Brownface, Blackface and About-Face. Is Trudeau Who He Says He Is?

We dress up as people we like to look like, not what we do not like to look like - that has been my own experience. The assumption that wearing brownface somehow is an insult is a socially constructed perception (a highly incorrect assumption). One should conduct a research study to see what motivates people to dress up as other nationalities or even as different animals. It is then that we can have a meaningful conversation about this issue. In other words, dressing up as another being is NOT motivated through hate - it is a totally incorrect assumption we make.

Honestly, what we know now compared to the 70's and 80's is vastly different. Trudeau has apologized and acknowledged he made some very bad mistakes in the past. Get over it. Stick to the issues at hand.

A very fine example of "how your sins of the past will haunt you in future"

Seriously? If all that Trudeau has done since he took part in these incidences doesn’t matter, how is it Trump can still be president? The double standards bring wielded by conservative politicians is matched only by the double standards being applied against liberals (once again!) by the mainstream press. Is context unimportant here? Namely, is there a difference between dumb behavior that appears racist and intentional behavior that reinforces an individual’s already well established racism? Of course there is — except in circumstances where one is trying to appear unbiased but is eschewing impartiality and accuracy in the bargain.

Ahh, so if a conservative does it then he deserves to be impeached and is immediately labeled a racist, but when a liberal does it it's either not offensive at all or they are allowed to "evolve" by giving an apology. I get it...hypocrisy. Double standards are what makes me afraid of both liberals and conservatives. As an independent minded person I fear the tribalism of today's society.

Putting all this in perspective - we probably can't count the number of Shakespearian actors who have blackened their faces to play the part of Othello, largely because it was always a non-event, seen in context, part of a costume to play a part in a theatrical context; nothing whatsoever to do with racism. It is of course normal for the Conservatives to import a heap of irrelevant American social dystopia if they can transpose it and use it against their rival in a forthcoming election. Politics is dirty business, and especially in the hands of the desperate successors to the legacies of people like Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper. When a party has nothing constructive to offer, they turn to this kind of rubbish. Most Canadians I've heard are taking all this in stride because they know it for what it is - dirty games - and they also know the record of achievement in the past four years, reverting the country back from the dangerous anti-democratic extreme-right turn it had taken under the previous administration. Of course Ms. Wilson-Raybould, famous for one-dimensional blinkered thinking out of all context, seems to ignore the reality that these incidents happened decades before the Prime Minister was in a position of authority. No wonder he fired her.

Aggh. Enough of this story. Let's talk about the important issues such as environmental protection, planning a better strategy for future technological and climate change, increasing equity and mediating the tinderbox of international conflict.

Jody Wilson-Raybould: "It’s completely unacceptable for anybody in a position of authority and power to do something like that." So she obviously rather meant "It’s completely unacceptable for anybody in a position of authority and power to ever have done something like that." But saying it would sound a bit puritan: How sin stains you eternally, even as a youngster. If any darkening of the skin using make-up is absolutely not OK, as Trudeau said, why is 'indoor tanning' no problem? At least I did not hear about picket lines before gyms and spas. What if you really soak up those UV rays to get a good 'Aladdin face' for the party? Would that be OK? I have seen German nudists who were darker full-body than the average North African...

Are not there more serious issues to cover than to make a big deal of something done decades ago? Many people around the world used costumes and dark face for generations, without thinking twice about it. Those were times when race was not a big issue and people were not aware of the connotations. Societies evolved and the practice became not politically correct. Report about people doing it now, last week, last month, not about what someone did decades ago! Enough of all the hoopla about race! The media is responsible for making it a bigger issue than it is. The percentage of blacks in the U.S. is well below that of Latinos. Just to be informed, Latinos were in this country and continent many decades before African slaves were brought to this continent. One feature about Latinos is that it is mixed-race, you have whites, browns, Asians, and blacks. All getting along well and not spending useful energy on issues of race.

Accusations of racism have gone too far. Not only are they hurting good people, the best politicians like Trudeau, they are going to cause a huge backlash, because people like me who care deeply about real racism, are turned off. This is not "blackface." Blackface is the use of burnt cork to create a crude imitation of black skin in a humiliating and disdainful imitation of Blacks. This is theatrical makeup. It has been used to portray Othello when he is portrayed by white actors, since Shakespeare's time. Trudeau is not a racist or even insensitive. This is ridiculous sensationalism and very dangerous. We went too far with Al Franken for what was sexist behavior, and this is even worse.

Liberals can get away with many different kinds of deficiencies but lack of intelligent reflection is not one of them. There is a world of difference between offensive black face that exaggerates facial characteristics in an unappealing manner which has denigrated African-Americans for more than a century and making one's face conform to the color of the character being imitated with no denigrating exaggerations of facial characteristics. The dark color of Mr. Trudeau's face in his imitation of Aladdin is no more offensive than his turban, his costume or his lamp. When did liberals stop using their intelligence to make such vital distinctions before they criticize?

No, Canadians are not struggling with this non-scandal. Stop projecting America's history, obsessions and hubris onto other countries. After a couple of days in the headlines--in echo of the media frenzy south of the border--this story about what a drama teacher wore to a costume party 20 years ago is already fading. Displaced, and rightfully so, by more substantive election issues such as day care, climate policy and prescription medication coverage.

Pardon me, but I don't understand the hullabaloo over black face when it was done in the past. It's one of those things that has become socially unacceptable, and I do think I understand African American's sensitivity over it, but it is just not as important as the many current issues that need to be addressed.

In his defense, a lot of us have liberalized our faulty thinking as we have grown older. The same can probably be said about Trudeau. He should have owned up to this stuff a long time ago. Please, Canada, don't go conservative on us.

It's hard to believe that Megin Kellie started all of this. I would never know that using a dark costume makeup would be consider racist. But after doing some research and watching some old cartoons and movies I was able to understand the derogatory level of those makeups. It’s sad. Halloween is coming so pick your costume wisely. Don’t use anything pejorative toward a ethnicity or culture.

Don’t apply America’s tortured history of racism onto my country. It was a costume party, he was a drama teacher and dressed to play a role.

It's probably better to judge elected officials by their actions in office, rather than the costumes they wore to costume parties 18 years ago.

I would trade Donald Trump for Justin Trudeau in a heartbeat. Why? Mr. Trudeau stood in front of the world and apologized, something that Donald Trump has never done, nor even seems capable of doing. None of us, I suspect, are totally free of similar mistakes and missteps in the past; I certainly am not. For current and would-be world figures to face the past, admit their errors, and learn the hard way what is morally and ethically appropriate, is to demonstrate the best in human nature. We need more leaders to own up to their mistakes instead of pretending they have never made any.

Many people are wearying of the constant outrage machine generated by twitter, social media, a clickbait thirsty press, incessant victimization discourse, and politically correct dogma. Trudeau will be re-elected. The Canadian Liberal party, unlike Democrats in this country, will not engage in a circular firing squad animated by moral purity, virtuous piety, and all forms of signalling. Not a single Liberal parliamentarian has suggested they would abandon Trudeau or that he should step down. That's that. Frankly, it's a healthier space.

If you understand Canada and its political culture you will understand the Liberal Party for all its positioning as progressive (which often was just that positioning when it came to hard economic or foreign policy issues) was always the party of privilege and the elite. It's only real ideology was an overweening infatuation with itself as the "natural governing party" and power. Members of Canada's real populist and left wing parties, who numbered among their ranks legends like Tommy Douglas who gave Canada universal medicare and provided the intellectual captial and threat of socialism (yikes) that drove the Liberals and even Canada's conservatives to the center were cut from a different cloth. They were not the privileged children of the elite but salt of the earth workers, ministers. union leaders small town lawyers who didn't go to the "fancy" schools. Looking at Trudeau and his cabinet you could see the disaster coming. They may have looked like a female friendly Benneton ad but in reality social and intellectual and socio-economic diversity of a Skull and Bones club reunion. There is a certain type of aspirational voter who falls for that but they are rarer in Canada then they are in the states. Ideally, this election will result the real socialsist the NDP taking power. Can't be worse than the Liberals and they really are as their slogan says "In It For You."

I can still remember dressing up for Halloween as a child. One year I won 2nd place at Cub Scouts for dressing up as a first nations warrior. Neither my mom nor I knew that was wrong. Looking back I realize that my mom was racist and that I grew up that way and held those same awful beliefs. Thankfully education, friends and a genuine love of people washed all of that ugliness away. I feel a warm glow inside me when I see my young adult children interact with friends of various cultures and lifestyles. The cycle of hatred that my mom was taught has been broken. Mr. Trudeau's actions will help others learn and grow towards a more inclusive society. It's happening right now.

Much ado about nothing. Social justice warriors love to find things to whine about. Poor taste, arguably, but I doubt any malice or bias by Trudeau was intended. Now, if Trudeau were a conservative, the social justice warriors would be calling for his impeachment if not burning at the stake.

The Canadian history of slavery and racism is is virtually non-existent when compared to the United States. As I recall, the underground railway to freedom for smuggled American slaves, ran north to Canada. Where there is no guilt, there can be no offense.

Doesn't it matter more what Trudeau has done as a politician in office than what he did as long before he assumed office or as a post-adolescent? His record in making selections for his cabinet and in promoting the cause of refugees speaks more to me than a couple of pictures from a couple of decades ago.

I am Canadian and I live in Canada. I speak to many people everyday and so far not one person has mentioned the Trudeau pictures. It was a costume party. It is an issue in the press but no one else is concerned or talking about it. Trudeau's multicultural record speaks for itself.

It is amazing that a liberal gets a pass for these actions, but if it were a conservative, the liberals would be in a frenzy calling for their resignation. Double standard much? Can you say Governor Northam?

"Ms. O’Bomsawin also stressed that the cultural context had changed dramatically since 20 years ago, when parents dressed their children as Pocahontas for Halloween without fear of a backlash." This sentence is alarming. First, 20 years ago anyone wearing black/brown/darkface completely knew doing so was wrong. It was in 2001! Second, the idea that a young girl of any racial background cannot now dress as Pocahontas on Halloween suffering backlash is risible. Using this logic nearly all of the cast members of Hamilton were engaging in cultural appropriation and racism. Trudeau is a fraud, this much is clear.

Are we to believe that Andrew Scheer has never done anything in his life that he regretted? The election is about the issues, not what some person did as a dumb teenager. In the time since Justin Trudeau wore brown face, he has created a landscape of tolerance in Canada, allowed refugees safe haven, and given Rahaf Muhammed a place to live. In the time since Scheer was a teenager, he has embraced populism, denounced same sex marriage and opposed gay rights. You tell me who is more tolerant. Scheer stands there in self-righteous indignation denouncing the prime minister when he turned a blind eye to the racists in his own party This is a non-issue get back to the real issues which is how is the next government going to make Canadian lives better.

It was a costume. He was dressing up. He was a drama teacher. That is what drama people do - they dress up and play to be other people. I do not like Trudeau. I do not think that he is intelligent or good for Canada. I hope he loses this election. I deeply hope for that. But I do not want him to lose because he put on a costume at a costume party. "Black Face" was an intentionally unkind and insulting form of entertainment, in the past. That is not what JT was doing. He was play acting. I hope he goes back to play acting for a living. But because he has damaged Canada, not because he is an actor.

This might be a more important story if it was Trudeau's first election. But as an incumbent, he has a record that is a much better indicator of how he will govern. A twenty-year-old photo isn't going to make me worry that he might be racially insensitive as prime minister - I have already seen his intentional inclusiveness in the makeup of his cabinet, as well as his empathetic reaction to the refugee crisis. The point of voting is not to cast moral judgment, it's to select the person who you believe will govern in a way that best reflects your own priorities. JFK had some personal behaviors that were frowned upon by many liberals, but when deciding how to run the country, he met their expectations. Trudeau should, and I believe will, be judged on his time as prime minister, not on the how the transgressions of his youth are viewed through a modern cultural lens.