Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam cast himself as uniquely qualified to lead the commonwealth out of its deep state of division. | Steve Helber - Pool/Getty Images Politics Northam vows to finish term, focus on racial inequality in Virginia

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Saturday vowed to spend his remaining three years in office remedying “ongoing inequities” related to race in the commonwealth, saying he "overreacted" when a blackface yearbook picture first roiled his administration eight days ago.

“It’s obvious from what happened this week that we still have a lot of work to do. There are still some very deep wounds in Virginia, and especially in the area of equity,” Northam told The Washington Post in his first interview since the racist photo on his medical school yearbook page surfaced on Feb. 1.


“There are ongoing inequities to access to things like education, health care, mortgages, capital, entrepreneurship,” the governor said. “And so this has been a real, I think, an awakening for Virginia. It has really raised the level of awareness for racial issues in Virginia. And so we’re ready to learn from our mistakes.”

Northam cast himself as uniquely qualified to lead the commonwealth out of its deep state of division, and continued to insist that he is neither of the subjects in the photo that pictures one man in blackface makeup and another in a Ku Klux Klansman costume.

After admitting to being in the photo earlier this month, the governor backtracked and denied he was pictured during an extraordinary news conference . Northam did admit, however, to donning blackface to portray pop star Michael Jackson during a dance competition in San Antonio in 1984.

“I overreacted,” Northam said of his initial statement of admission. “If I had it to do over I would step back and take a deep breath.”

Northam could not explain how the photo appeared on his yearbook page, and said Eastern Virginia Medical School is conducting an “independent investigation” into its publishing.

Northam has faced near-universal calls from within his own party to step down amid a tumultuous week of scandals that have enveloped the top three elected leaders in Richmond, all of whom are Democrats.

At the same time, Two women have accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault — which Fairfax has denied — and Attorney General Mark Herring has admitted to wearing blackface to dress up as a rapper for a party when he was an undergraduate in college in 1980.

Virginians are evenly split on the issue of Northam's potential resignation, with 47 percent saying he should leave office and 47 percent in favor of him staying in the governor's mansion, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted Wednesday through Friday. That same survey shows that Northam enjoys more support among African-American Virginians, 58 percent, than among white state residents.

Northam said he asked members of his Cabinet on Friday to begin brainstorming policy proposals to counteract problems exacerbated by issues of racial inequality, including initiatives aimed at curbing infant mortality rates and expanding access to health care, housing and transportation.

He also promised to “take a harder line” on removing Confederate monuments from public spaces, and said he is in the process of arranging a “reconciliation tour” to facilitate conversations about race across the state.

“I really do believe there’s a calling for all of us, and the fact that this happened this year,” Northam said, referring to the 400th anniversary of Africans arriving in Virginia. “I think there’s a reason for that.”