Rabat – A photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wearing brownface makeup at a party held at a 2001 Arabian Night’s party went viral on social media.
Time Magazine shared the photo of the prime minister with brownface.
The photo was also in a school yearbook from Trudeau’s days as a teacher.
In a statement to the press after the photo’s emergence, the Canadian official apologized for wearing the controversial makeup.
Trudeau said, “In 2001 when I was a teacher out in Vancouver, I attended an end of year gala where the theme was Arabian Nights.”
He said that he dressed up in an Aladdin costume and “put makeup on. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known better, but I didn’t, and I’m really sorry,” he said.
“I should have known better, but I didn’t, and I’m really sorry.”
Photo of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wearing brownface at 2001 party published by Time Magazine: https://t.co/V9ZVrlLYdj pic.twitter.com/NirFQFYe03
— ABC News (@ABC) September 19, 2019
The image stirred debate among social media users, who heavily commented on both the photo and his choice to wear brownface to the party.
One Facebook user wrote, “OMG! Trudeau is not in Brownface, but Blackface at the age of 29, as a teacher at a private Vancouver school, around the same time as Gropegate. This was 2001. Trudeau did not think it was racist then. It was racist then. It is racist now. Wearing blackface by white people is demeaning and disrespectful to black people. It is racism. ”
Another Facebook user commented, “Trudeau has become great at giving apologies.”
Others insist that Trudeau’s costume was not racist.
“OK, fight me on this… But I don’t think he needs to apologize. I wish he would stop. This was 20 YEARS AGO, and he was in character at an ARABIAN KNIGHTS themed party. Maybe there are other reasons he’s not fit to lead, but this is not one of them. I’m not even Canadian, but people need to lighten up,” one Facebook user wrote.
Another Facebook user commented, “I don’t think Trudeau is a racist. I just think he is a very, very silly man. Still, doing this in 2001? I thought Canadians knew better.Also, a thought question: what’s more offensive, the term “mankind” or brownface?”
