Et Tu, Justin? or To Blackface or Not To Blackface, WTF?

Okay, the news has broken that my sweet, hunky, adorable, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, had a few dark moments from his past resurface.  It seems that my hot fantasy World Leader, my sweet Canuck baboo, has transgressed people of color by darkening his skin tone for an Arabian Knights themed party.  It is a shame because he is now in the crosshairs of cancel culture, and they are swooping in and readying to destroy his political career.  He has quickly begun a Mea Culpa tour to denounce the unseemly, racist, behavior.  All of this while, currently being in the middle of an election season.  Some will say that he is apologizing because it is also not the first time that he has done the “brownface” thing. I admit to being surprised by his behavior because Canada doesn’t have the same type of history with Black people like America, or so I thought.

Almost every Canadian that I have met has always been nice and kind to the point that it was unnerving. Being an Afro-Latino American, growing up in Texas during the ’70s/’80s/’90s, teaches you to have a cautious distrust with unfamiliar white North Americans.  In my trips to Montreal and Toronto, I never had a white woman clutch her bag when they stepped into an elevator and saw me first. The only one who did was an American tourist. There is a great moment in the musical COME FROM AWAY, where the black passengers who found themselves in Newfoundland during the events of 9/11, were stunned at how nice people were.  This explains my surprise and shock to my Boo and his missteps. I never assumed that Canadians would gravitate to blackface, but you know what happens when you assume.

As the Americans try to hitch themselves to the GET TRUDEAU bandwagon, I would like to remind them that just recently we have had 2 state governors with their past issues with blackface.  Virginia’s Governor Northam said it was him and then recanted when the pictures surfaced.  Even though he says those pics were not of him, he did say go on to say that he knows how hard it is to take shoe polish off of your skin.  Go figure.   Of course, Alabama’s prize, Governor Kay Ivey, most notable for signing one of the most ridiculous anti-abortion bills into legislation, has also had to apologize for her stint doing blackface from the ’60s.  We certainly cannot forget former FOX and NBC Anchor, Megan Kelly, simply defending blackface and quickly losing her job.  How sad.

I am giving Justin Trudeau a pass, mainly because in his time as Prime Minister he seems to be on the just side of most issues today. I also will give him a pass because his Arabian Knight look is actually flawless.  The seamless work on the hands alone proves theatrical perfection. I also give him a pass because, well, he’s hot, and yes, I am that shallow.

Why am I not so quick to give a pass to our governors? Well, let’s start with the obvious. They are not hot. However, Gov. Northam of Virginia first admitted that it might’ve been him, but he couldn’t tell which horrid image was actually his.

Later, he copped to dressing up as Michael Jackson. (To many of us, that might not seem like “blackface”, unless it was the Jackson 5 period of Michael, but I digress.)  It seemed like he was going to resign and leave the state in a Red/Blue death match for power, but he decided to take the Effie White route, “and I’m tellin’ you/ I’m not going.”  He claims that his record of advocacy for African-Americans is great, but his mere presence is a confusing mess for everyone involved. 

Gov. Ivey has had to come clean about her turn at blackface bat. She apologized:

 “I offer my heartfelt apologies for the pain and embarrassment this causes, and I will do all I can — going forward — to help show the nation that the Alabama of today is a far cry from the Alabama of the 1960s. We have come a long way, for sure, but we still have a long way to go.”- Governor Kay Ivey

However, I have a hard time accepting her apology because of her current hateful record as an elected official. In addition to the abortion bill, she also signed into law the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, which prohibits moving or changing memorials, INCLUDING the numerous memorials to the Confederacy. So is she worthy of hasty absolution? I should note that she is now battling cancer.  Of course, the side of me who went to church, Sunday School, and sang in the church choir, sends best wishes for a speedy recovery.  I will not repeat what “up in da club”, “hey gurl, hey!”  side of me is thinking. 

Should my hunny bunny, JT, go down for his few attempts at being funny, entertaining, and “unknowingly” racist? My “Hey Gurl, Hey!” side says NO. Because of my personal interactions with Canadians, I am still willing to give a pass to the Prime Minister with a healthy dose of side-eye.  I am still waffling because the need to cancel people is so rampant in our culture.  Its subjectivity makes it hard to figure what will trigger that need next.  As for Governors Northam and Ivey, I cannot ignore the fact that as Americans from the South, they are trying to downplay what they KNOW to be racist behavior.  They make it so easy to cancel them.  I hope that Prime Minister, JT, can make it through this uphill moment, and for the others, I wish them well.

You know that is from my Sunday School side, right?