Alabama Governor Apologizes For Wearing Blackface In Racist Skit

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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.

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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.

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