There are apparently multiple photos of people in blackface in that yearbook

[oberliner]

Link to tweet

What the hell was going on at that medical school?

[madaboutharry]

1. Unconstructed Confederates.

Apparently the old south wasn’t dead yet.

[mobeau69]

3. It's still not dead. nt

[madaboutharry]

5. Sadly, you are right.

[Mike Nelson]

2. Yikes....

… I think the photo on his page was not the Governor, as he stated. But he might be on another page, as Michael Jackson.

[oberliner]

4. He said the Michael Jackson thing was in San Antonio

I wonder if someone will dig up more info on that event.

[Mike Nelson]

6. There must be pictures...

… probably one will turn up...

[Vinca]

7. I had been wondering if anyone had managed to find a copy of the actual yearbook

since the photo came from a far right site. It seems odd to me that GOP opposition research didn't unearth this before the election and photoshopping can make things look so realistic you can't tell the difference. If that's the actual yearbook, the medical school has bigger problems than the governor.

[pnwmom]

10. The medical school has acknowledged that's an actual yearbook page. n/t

[KT2000]

8. this is a window to understanding

how far it was acceptable to exhibit out and out racism in the South. The late 60's and 70's was a time of soul searching for so many issues and civil rights was front and center. It was a national discussion. Those not holding fast to old beliefs were thinking - actually thinking about equality and justice. For many it was an eye-opener to see how bad discrimination was - so much was being revealed.

For medical students to behave this way in 1984 shows people who fight to keep their prejudices long past the signing of Civil Rights legislation. Let there be more sunshine to reveal the bigotry of the elite class.

[The River]

9. Laws Don't Change Minds

Laws only control behavior, primarily in public.
Cultural norms and attitudes take generations to outgrow.

[KT2000]

15. so true

the medical students must have felt protected by the prevailing norms and did not bother to think. That is some kind of entitlement.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. The medical establishment isn't great about the way it treats black people.

But then, it's a white supremacist institution that exists in a white supremacist country, so.

[tblue37]

12. They probably had a (racist!) themed party that involved blackface. nt

[Blue_true]

13. Good guess. nt

[druidity33]

14. on the bottom right...

i can't tell whether that's a hat with horns or his hair, but maybe he is painted red? What are the girls next to him wearing?
Possibly he is dressed as a random devil (red shows darker on b&w photos). Aren't any of the yearbook photos in color? What's with all the costumes in this yearbook? Halloween?

[Igel]

16. Think about it.

Why on earth would anybody on a given Tuesday afternoon in April, for no good reason, dress up in blackface and be photographed with somebody in a KKK costume? What, we think maybe that was standard dress for going to class?

Costume party, maybe Halloween, the way to guess on this one. Perhaps a party thrown with a specific theme.

As for why somebody would dress up that way when the norms were different, really? Aren't college kids sort of expected to be iconoclasts and violate traditional norms? Or have we forgotten that part of it--even in grad school, just doing something because society said it was bad.

[oberliner]

17. Did you notice the fan that one of the women in that photo is holding?

Makes me curious about what she is supposed to be dressed up as - not to mention, what the context of these outfits are more broadly.