Calgary's Muslim Mayor Speaks Out About Trudeau’s Brownface Scandal
On September 18, 2019 a photo surfaced of Justin Trudeau wearing brownface makeup at an Arabian Nights themed party in 2001. The photo resulted in nation-wide outrage. In response, Calgary’s Muslim mayor, Naheed Nenshi has spoken out about the events and the ramifications in a written account. Calgary Mayor's response to Trudeau's brownface photos is an absolute must-read for anyone following the scandal.
Naheed Nenshi was elected as Calgary's mayor in 2010, making him the first-ever Muslim mayor of a large North American city. In his emotional op-ed published in The Washington Post regarding Trudeau's problematic Aladin costume, Mayor Nenshi outlines what Canadians should take away from the events on a much larger scale than the Halloween costume.
Nenshi opens by saying that Trudeau's brownface costume was a stupid thing to do, even back in 2001. Though, he continues by saying that he does not believe Justin Trudeau to be a racist and that the Prime Minister has done "incredible things for pluralism” both in Canada and abroad. Furthermore, Nenshi believes Trudeau has apologized sincerely and further penance should not be demanded of him.
He continues to say that Trudeau’s competence and deservingness as Prime Minister of Canada should be judged "on the totality of his record" rather than solely on this incident. With that said, Mayor Nenshi takes this incident as an opportunity to discuss the root of the issue in an important conversation he believes all Canadians should have.
Nenshi's op-ed aims to prove that racism exists whether we like to acknowledge it or not. He outlines the fact that we literally have a political party in this year's election with promotional materials saying “Say NO to Mass Immigration.”
Moreover, he explains that Quebec has recently passed a law that disallows people who wear “conspicuous religious attire” from working specific public-sector jobs such as teachers and police officers. Islamophobic remarks were even made at MuslimFest in Ontario this month. This is happening right now in our country.
After outlining various other racially-fuelled issues Canada is facing, Nenshi explains that he is grateful every day to be Canadian and that he feels “there is no better place to have these conversations” than in Canada. “But we have to have them,” he continues.
“We cannot stand on moral high ground calling out leaders for offensive things they did, years ago, if we’re not also willing to stand up against the racist and discriminatory behaviour that’s right in front of our faces in 2019,” says Nenshi in The Washington Post.
Nenshi's op-ed says that we cannot only choose to advocate for equality and pluralism when it suits us. Whether it's online or in-person, a political leader or a stranger on the bus, "we need to be all-in, all the time," Nenshi writes.
According to him, people with the best intentions can still do careless things, and though those things do require both an apology and reflection, we must also focus on the bigger systemic picture.
Narcity has reached out to Mayor Nenshi's office for comment and we will update this story when we receive a response.
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