BUCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. — The little front porch seemed like a pulpit as the Rev. William Barber II outlined a path to redemption for Virginia’s troubled governor, Ralph Northam.

“What he should do more than resign is he should get the resolve to be serious and take on this project,” Barber said, looking toward the nearby stand of pine trees where Dominion Energy plans to build a major natural gas pipeline pumping station in the middle of a historic African American community. “He could lead the nation. He could lead the South.”

[Northam has a chance to back his words with actions, and his party may hang in the balance]

Beside the civil rights leader stood another high-profile activist, former vice president Al Gore, who nodded in agreement. The pair was touring the rural community of Union Hill on Tuesday afternoon to draw attention to the case against the pumping station, which is part of the $7.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Northam’s shame over a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook page could be put to positive use, said Gore, a fellow Democrat. “If it resulted in Gov. Northam saying, ‘I’ve seen the light, I’m going to change the policy,’ then God intends it for good,” he said.

This is Northam’s place now in the national dialogue. As long as he responds to calls to resign with promises to seek racial reconciliation, pressure will mount for him to act and prove he means it.

Environmental advocates have seized on the moment to highlight the Union Hill project, which won a key state air permit in January. With the rest of the controversial, 600-mile pipeline hung up on delays and court challenges, opponents say Northam should step in on behalf of the residents of this rural community, which was settled by free blacks and former slaves just after the Civil War.

[The Baptists and the yogis join to fight a pipeline]

“It’s a horrible injustice and it should be stopped,” Gore said in an interview.

He and Barber — who heads the Repairers of the Breach moral activist group and has restarted the national Poor People’s Campaign founded by Martin Luther King Jr. — met with residents at Union Grove Baptist Church, visited the home near the pumping station site and spoke to some 1,100 cheering residents at the local middle school on Tuesday night.

The two men have partnered on several efforts to address issues of environmental justice, and plan a similar tour in the coming weeks in Alabama.

While most state and national Democrats have called on Northam to resign, Gore and Barber declined to directly address the question. Northam has said that instead of stepping down, he will spend his remaining three years in office addressing racial equity.

Northam initially took responsibility for the yearbook photo, which shows one person in blackface and another in Klan robes, but later said he’s not in the picture. He admitted to darkening his face to impersonate Michael Jackson in a dance contest later that same year.

Barber said Tuesday that too much public attention has been paid to what blackface says about cultural racism.

“Deal with the systemic racism. Voting rights. Economic inequality. You want to deal with racism, stop getting all excited over cultural things and let’s get down to the real issue about racism,” Barber said.

Northam has been meeting with civil rights leaders and African American lawmakers as he formulates his path forward. Barber said he has not yet spoken with Northam but that he would like to.

While the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has called on the governor to resign, individual members are urging Northam to spark a public discussion about race and seek policy changes. Some lawmakers were disappointed that Northam failed to insist on more tax relief for low income families in negotiations with Republicans over the state budget. They said that showed he was too politically weakened by the scandal to lead effectively.

Northam responded by urging GOP leaders who control both chambers of the General Assembly to add money to the budget for at-risk students and to help alleviate evictions. Those negotiations are underway as the legislature heads toward the end of session on Saturday.

[Northam presents budget proposals to lawmakers, calls for ‘equity’]

In the meantime, Northam’s promised “reconciliation tour” of the state has gotten off to a rocky start. He plans to appear at Virginia Union University on Thursday to talk about race, but this week the student body president asked him to reschedule.

Northam’s status with African Americans is a political issue for Democrats, who have been counting on support from black voters to help them in a quest to take back majorities in the House of Delegates and state Senate in elections this fall.

Barber said Tuesday that if Northam wants support, he needs to do more than promise to listen. Standing high on the front porch of Ella Rose, 75, whose home is adjacent to the 68-acre site for the natural gas pumping station, Barber said Northam needs to pay more attention to residents and less to big donors like Dominion.

“All the stuff that he has said wanting forgiveness, wanting this, wanting to apologize, is suspect until he faces these kinds of systemic problems,” Barber said.

Gore said Northam could start by addressing the pipeline and the concerns of residents in Union Hill.

If he did, Barber said, “we’d stand right there with him.” He cited the biblical story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who gave half of his possessions to the poor. “[Jesus] said if you really want to show you mean it, restore to the people what you’ve taken from them,” Barber said.

“Pay the debts back,” Gore agreed, and Barber repeated: “Pay the debts back.

February 20 at 9:42 AM

Washington Post