Blackface and Ku Klux Klan uniforms are symbols of race hate toward African-Americans and have been used to degrade and terrorize during more than 200 years of slavery, and after the Civil War. People were aware of this fact in 1984, and especially medical school students and yearbook advisers in Virginia, a former “slave” state (“Political crisis in Virginia bleeds to GOP,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 8).

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam should resign now and apologize for this despicable display of racism. This is Black History Month, and I recommend seeing the film, “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” at the Honolulu Museum of Art on Feb. 16. In the film, there is a scene showing blackface performers and the degrading attitude this had on African-Americans.

It is time to celebrate African-American accomplishments, not mock and threaten them with hate symbols.

Daphne Barbee-Wooten

Kakaako

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