white people had found themselves an actual black friend — and not the fake one they drag out as a human shield when they say … Continued

February 12, 2019