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Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Apologizes For Wearing Blackface In College Skit, But Refuses To Resign

The Republican governor insists her values and morals are vastly different now, but not everyone is accepting her apology.

Yet another Republican governor has been nabbed for once wearing blackface.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey apologized for donning blackface during a 1967 college skit during a Baptists Student Union party, but also said she had no recollection of the incident. 

The 74-year-old Republican responded to the accusations with “heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment” her actions caused. 

She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority at Auburn University at the time when her then-fiance, Ben LaRavis, described her as wearing “a pair of blue coveralls and she had put some black paint all over her face and we were acting out this skit called ‘Cigar Butts.’” 

The recording came from a 1967 student radio interview with both LaRavis and Ivey.  

“Even though Ben is the one on tape remembering the skit -- and I still don’t recall ever dressing up in overalls or in blackface -- I will not deny what is the obvious,” Ivey said.  

Her apology comes just six months after a yearbook photo of her sorority sisters putting on a similar skit resurfaced, according to MSN.com

While Ivey was not in the photo, a write-up on her position as student body vice president was on the same page in the yearbook. The governor also said she doesn’t recall anything about the page, according to her spokesperson. 

“As such, I full acknowledge -- with genuine remorse -- my participation in a skit like that back when I was a senior in college,” Ivey’s statement included. “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.”

Although Ivey insisted she didn’t remember the incident her ex-fiance referred to in the student radio interview, she did confirm the authenticity of the interview, and her office distributed copies of the recording to the media. 

“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 said. “We have come a long way, for sure, but we still have a long way to go.” 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was also outed for wearing blackface in a photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook, which also included someone dressed as Ku Klux Klan member.

“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,” he said in a statement, adding, “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today.”

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