Trudeau: I Apologize My ‘Layers of Privilege’ Made Me Not Understand Blackface Is Racist

Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for wearing blackface make-up on at least three separate occasions.

Trudeau said, “What I did hurt them. Hurt people who shouldn’t have to face intolerance and discrimination because of their identity. This is something that I deeply, deeply regret. Darkening your face regardless of the context or the circumstances is always unacceptable, because of the racist history of blackface. I should have understood that then, and I never should have done it.”

He added, “I shared the moments that I recollected. But I recognize that it is something absolutely unacceptable to do. And, you know, I appreciate calling it makeup, but it was blackface. And that is just not right. It is something that people who live with the kind of discrimination that far too many people do because of the color of their skin or their history or their origins or their language or their religion face on a regular basis and I didn’t see that from the layers of privilege that I have. And for that, I am deeply sorry, and I apologize.”

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