Article snippet: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) continued to dig in on Saturday, saying he does not plan to resign but instead focus on racial "equity" in the three remaining years of his term. Northam spoke to The Washington Post for his first interview since he became embroiled in scandal after a blackface photo emerged earlier this month. “It’s been a horrific week for Virginia. A lot of individuals across Virginia have been hurt,” he told the Post. The governor said he was "shocked" when he first saw the yearbook photo on an iPhone, saying he "overreacted" by putting out an initial statement that said he was one of the individuals pictured. “If I had it to do over I would step back and take a deep breath,” he told the Post, adding that Eastern Virginia Medical School was launching an “independent investigation” into the yearbook page. Northam's initial statement released by his office late last week said he was one of the individuals in the photo from his page in a 1984 medical school yearbook. The photo showed a person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe. A day later, Northam reversed course, saying he did not believe he was either person in the photo while admitting to darkening his skin once for a Michael Jackson dance contest in 1984. Various Democrats in Virginia and nationally have called on him to resign after the discover of the yearbook photo and his initial response to the controversy. Northam told the Post that the incident made the people of Virginia... Link to the full article to read more