Trudeau in Deep Waters with Blackface1 min read

Prime Minister Trudeau is in deep waters after images  released of him with brown and black face two decades earlier. The brown face image was taken in a private school that held an Arabian style gala in 2001.

The black face image was taken from a talent show in high school which led to the Prime Minister promptly apologising for his actions.

Black/brown face is when someone applies makeup to make their skin darker to portray another race. This used to be a common practice in the movie industry when white actors play coloured characters but they are usually portrayed as stereotypical or racist.

However, black/brown face moved to frat houses or universities parties in the latter decades of the Twentieth Century.

Other prominent politicians have been accused of blackface in the United States like Gov. Ralph Northam of the Democratic Party while Mike Ertel resigned from his post as Florida Secretary of State after an image of him surfaced in 2005 using blackface.

Prime Minister Trudeau led a progressive image with immigration friendly policies and with his famous tweet when President Trump attempted to restrict refugees from a number of war-torn countries: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada”.

Moreover, Trudeau’s Liberal Party is in the midst of another scandal when two ministers were expelled from the Party with some accusing him trying to cover up political meddling in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

The former attorney general accused the Prime Minister’s staff of pressuring her to drop the case against the SNC-Lavalin with the Ethics Commissioner concluded the Prime Minister did try to influence the case against SNC-Lavalin.

Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash