Exposed for 1967 blackface skit, Alabama governor issues written statement rather than face cameras

"She had put some black paint on her face."

Alan Pyke
Aug 29, 2019, 5:16 pm

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) performed a comedic skit in blackface in 1967 at Auburn University, audio tapes circling the web on Thursday reveal.

“She had on a pair of blue coveralls and she had put some black paint all over her face,” Ben LaRavia, then Ivey’s fiancé, says in the interview. “We were acting out this skit called Cigar Butts. I cannot go into a lengthy explanation but to say the least I think this skit, it did not require a lot of talent as far as verbal talent.”

The performance he describes in the interview appears consistent with the ugliest core patterns of minstrel show tradition: A white audience invited to hoot with laughter at a portrayal of black people as groveling, graceless, inferior beings.

Ivey’s blackface role involved “crawling around on the floor looking for cigar butts” and “certainly got a big reaction out of the audience,” her then-fiancé said in the interview.

https://thinkprogress.org/exposed-for-1967-blackface-skit-alabama-governor-issues-written-statement-rather-than-face-cameras-d35fe818c65b/

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“This is who she was then. It is who she is now. I have nothing for her. I don’t accept her apology,” state Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D) said.

Givan gave special attention to Ivey’s decision to release a written statement without facing cameras or supporters, while also succinctly capturing the kinds of questions the governor likely sought to avoid fielding under klieg lights.

“She should have stood before the people of Alabama herself,” Givan said. “Just as she stood there in blackface, how many times has she said n*****? I’m going to say the word. That is the question black folk need to ask themselves today.”