MISSING FROM THIS INSIDE HIGHER ED STORY: ANY INDICATION THAT RALPH NORTHAM IS A DEMOCRAT. Racist Histories: Colleges and universities in Virginia and elsewhere, struggling with histories tied to slavery and the Confederacy, are forced by the scandal involving the governor’s yearbook to consider the spewing of hatred in contemporary times. Which is especially weird since, in contemporary journalistic and academic usage, “spewing of hatred” only comes from Republicans.