While the children of the world gather in the thousands to scream to our leaders in a desperate plea to save our planet and their future, the eyes and media of the world remain riveted on the now infamous brownface and blackface incidents from our prime minister’s younger years.
Looking back through the opposite end of the telescope, it is near impossible to see clearly. We live in an evolving global consciousness. What was once “the norm” in many cultures is no longer acceptable — for example, women barred from voting, child labour. The important consideration to me is that when those incidents occurred, there appears to have been absolutely no intention to disrespect or degrade anyone, and Trudeau, who has a renowned penchant for drama and theatrics, was simply playing a role as authentically as possible, in costume.
What was once “the norm” in many cultures is no longer acceptable — for example, women barred from voting, child labour.
As Dr. Syed Pirzada, head of the Muslim Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. commented on the news, if a person was going to dramatize Aladdin should he have worn a three-piece suit? We, as children of 10 and 11, used to dress in costumes bought at the store to play cowboys and Indians. It is what we saw when we watched one of our two TV channels in the ’50s. We insulted nobody, but today we would be publicly shamed.
Sadly, some of the leaders of the other parties have latched on to this exposé in a barrage of opportunistic effort to do never-ending drastic character denigration to Justin Trudeau. I think he can do no more than apologize for past actions.
Apparently, nobody else has any regrets for cringeworthy youthful actions.
Jane Grant
Mount Pearl
