Justin Trudeau: the "racist" images of the Prime Minister who sparked controversy in Canada and endangered his re-election

Justin Trudeau: the “racist” images of the Prime Minister who sparked controversy in Canada and endangered his re-election

Posted On: January 20, 2023

Writing
BBC News World

September 19, 2019

image sources, Globe and Mail, World News, Time Magazine

Legend,

The images of Trudeau have caused great controversy in Canada.

The past has placed Justin Trudeau at the center of a scandal and is hampering his political future.

Various images in which he appears with his face and hands painted black have drawn widespread criticism, leading Trudeau to apologize.

In his first statements after the scandal broke, Trudeau, who will be seeking re-election in the October election, said he was “deeply sorry” and later admitted he could not remember how many times he had done something similar.

The first photographs were released on Wednesday, forcing the Prime Minister to apologize, but the scandal escalated on Thursday, with the publication of new photos and a video.

The case jeopardizes his re-election options in the country’s October elections, which are expected to be adjusted.

Controversy

The controversy began on Wednesday, when the American magazine TIME published a photograph of Trudeau in which he appears smiling, dressed in oriental clothes and a turban on his head, during a theme party.

The prime minister, who was 29 at the time, is the only one pictured with dark skin.

Asked by the media on Wednesday, the Prime Minister explained that in 2001 he posed dressed as Aladdin at an evening based on “Arabian Nights” at the prestigious West Point Gray private school in Vancouver, where he worked as a teacher.

“I shouldn’t have done it. I should have known it wasn’t right, But I did and I’m so sorry.” said Trudeau, who stressed that he did not consider him “racist at the time”.

Trudeau also admitted to reporters that this was not the only time he had dressed up and “made up” in black.

“When I was in high school, I dressed up for a show where I sang ‘Day-O’ with makeup on,” she said.

This second photograph was published later. It was taken when Trudeau was a student at a high school in Montreal.

This Thursday, the controversy widened with a video broadcast by the Canadian television channel Global News.

In it, Trudeau appears in blackface, a T-shirt and ripped jeans, making laughing facial expressions.

“Occulting your face regardless of the context or the circumstances is always unacceptable because of the history of racism associated with this practice”.

“I should have understood then and I never should have,” the prime minister said.

What were the reactions?

The footage has caused a wave of controversy in Canada, where a general election is held on October 21 and Trudeau will seek re-election as prime minister.

Despite the uproar, in his first speech, the president refused to answer if you thought you should quit after the resignation of several candidates for deputy for the next elections after discovering racist positions in old messages on their social networks.

image sources, Reuters

Legend,

Asked by the media, Trudeau refused to answer whether he should resign after the publication of the first photo.

Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Conservative Opposition in Canada, said that the image was racist in 2001 and it is now.

“What Canadians have seen is someone with a complete lack of judgment and integrity and someone who is not fit to lead this country,” he said.

For his part, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh (who is of Sikh descent and still wears a turban) called the image “disturbing” and “insulting”.

“Whenever we see people painting their faces black or brown, they’re laughing at someone. for what he lives and for his lived experiences”, declared.

image sources, Reuters

Legend,

For a white person to paint their face black, even as part of a costume, is considered highly racist in the United States and Canada.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims has also expressed its deepest rejection of the image.

“To see the Prime Minister with a brown/black face is deeply sad. The face paint is reprehensible, and recalls a history of racism and an unacceptable Orientalist mythology”, said its chief executive Mustafa Farooq.

Why is “blackface” controversial?

The image has been criticized in particular for being worn by Trudeau, who has made progressive and pro-equality policies one of his banners.

Opinion polls indicate that the elections next October will be hard target for the current prime minister.

image sources, Reuters

Legend,

Canada’s Prime Minister has been forced to publicly apologize after the publication of a photo of his youth which he himself called “racist”.

It is not the first time that a politician has been embroiled in a similar controversy. Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia in the United States, admitted to having painted himself black in the past to imitate Michael Jackson.

Paint your face black or brown, known in English as black face That is brown face, is consideredThat is in the United States and Canada a highly racist practice to invoke an era of discrimination and believe that it promotes stereotypes and ridicules the black population.

campaign issues

Analyse of Jessica Murphy, BBC News, Toronto

There is no doubt that these images will hinder Trudeau’s re-election bid and his team recognizes how damaging they could be.

They have cleared their campaign calendar for this Thursday as they work to deliver a broader response than their Wednesday night apology.

It will all depend on how Trudeau approaches these images and whether he can convince Liberal voters that he truly understands why his decision to wear makeup could be so damaging to many of the Canadians he represents.

It will also impact the election campaign itself, where issues of race and racism have suddenly come to the fore.

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