PBS News Hour

The racist role of blackface in American society

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam now says he is not pictured in a 1984 yearbook photo of people in blackface and Ku Klux Klan costumes, although he admits he wore blackface on a separate occasion. Regardless, he is facing calls to resign. Yamiche Alcindor talks to Duke University’s Mark Anthony Neal and The Atlantic's Vann Newkirk about the role of blackface in America's fraught racial history.

The racist role of blackface in American society

11m 23s

  • Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun

    25m 50s

    Gun violence is the leading cause of death for American children and teens. Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun captures how gun violence affects young Americans. PBS News Student Reporting Labs in collaboration with 14 student journalists from five U.S. cities, offer a look into how the same young people that have survived these traumatic events are leading the fight for a safer future.

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