A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.
A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.
Colwood Coun. Ian Ward on Monday addressed the photo in a statement on his X account after the picture, which was originally published on a personal family blog, surfaced on social media in recent days.
Ward acknowledged he posed for the photo wearing a Washington Bullets basketball jersey, a gold chain and a wig, with his teeth coloured gold and his hands and face painted black.
People are saying in the 90s but I know we had a guy dressed as a terrorists with a brown face on Halloween day when I was in highschool back in 2002 and no one cared, but maybe it's because slavery isn't part of our history and that part of US culture hadn't influenced us yet... These days people like to act like it wasn't accepted for disguises around here 20 years ago even though it actually was. Hell, I know for a fact we even had some on TV after 2005 and no one cared...
Well, just a few years earlier than this guy's black face, a movie called White Chicks came out... two black dudes playing white face in an entire Hollywood movie (coincidently, filmed in B.C).
I don't ever recall outrage over it, though.
That said, I guess we're lucky that our politicians are only playing black face during costume parties, rather than wearing white hoods during regular business hours! LOL
Everyone already knows this is wrong in so many levels and I completely agree.
But also, how the hell is that 50 Cent?! 50 Cent isn't known for having an afro or wearing a Bullets jersey. Wear the G-Unit tank top, wear a head band, wear a baseball cap with a durag. Wear a bulletproof vest. At least have a higher quality piece.
I don't know who this guy is, but his response seems ultra shitty.
Wondering if everyone else thinks this would have been a reasonable response:
"it was a different time, black face wasn't seen as raciest in the circles i kept, i apologize for any offence i caused, it won't happen again"
Grew up in Virginia in the 90s and early 00s, and black face was definitely something people knew was racist.
However, my foster brother's elementary school hosted a costume party for thanksgiving one year, where you had to dress as either a pilgrim or an Indian. :/
I think just about anything would be better than what he said.
I wouldn't say that it was a different time, or anything about the circles I kept.
I'd go with:
Clearly, I was ignorant of the harm my costume could cause. In the seventeen years since that photo, I've learned a lot about Canada's history of racism and how harmful stereotypes further marginalized racialized Canadians. If I had better understood the iniquity that racialized Canadians faced, and continue to face, I never would have engaged in what I now recognize and denounce as a gross and harmful caricature.
My detractors imply that people can't change. They're wrong. People can change, and our town can change. I work hard to make this a thriving, welcoming community and I know that we shouldn't let anyone distract us from the important work we have to do.
That's what I was thinking. Most of the time when I see these black face photos surface the make up is like super patchy, clearly applied as like a last minute goof.
This shit looks professionally done. Look how well it's done on his hands especially. This took hours and at no point did he think "mayhap, just mayhap, I should consider a different costume, given I clearly have political aspirations"