Boyz In The Hood

It must be pretty bleak in the neighborhood around Governor Street these days in Richmond. The Boyz - all members of the power troika, the big 3, the heart of the order - whatever you want to call them - have managed to get themselves into hot water. Of course, I'm speaking about Governor Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and State Attorney General Mark Herring.

Northam and Herring disclosed, to varying degrees of forthrightness and honesty, that they engaged in some racist behavior in their past, dressing up in blackface. For Fairfax, a survivor has stepped forward to accuse him of having sexually assaulted her. He has vehemently denied it, and while I'm in no position to know or determine the veracity of her claim the fact that she hired the same attorney as Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford indicates to me that her accusations have some merit. What has been more interesting to me, though, has been to observe the Democratic 2020 hopefuls and other party heavyweights try to tiptoe through this minefield without appearing to be too hypocritical. Successful or not, you be the judge.

Of course, now the Virginia GOP, without even a complete news cycle to exploit their newfound bounty of bad news for the Dems, has revealed - not surprisingly - it has a few bad Boyz of its own. The Virginia Commonwealth Senate Republican Majority Leader, Thomas Norment Jr., admitted that as managing editor of his college (Virginia Military Institute) yearbook he signed off on including all manner of racist garbage in the publication. Of course, he issued the standard mea culpa, but it was hard to view such a disclosure as genuine or credible. As with Northam and Herring, Norment only made the disclosure once he knew he had no other choice but to do so.

Some readers of the Imperial Wardrobe have questioned whether it's really necessary or compulsory for public figures to make such disclosures prior to assuming public office. Good question, the answer for which has changed over the years. What might have been acceptable 50-60 years ago is no longer so today, and thank goodness! Because that means we have actually made some progress, and things might have just changed for the better. Progress, not perfection, right?

I'm not sure what the future might hold but, for now, I'm grateful that we are holding power holders accountable for the actions they take and have taken as adults, even as young adults, as the case might be with these three bad Boyz. Even if none of these three change their ways as a result of their recent experience, the public outcry over their behavior and their fumbled reactions to public scrutiny will serve as a lesson for all those aspiring to hold public office. They must hold themselves to higher standards. To do otherwise will land them in hot water, or worse, in some bad neighborhoods, and that ain't no fairy tale.