The annual Dec. 5 tradition sees performers don blackface and afro wigs. But a growing number of Dutch citizens believe it's time to wave goodbye to Black Pete.
Scheherazade and the sultan by the Iranian painter Sani ol molk (1849-1856) in One Thousand and One Nights.
wikipedia
Aladdin draws on hundreds of years of anti-Muslim sentiment in western culture.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau listens to a question at a campaign rally in Saskatoon on Sept. 19, 2019, the day after images of him in blackface became public.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Justin Trudeau's use of blackface and Arab costumes has raised questions about his authenticity on diversity issues. It also highlights the ongoing discrimination faced by Arab and Muslim Canadians.
Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau apologised for wearing blackface as a teacher and a student.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The Canadian election has been dominated by old pictures of Justin Trudeau wearing blackface. Instead of focusing on Trudeau's poor behaviour, a larger discussion is needed to act on systemic racism.
College yearbook editors in the 1960s juxtaposed pictures of traditional campus activities, such as Greek Life, alongside images of protests and marches.
The Kentuckian, 1968
Recent blackface scandals that involve college yearbooks have overshadowed how yearbooks also chronicled important turning points in the history of US higher education, a historian argues.
A Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington, D.C., in 1926.
Everett Historical from www.shutterstock.com
Schools do a poor job of teaching about America's legacy of white supremacy, and the blackface scandal of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is proof, a scholar who researches racial discrimination says.
1899 lithograph of white minstrel performer Carroll Johnson depicted in blackface, right.
Library of Congress
The public was shocked by the blackface image on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's yearbook page. But if blackface is now taboo, there was a time when it played a big role in American culture.
Megyn Kelly appears on the set of her show, ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ at NBC Studios in New York on September 21, 2017. Kelly questioned why dressing up in blackface is wrong. Kelly now says she understands that she needs to be more sensitive.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Invision - Charles Sykes
Many claim the offensive part about blackface is from a long time ago and claim blackface costumes, especially at Halloween, are innocent fun. What could be the harm?
Rapper Drake watches the action at an NBA game in Toronto in 2016. A recent battle between Drake and Pusha-T brought the issue of blackface back into the headlines.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
Is blackface ever innocent? Is it less racist when a Black person enacts it as a statement of resistance? Because of our history of deep and ongoing racism in Canada, the answer is no.
Furores over blackface happen with disturbing regularity in Australia. To help explain why blackface is more than a simple case of harmless parody - or even honouring your hero - we must understand its harmful history.