NORFOLK, Va. – Virginia Senator and Republican Majority Leader Tommy Norment is listed as the managing editor of the 1968 Virginia Military Institute yearbook which includes photos of people wearing blackface and captions that include racial slurs, according to WTKR.
One of the photo captions says:
“Four years ago New Market’s revenge on VMI ambled through stoop-n**** arch in his first attempt to evade the system.”
On a page for the editors in the yearbook, Norment described his work on the publication:
“It has been the objective of this year’s Bomb staff to concentrate on the VMI as it exists in actuality, not in theory. There is an ever-broadening chasm between the two positions. With the completion of this editorial and the 1960 Bomb, I regretfully leave behind the theme ‘Honor above Self’ and the loyalty of a few selected Brother Rats. Work on the Bomb has permitted me to release four years of inhibitions.”
The discovery comes as Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring face calls to resign due to blackface controversies of their own.
Norment has served in the Senate of Virginia for 20 years, according to his website. He serves as a member of the Courts of Justice, Finance, Rehabilitation and Social Services, Rules, and Commerce and Labor Committees.
He attended VMI before attending the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary. He now represents District 3 which includes parts of Gloucester, Poquoson, Isle of Wight, James City County, Surry, York, Hampton and Suffolk.
WTKR has reached out to VMI for comment. The news was first reported by The Virginian-Pilot Thursday morning.
