Blackface and related behaviors: What is the appropriate response?
Feb 22, 2019, 2:00 PM | Updated: Feb 24, 2019, 12:52 pm
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wore blackface 35 years ago. As did his attorney general, Mark Herring.
And a review of 900 college yearbooks showed that the practice was not rare.
Among those caught up in the review was Nicole Carroll, who later became the editor of The Arizona Republic and is now editor-in-chief of USA TODAY.
Carroll was the yearbook editor at Arizona State University, which published at least one offending photo for which she was also credited for page layout.
What is the appropriate response to such discoveries? Ought there be a statute of limitations? Should relative youth at the time of the offense be a mitigating factor?
U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) once dismissed an affair as a “youthful indiscretion” — but at the time of the offending behavior he had been in his 60s.
Under what circumstances should these be career-ending?
Our guests are:
Neal Lester, an ASU English professor who has written and lectured on relevant topics.
Stephen Lemons is a longtime Phoenix-based journalist who has written for the New Times and numerous national publications.
The Think Tank airs on KTAR News 92.3 FM on Sunday at 1-2 p.m. and repeats at 9-10 p.m.
Podcasts are available after each show is broadcast.
