By now, you’ll have seen the many pictures of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wearing dark brown and black makeup in a variety of settings, including at an “Arabian Nights” themed party at which he also wore a turban.
But you may not have seen that the very first reports of Trudeau’s behaviour came just a day after CTV News ran a story questioning whether NDP leader Jagmeet Singh could become prime minister given that he wears a turban. Without meaningfully scrutinizing racism in Canada, the outlet provided a platform for people with discriminatory views on that matter, even quoting a person who said Singh would be more “normal” if he took his turban off.
While Canadian outlets have published a number of columns that expressly disapprove of Trudeau’s racist costume, those valuable contributions have become lost in an overwhelmingly white media industry that has demonstrated time and again that it is not only unequipped to talk about racism, but is also perpetuating it.
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The difference between how Canadian media has been talking about Trudeau compared to how it has spoken about Singh is striking.
In a story about the “Arabian Nights” party, The Globe and Mail highlighted the collective opinions of those who didn’t see any injury in Trudeau’s racist costume, writing that “Despite the controversy, some party guests remember a good time with no harm done.” They went on to quote a white man who attended the party, who said of the blackface, “I didn’t take any personal offence, I didn’t think there was anything racial about it.” A Canadian Press story offered a sensational account of reactions on the campaign’s media bus to the news of the photo breaking, rather than a discussion of the impact of Trudeau’s racism.
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Note: Shailee Koranne is a writer and communications student based in Toronto. You can follow her on Twitter @ShaileeKoranne.
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(5) Justin Trudeau, Up the Creek Without a Paddle, Tries Canoeing Back to His Reputation
