--- title: Pam Northam Apologizes for Giving Cotton to Black Students description: Virginia First Lady Pam Northam apologized for giving cotton to two black students during a tour of the governor's mansion. canonical: https://time.com/5541008/pam-northam-cotton-apology/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-28T13:47:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:55.213Z article:section: Politics og:title: Virginia First Lady Pam Northam Apologizes for Giving Cotton to Black Students og:description: 'I regret that I have upset anyone' og:url: https://time.com/5541008/pam-northam-cotton-apology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1ccf53c4cf9920b/6989460609208fe2ce413696/pam-northam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: VA Governor Northam Holds Press Conference To Address Racist Yearbook Photo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Virginia First Lady Pam Northam Apologizes for Giving Cotton to Black Students twitter:description: 'I regret that I have upset anyone' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1ccf53c4cf9920b/6989460609208fe2ce413696/pam-northam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Virginia First Lady Pam Northam Apologizes for Giving Cotton to Black Students During Tour > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b8715724-0ef4-4f30-9d22-5c4c0c44e4ce&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'America Has Been Divided Since the Beginning.' One Author on Why Educating Kids About Race in the U.S. Is More Important Than Ever [Watch (HLS stream): 'America Has Been Divided Since the Beginning.' One Author on Why Educating Kids About Race in the U.S. Is More Important Than Ever](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HWKYLirD.m3u8) (4:13)  _Published 2019-02-28. TIME spoke with Khalil Gibran Muhammad, author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America and a Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School_  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 28, 2019 1:47 PM UTC  Pam Northam listens as Gov. Ralph Northam speaks with reporters at a press conference in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 2, 2019. Pam Northam listens as Gov. Ralph Northam speaks with reporters at a press conference in Richmond, Va., on Feb. 2, 2019. Alex Edelman—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 28, 2019 1:47 PM UTC Virginia First Lady Pam Northam apologized for giving cotton to at least two black students during a tour of the governor’s mansion — the latest in a string of scandals out of Virginia’s state government. Northam – the wife of embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam – apologized after a Virginia state employee complained that her eighth-grade daughter, along with a group that included at least one other black child, was given raw cotton during a tour of governor’s mansion and an adjacent cottage once used as a kitchen, [the Washington _Post_ reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-first-lady-under-fire-for-handing-cotton-to-african-american-students-on-mansion-tour/2019/02/27/e03dedbe-3ac4-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.b78f4fd7dfd5). During the tour, Northam also asked the students to picture what it would be like to be enslaved and have to pick cotton, the _Post_ reports. Northam first apologized on Wednesday, [NBC News reports](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/virginia-first-lady-pam-northam-apologizes-after-handing-cotton-black-n977546). In a statement provided to TIME, Northam said she believes “it does a disservice to Virginians to omit the stories of the enslaved people who lived and work there — that’s why I have been engaged in an effort to thoughtfully and honestly share this important story since I arrived in Richmond.” Northam added that she has given the same tour before. “I regret that I have upset anyone,” she said. “I am still committed to chronicling the important history of the Historic Kitchen, and will continue to engage historians and experts on the best way to do so in the future.” A representative from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office said the tour was given to about 100 House and Senate pages, and no one was singled out during the tour. The incident came just weeks after the release of the governor’s 1984 medical school yearbook page, which included a picture of one person in blackface and another in Klu Klux Klan garb. Northam initially apologized for the photo, [then said he was not in it](http://time.com/5519354/governor-northam-not-resigning/). He did, however, [say he had once darkened his face](http://time.com/5522949/virginia-attorney-general-blackface/) while imitating Michael Jackson in a 1984 dance competition. (Pam Northam [discouraged her husband from moonwalking](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/02/02/ralph-northam-wife-inappropriate-circumstances-reporter-moonwalk-sot-vpx.cnn) when asked during a press conference whether he still could.) Gov. Northam has [said he will not resign](http://time.com/5525755/virginia-governor-ralph-northam-staff-not-resigning/). The Northams aren’t the only Virginia officials surrounded by controversy. Two women have [accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault](http://time.com/5520425/virginia-justin-fairfax-misconduct-claim/) in the early 2000s, which he has vehemently denied — even [comparing himself to lynching victims](http://time.com/5536614/virginia-justin-fairfax-lynching/) during a public address. ## Transcript Freedom. Freedom. Black History Month is important, not only because in its earliest days it was an acknowledgement of the contributions of black people to American democracy. But even over the last 40 years, when it went form a week to a month, it has become increasingly important To explaining how the nation became a nation that is multiracial. None of what we call civil rights today makes sense without understanding black history. [ MUSIC ] Civil rights means that you are fighting for, or acknowledging, the basic guarantees that every individual protected by the Constitution Constitution is entitled to. Since President Trump was elected in 2016, the broadest definitions of civil rights have been challenged. We've seen instances of swastikas being sprayed on the sides of buildings in liberal cities around. America or nooses hanging on coworkers' desks. While it's hard to draw a direct line from the president to all of this behavior, we certainly can draw a dotted line. And in that sense he has not used the power of his office or the power of the pulpit to define an America that is free of racial hatred, but in fact, has excused much racial Racial hatred as a kind of they get to behave this way too. One of things I think is important about both looking at this as a moment that says, we still have to work to do even for people who are self- defined liberals and democrats, is to be more honest about their own coming- of- age in a racist country. Be honest about the fact that. When a blackface image of you shows up on your yearbook page, whether it's you or not, which is unbelievable, but putting that aside, that your fellow students thought it was funny and interesting. The editors of the book thought it was okay to publish, and the school thought it was okay to publish. And until we can have that conversation about the consumption of racism, then we're not going to see the fast or hard break from the past from the past that keeps popping up. [ MUSIC ] Sometimes people express frustration that, no matter how much information you share with someone and how compelling your set of arguments, and what you point them to to read, they still don't change. They still don't believe white privilege is rea. And I would say that while you still have to press forward, you have to make the case, you may not win those arguments, The real opportunity for us starts with our kindergarteners. We can't make the assumption that five year olds are colorblind, because children see difference in the world. And if we leave them on their own to fill in the blanks, they're going to learn from society. They're going to pick up all the cultural cues that exist in our world. So we have to be intentional. But we also could be more deliberate about what What we teach them in class. If you ask children of elementary age, who are the most famous Americans who are not presidents, the two most commonly cited people are Dr. Martin Luther KIng, Jr. and Ms. Rosa Parks. What's interesting is that I would say if you could Pick two people to completely rewrite the story. They are the perfect candidates because their familiarity already overindexes for the kind of superficial history that we're teaching our children. The kind of Black History Month bulletin board of which they become prominent figures. Both of them are literally 180 degrees more complicated and quite different than we like to remember them. The hope for me, is that if we can take on that work together, if we can be serious about changing what we teach our kids, then we can expect different adults And if we get different adults then they'll understand to be more vigilant about not repeating the mistakes of the past. 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