(Newswire.net — September 19, 2019) — Justin Trudeau, president of Canada and its liberal leader, has been accused of racism after new photos and videos have emerged of him wearing ‘black-face.’
The photos were taken when Trudeau was a professor at West Point Grey Academy and were placed in a yearbook, where the photo was obtained from Vancouver businessman, Michael Adamson who gave the picture to Time Magazine.
The pictures, which were taken over two decades ago, clearly depict the current prime minister dressed up in blackface at what has been described as a ‘arabian nights’ themed party. Black-face has been described as ‘a form of theatrical make-up used predominantly by non-black performers to represent a caricature of a black person.’ Black-face can be seen to have undoubtedly racist undetones, as it usually relies on the mocking and degrading of black stereotypes.
For a liberal and self-labelled feminist, this sort of picture could wreak havoc on Trudeau’s popularity. Moreover, it calls to question his own stance on racism and how his party have dealt with race issues during his time in office.
Trudeau has now responded to the photos.
“I apologise profoundly,” said Trudeau on Wednesday night after the photograph was published. “I regret it deeply. I’m deeply sorry I did that, I should have known better.
“It was something I should not have done. I didn’t think it was racist at the time, but now I see, it was a racist thing to do.”
Despite his apology, these images certainly call into question Trudeau’s own stance on racism. Now trending on twitter, Trudeau’s racist past has encouraged users to complain about trudeau’s stance on racism in politics, arguing that he has not truly acknoledged the issue of racism in Canada.
It remains to be seen whether these leaked photos will have a negative effect on his re-election campaign or not.