The top editor at USA Today has some skeletons in her closet.
Nicole Carroll, the paper’s editor in chief, apologized in an op-ed on Wednesday for allowing the publication of a photo depicting blackface in the 1988-1989 Arizona State University yearbook, which she says she edited.
The image was reportedly discovered during a USA Today review of yearbooks from that era in the wake of the uncovering of similarly disturbing photos that allegedly depict key lawmakers, including Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D). Carroll maintains that she previously “had no memory” of the photo.
A Crushing Mistake
According to Fox News, the image described by Carroll “shows two people at a Halloween party dressed in makeup as Mike Tyson and his then-wife Robin Givens.” Each reportedly wore blackface-style makeup; the former with boxing gloves over his shoulders, the latter donning a bikini and sunglasses.
“It is horrible, and of course the photo should not have been published,” Carroll admitted in her op-ed. “I am sorry for the hurt I caused back then and the hurt it will cause today.”
She went on to say that “the 21-year-old me who oversaw the book and that page didn’t understand how offensive the photo was.” She lamented, “Today’s 51-year-old me of course understands and is crushed by this mistake.”
Carroll later shared a link to the op-ed on Twitter, where she also called on fellow journalists to hold themselves accountable for their wrongdoings. She did not share the offensive image.
I’m sorry and I’m here to apologize. As journalists, we must hold ourselves accountable as we do others, and it is important to call myself out for this poor judgment. https://t.co/TUe690buFP via @usatoday
— nicole carroll (@nicole_carroll) February 20, 2019
Staying Put
Carroll now joins the growing list of public figures who have been associated with recent controversies surrounding the use of blackface, an offensive style of makeup meant to ridicule people of color.
In October 2018, former Fox star Megyn Kelly was fired from her role on NBC’s Today show after she made comments suggesting that blackface may have once been acceptable.
Then, earlier this year, Virginia was struck with a series of scandals when a photo surfaced from the commonwealth’s 59-year-old governor’s college yearbook that depicted two men in what many called racist costumes: one in blackface, the other in KKK robes. That news was followed by a similar admission from the state’s attorney general, Mark Herring, who apologized for himself dressing in blackface when he was younger.
Neither Herring nor Gov. Northam have resigned from their posts as a result of the incidents — and it doesn’t look like Carroll will be stepping down either.
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