Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia is facing pressure to resign after he acknowledged Friday appearing in either blackface or a Ku Klux Klan hood in a yearbook photo he called “clearly racist and offensive,” then denied it the next day. He also admitted to wearing blackface in a dance contest in the early 1980s.

Some of Governor Northam’s constituents say they are bewildered by his actions but willing to forgive him. We would like to learn more about how voters process both their own memories of racist behavior by people who are now local or state officials, and public revelations of such behavior. If you have wrestled with the racist past of one of your elected or appointed leaders, tell us your story.