Civil Rights Leaders React to VA Dem Lt. Governor Candidate Refusing to Shake Opponent's Hand

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National civil rights leaders reacted to Democratic candidate for Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam refusing on camera to shake hands with his Republican opponent—right after confirming that he wants to massively expand government healthcare and not denying allegations that he thinks traditional Christians have no right to act according to their traditional-marriage views.

VIDEO HERE

Dr. Alveda King—the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. and one of America’s most prominent and respected civil rights leaders—said in a statement to Breitbart News:

I was saddened to learn today that Lt. Gov. candidate Ralph Northam refused to shake the hands of his opponent E.W. Jackson at the end of a television debate.  I am deeply burdened by the loss of civility in politics today.   

As one who has been elected to office as a Democratic Georgia State Representative, served as a Republican presidential appointee and who has often voted as an Independent, I have often said that we would all be better off without the political squabbles that tend to divide us. Refusing to shake hands with your opponent in front of a television audience takes the loss of civility to a new low. I would hope that his refusal to shake hands had nothing to do with the color of his opponent’s skin.

In a troubled economy, people are looking for leaders who can bring everyone together to solve the problems that confront us all. It is my hope that in these last hours of the race, Ralph Northam will recognize his inappropriate behavior and offer an apology to E.W. Jackson and to all those he hopes to represent.

Dr. King’s reference to skin color is because Northam is white, while Jackson is African-American.

Ken Blackwell from the American Civil Rights Union—who has been elected to public office more than a dozen times and also received presidential appointments and Senate confirmations to several federal offices—also offered his reaction exclusively to Breitbart News, saying:

The Founders of the American republic understood that democracy only works when both sides can at least be civil to their opponents. Virginia voters need to decide if that disqualifies Ralph Northam from being lieutenant governor of the Old Dominion.  

People sometimes accuse politicians of being two-faced or insincere when they refer to bitter opponents as “my good friend” and pose for smiling photos with them. It’s not deception; it’s basic courtesy and respect, without which democracy cannot function.

In many countries, disagreements over policy end in brutal government oppression or even bloodshed. Politics can be so passionate with people clashing over views that an essential element of building goodwill and finding common ground is by working overtime to be courteous and complimentary. Unfortunately, Mr. Northam’s actions fall short of that important standard.

Virginia’s top Democratic candidates Terry McAuliffe (running for governor) and Northam have portrayed themselves as pragmatic centrists who are happy to reach across the aisle. But this video shows Northam won’t even reach across his chair.

After a lively debate, at 6:30 in the video, Jackson—the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor—attempts to shake hands with Northam, who will not shake it and doesn’t even look Jackson in the eye.

At first, a viewer might give Northam the benefit of the doubt that somehow he doesn’t see the extended hand. But Jackson dispels that doubt by taking his outstretched hand to tap Northam on the arm and then re-extends his hand almost into Northam’s lap. Northam still refuses to take it.

This comes on the heels of the final debate topic: gay marriage. The candidates had just differed on expanding government-run healthcare through Medicaid, beginning at 4:09 in the video. Northam said he supports adding 400,000 Virginians to government-run and taxypayer-funded healthcare, while Jackson said it would bankrupt Virginia, so private-sector options must be developed instead.

At 5:29, Jackson—a former Marine and Harvard-educated lawyer who is also a Christian minister—said he welcomes in Virginia both those who believe in traditional marriage and those who support same-sex marriage but that Northam believes people who do not embrace gay marriage have no place in Virginia. (One of Northam’s relevant statements is linked here.) Jackson adds that he believes that there is increasing intolerance of devout Christians on this issue and that Northam’s statements suggest anti-Christian bias.

While one would expect Northam to quickly say Jackson is completely misrepresenting his position, he does not deny Jackson’s claim. Instead Northam says that he supports gay marriage (using the poll-tested term “equality”) and then reasserts that he thinks all of Virginia should support gay marriage.         

Virginia’s election is this Tuesday, Nov. 5

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/11/03/Civil-Rights-Lea...

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OP NOTE: Was mis-placed in Va @ age 5 due to dads company (who's now in Mexico btw) so I have seen this black/white thing 1st hand, up close (my HS was 93% black then)...remember going to A&P grocery w/ mother and siblings, just learning to read, 1st aisle was the row of refrig meat coolers/display and @ the end of it was a ol skool water fountain you could get a drink from. a piece of paper was taped to the front of it and it stated

"White Only"

well I was trying to figure out what it meant @ 6 years old and what my summation was that, Yes, the meat coolers were white, the walls, the floors were white, the tables were white, the meatmen (lol) were all wearing white, so Yes, logically to me, it was "White Only" ;) Only later on do I find out what it meant. One of my 1st GF's was black (some white) and we dealt w/ a 1970's redneck village mentality when out in public. (this has changed considerably now w B&W couples very prominent) There was a Black bar, there was a White bar in town. There was a White School system, and Black School System, 1st year here, all the southern baptists telling the folks, put them children in the Academy(PE Academy), so they did, that lasted 2 years when they realized what this southern town was really all about. So off to the public shools brother & sis went, I went to a new (just built)type of state o the art,(had P/T/Z vid cams in classrooms,Comm center, an expensive achievement for 1970) K thru 7th grade school for training teachers, (it was so different from normal schooling)(now demolished) then from that 7th grade scientific schooling environment to Public high school culture shock @ grade 8 (got in fight 1st day ;)

School system here was involved in the infamous Brown Vs Wade Supreme court case

All were NAACP-sponsored cases. The Davis case, the only case of the five originating from a student protest, began when sixteen-year-old Barbara Rose Johns organized and led a 450-student walkout of Moton High School in Prince Edward County, Virginia.^[16] The Gebhart case was the only one where a trial court, affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court, found that discrimination was unlawful; in all the other cases the plaintiffs had lost as the original courts had found discrimination to be lawful.

Supreme Court review

The case of Brown v. Board of Education as heard before the Supreme Court combined five cases: Brown itself, Briggs v. Elliott (filed in South Carolina), Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (filed in Virginia), Gebhart v. Belton (filed in Delaware), and Bolling v. Sharpe (filed in Washington D.C.)

I hung w/ black folk, I hung w/ the prej'd out white folk, I have heard both sides for 45+ years, and they're both equally hateful of one another. People think all this has "melted" away w/ the times.....It HAS NOT, it's just went underground and the above article shows that its still alive today, this moron just slipped up.....

...my .28¢