Canada will shortly have a Federal election and Justin Trudeau, its prime minister has been getting a bad press because of a revelation that he once breached the " colour code " by attending a social event in what is termed " brownface ".
It seems that a yearbook photo has emerged that shows the then 29 year old teacher at an "Arabian Nights " themed party with his face, neck and hands covered in black makeup. This complimented the turban and robe he wore to the fancy dress themed party at West Point Grey Academy in British Columbia, a private school where he served as a teacher.
Incredibly, this happened in 2001 and it is quite possible that voter backlash may end his political career. So sensitive is the division between the white and the coloured races that the media choose to refer to this incident as " brownface ". Every a cursory glance at the photo shows that Trudeau's makeup was unmistakably black.
It is hard to put a time or date of when this rejection of a white person appearing as a person of colour originated. For many years Al Jolson made a spectacular living in blackface and received enthusiastic applause from both sides of the colour divide. Here in Australia the cartoonist Joliffe depicted life on the farm between a white farmer and his Aboriginal colleague, until its rejection over the colour issue. Strangely, indigenous people were supporters of this art form.
Precisely why is a white person appearing in black or brown makeup considered derogatory ? In the world of art, to be copied is considered a great compliment. It seems completely unrealistic to transpose this blackface rejection to an earlier era where people now in politics or business can be undone by a revelation of what they wore to festive event in their youth.
Prince Harry once drew venomous criticism when he attended a fancy dress party at a Nazi brownshirt - with a swastika on his arm. Anything pertinent to the Hitler era is considered an insult to Holocaust survivors unless it is part of a movie concerning the war years. That swastika incident haunted Prince Harry for a long period of time, despite his apologies.
Most countries of the world have become a homogenous stew of colour as immigration delivers a mix of races. There is still a way to go before we achieve equality, but that is certainly attainable. It is just hard to understand what is hoped to be achieved by career ruin as the result of innocent photographs appearing from masquerades when such things were considered perfectly normal.
It does not seem helpful in achieving race harmony !
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