Alabama Governor Apologizes For Wearing Blackface In Racist Skit

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) offered her “heartfelt apologies” on Thursday for her participation in a racist sketch when she was an undergraduate at Auburn University decades ago.

Ivey’s apology came after audio of her interview on Auburn’s radio program in the 1960s resurfaced, during which she and her then-fiance described Ivey’s performance in a skit called “Cigar Butts.”

According to the recording, Ivey had worn blue overalls and put “black paint all over her face.”

Ivey said in her statement that she “sincerely” doesn’t remember the interview nor the skit, but that she “will not deny what is the obvious,” according to a local ABC affiliate.

“While some may attempt to excuse this as acceptable behavior for a college student during the mid-1960s, that is not who I am today, and it is not what my Administration represents all these years later,” she said. “I offer my heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment this causes, and I will do all I can – going forward – to help show the nation that the Alabama of today is a far cry from the Alabama of the 1960s.”

Ivey’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. She’s a Republican so she doesn’t have to resign and no one from her party will even ask.

  2. Cue Gomer Pyle: “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”

  3. It’s that woman from Minnesota that has true black skin the one that needs to resign.

  4. Another racist from another failed state. Sucking down the tax dollars of decent hardworking ststes and living high on the hog while their own people starve in the woods, wrapped in spite.

    Every time one of these fucked up States is mentioned, it should be with the caveat that they are a drain on the American economy. Guaranteed votes for racists, that’s all they are.

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    My understanding is early blackface was almost exclusively male. If that the case, there’s Alabama again, exploring new ways to advance racism.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

102 more replies

Participants

Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for mangifirek Avatar for losamigos Avatar for irasdad Avatar for inversion Avatar for bonvivant Avatar for tecmage Avatar for lastroth Avatar for zrx1100 Avatar for pshah Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for jinnj Avatar for daulphin Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for skeptical Avatar for godless Avatar for evave2 Avatar for godwit Avatar for outis Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for paul_lukasiak Avatar for rucleare Avatar for n_b Avatar for emiliano4

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: