Justin Trudeau’s costume party

BY BRITTNEY CHANNER

Hey Everyone!

Can you believe there are only three more months left in 2019, which then after we will be soaring off into a new year. I hope you all are doing whatever it is you promised yourself earlier in the year that you would accomplish; and if you aren’t, there is no day like today to begin. Anyways, that is my little inspirational rant for you, but the topic I am going to discuss is far from inspirational; more controversial if anything.

One week ago, Canada’s election season was rocked with pictures by our current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 15 years prior, attending a costume party sporting black/brown face. Such pictures produced feelings of anger amongst Canada’s black and brown community and have many people questioning if Trudeau deserves forgiveness. With the election less than one month away, many have assumed that such news may potentially hurt his campaign and possibly end his role of Prime Minister.

However, I believe the issue isn’t about whether Justin will be re-elected due to his controversial actions, but it surrounds the ignorance that occurs amongst several Canadians about the concept of racism and discrimination enrooted within Canadian history. So, let’s start with a little history lesson on what black/brown face is. Black face is a form of “theatrical make-up” that was used on predominantly non-black performers to represent a sketch of a black person. The act of black face gained a fair amount of popularity during the early 19^th century and essentially contributed to negative and incorrect racial stereotypes.

By the middle of the 19^th century, the trend of blackface elevated itself into minstrel shows which was an American type of art form that took formal works such as opera into popular provisions for the audience. Once again through minstrel shows, such films like Birth of a Nation negatively emulated black people as savages using racism as a construct to purport false ideologies on their behavior and values.

Now that the mini history lesson is over, let us come back to Justin Trudeau and his decision to dress up in black face 15 years ago. As history shows us, it wasn’t until the 20^th going into the 21^st century that black/brown face started to die down and looked down upon. Nevertheless, just because the practice decreased, it doesn’t account for the amount of people who continued to participate in the act in private. Additionally, due to our political climate that we are currently in, our society has made it very clear to penalize and criticize those who promote or participate in racially offensive behavior; which explains the hot water that our current Prime Minister is in.

However, if one were to play devil’s advocate, one could argue that the time Justin Trudeau chose to dress up in black face, many individuals were either unaware or didn’t care about the historical or current impact black/brown face had on society and specific minority groups. Essentially, what he wore could strictly be seen as a costume and should have no bearing on our society now as we are living in different times; however, while I absolutely do not condone Trudeau’s wearing of make up to look like another race of people, I think we as Canadians need to pay attention to the reputation of the country and acknowledge how our history has allotted for this type of behavior to continue.

A good friend of mine named Shane made me aware of a comment that was made by Kathleen Wynne on how she now feels that Canada’s international brand is now considered ruined due to the actions of Justin Trudeau; but just like Shane, I  too was confused on how his actions could all of a sudden ruin Canada’s brand. If anything, Justin Trudeau’s actions served as a necessary reminder that Canada has a racism problem that has been present for centuries and regardless if it is seen, it is present and always has been. As long as Canada continues to ignore the issue of racism at hand, situations such as these will continue to occur.

Do you think this controversy will hurt Justin Trudeau’s campaign for re-election? I want to know your thoughts!