What were you doing when you were 29? Working? Buying a condo? Getting married? Dressing up in blackface and brownface at parties?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
As Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau tries to extricate himself from an increasingly inextricable situation, one question looms large: how could a grown man, an educated man who sought to educate others, possibly think this was OK?
In his late-night press conference aboard the Liberal campaign plane, Trudeau offered an explanation, and an apology.
“In 2001, when I was a teacher in Vancouver, I attended a gala. The theme was Arabian Nights. I 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,” Trudeau said.
“I take responsibility for my decision to do that. … It was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognize it was something racist to do and I am deeply sorry.”