Washington (CNN) Embattled Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Saturday he feels he should remain in office to help his state heal and use the rest of his term to pursue racial "equity" -- hoping to move on from a racist photograph scandal and admission of donning blackface in the past.

"It's been a horrific week for Virginia. A lot of individuals across Virginia have been hurt," Northam told The Washington Post Saturday in his first interview since the racist photograph surfaced February 1.

He acknowledged that he has "a lot more to learn," the Post reported.

"The more I know, the more I can do," he told the newspaper, adding, "I want to heal that pain, and I want to make sure that all Virginians have equal opportunity ... and I think I'm the person that can do that for Virginia."

Northam has been called to resign after the public reveal of a photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook page featuring two individuals in racist costumes -- one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Northam initially apologized and said he was one of the people in the photo, but later recanted in a news conference a day later, saying he was not in the picture.

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