BigJonsson
Member
Haha yea, I was worried you were one of the people that blamed Vaughan for electing Ford =/
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Mayor of Toronto John Tory Defends "Ridiculous" Blackface: "Get Over It"
- Thread starter CazTGG
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Haha yea, I was worried you were one of the people that blamed Vaughan for electing Ford =/
I know this is offensive in the US but I can understand a lot of people in Canada would not realise it was and would not intend it to be. I don't know his intention but it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Looks like he dressed up as MJ, probably for a party or something. I know my kids would have no idea this was considered offensive, its not part of our history.
As an NHL player he should remember the internet rage the last guy got so he should know better.
As an NHL player he should remember the internet rage the last guy got so he should know better.
FrankCanada97
Roughly the size of a baaaaaarge
None of this would have made the news if Smitherman won in 2010. It would have been brushed aside as another radio host making stupid comments.
Disclosure: I voted for Smitherman in 2010 and Tory in 2014. I would have voted for Chow, but Tory ended up being more likely to defeat Doug Ford.
Disclosure: I voted for Smitherman in 2010 and Tory in 2014. I would have voted for Chow, but Tory ended up being more likely to defeat Doug Ford.
Now you're using technicalities to muddy the issue when you knew exactly what I meant.
And to clarify for the other people:
City of Toronto = the formerly separate municipalities of East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Toronto, and York. Formerly called Metro Toronto. Each of these municipalities used to have their own Mayor until amalgamation in 1998. There's only one municipality now and those outside of it can't vote.
GTA = City of Toronto + Durham Region + York Region + Peel Region + Halton Region.
Please stop confusing them and using them interchangeably.
gutter_trash
Banned
Canadians consume 90% of their pop culture from American media.
Trying to play ignorant isn't a viable excuse, seriously
Bozak could possibly get traded, but it has zero to do with this. This happened in 2012 and he's already explained that Michael Jackson was one of his favorite artists so he wanted to dress up like him.
Blackface is not part of Pop culture. Its not like its on TV all the time. Like I said this guy should know better because of the last guy but I don't know if he was even in the league at the time.
Apparently this was years ago so it may have been before the Jay Z/Beyonce incident.
Silver Arrows
Banned
And so that means participating in blackface?
dave is ok
aztek is ok
He nailed Michael Jackson's iconic maroon windbreaker
Carding was not outlawed and is not illegal in Toronto, all Tory did was make some slight changes that kept the general system intact. Whatever his views were in 2015, the statement he made in 2016 says otherwise as his actions don't reflect his words. Private individuals can and do change their mind on various topics.
Just cause he's ignorant doesn't mean he's racist. I don't get what your point is here?
Yes and no. The mayor can't really do a whole lot without the content of a majority of the council so... it's part of what softened a lot of the damage during the Ford era. But the city government and budget itself is extraordinarily lean.
gutter_trash
Banned
In 2012 he had no excuse for being ignorant on blackface, especially considering Raffi Torres got shit on for doing it just a year earlier.
You know what it's called when you willingly ignore shit like this and do it anyway? Racist.
Silver Arrows
Banned
Fucking exactly.
He's not willingly ignoring it, he didn't think it was racist. In his eyes he's paying tribute to his idol. That by definition is ignorant on his part.
Silver Arrows
Banned
There are many ways to pay tribute to your idol. So many ways that AREN'T BLACKFACE
What are you on about? Not everyone watches fucking PBS documentaries. It was clearly not his intention to be offensive. I personally do not feel dressing up as someone you idolize is offensive.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Is it wrong that I'm distracted and confused by the fact the photo was taken in what appears to be a big ass empty house
We're going around in circles here. I agree it was stupid and ignorant on his part, but he wasn't even aware that he was being racist by wearing blackface. It's a failing on his part, but he probably won't do it again after that so at least he's now learned.
Silver Arrows
Banned
Like, this is some Zwarte Piet levels of denial about the fact that blackface, whether you are ignorant to the intent of it or not, is racist.
Like, it's so goddamn frustrating to see this, every single fucking time blackface is mentioned.
Like, it's so goddamn frustrating to see this, every single fucking time blackface is mentioned.
Dongs Macabre
aka Daedalos42
Damn, every single blackface thread.
He was 100% aware it was racist from just a year earlier. He chose to ignore that fact.
Silver Arrows
Banned
Might as well be a bingo card, with that as the free space.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Canadians still play dumb about dressing in indigenous people clothing for Halloween is not offense or they didn't know. I don't actually believe Canadian's are so naive to not understand this more so than they just know there are not many black people to call them out on it.
No one who even vaguely knows me would have the balls to do this for example. The same way all the rapping turns to mumbling when i am in the room during a rap song.
I would ideally not want to normalize pretending to be black as socially acceptable. That makes it a big deal to me.
You should teach your kids about this maybe. They may have to actually interact with black people. They should be equiped to know why painting your face may be problematic.
He should maybe just learn about the history of blackface? Take 10 minutes?
We don't like to be gathered....
I see a MJ costume, and some brown makeup. I wouldn't be offended at this if I was at a party and dude showed up. It's MJ. His response makes it worse than it is though. He could have just said he was a huge fan, and did something he now realizes is insensitive... vs. Lol get over it!!!
Edit:
At said party, I'd definitely refer to him as "dude wearing blackface." And make fun of him for doing it. But it's not line when people do it with watermelon and welfare checks.
You can almost set your watch by it.
Silver Arrows
Banned
How hard is it to follow this rule, really?
But of course, it's about 'idolizing' and if he was being ignorant about it, oh well, nothing you can do about it.
Fuck no.
There is something you can do about it. DON'T DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Dress up. Don't paint yourself. See you next thread, I'm sure..
Intention does not matter ta all, man its like we been over this millions of times.
Silver Arrows
Banned
It's a goddamn circular motion. An ouroboros of people not thinking.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Hahaha gawd damn.
I'm 50/50 about whethernI would say anything at a party. Because I don't wanna argue about this shit onna night that is suppose to be fun. Then again it's just so motherfucking stupid it deserves to be called out.
But then how will I get into a Gretzky costume if I can't literally crawl into his skin? /s
We all are not in the same place or culture. Yes I understand some people may be offended. I myself do not worry about offending people over stupid shit like this. I see many of you are, offending people is not a crime. You have every right to be offended but to me this is a no harm no foul situation. I don't see this as a clear black face with the intention of oppressing, discriminating and or mocking black people.
Silver Arrows
Banned
You know, I really hate to bring this part out, because it's a pretty big strawman but:
What would be the reaction if Bozak came out in a full 'Arabic terrorist' garb and painted skin, right in front of Nazem Kadri, who is on the same Leafs team and is a fully practicing Muslim?
Same thing as dressing as MJ in blackface: you don't do it.
arrrrrghhhhhhhh
And this is from Wikipedia.
I would tell the person I was putting the picture up online to show how racist they were acting.
Actually he was 0℅ aware of the fact it's racist when he said "hey I don't get why people are saying it's racist". What's so hard to understand about that?
Fallout-with-swords
Banned
Wonder what Ovie's opinion on this topic would be.
Silver Arrows
Banned
People don't want to fess up to the fact that blackface is inherently racist. They want to dance around the idea that there can be ignorance towards it.
You do you man. If being offensive is how some people get off, fine.
I'll just do my best in my life to fight the normalization of racism where ever I see it. I apologize if that is offensive to some racists.
Tis social awareness. Might make them google. That's just my personality. I don't think it would nose dive the party.
Had to call a coworker out for describing some kid as mulatto. She was American..Californian.(the one using mulatto) I did it in a joking way so it wasn't super awkward. Just said some folks might be offended by that.. and even I got yelled at for saying it once when I was younger.. to soften the blow.
Silver Arrows
Banned
And you'd think, with the reputation of being a 'kind' and 'respectful' country, Canada would be the first in line to try and combat the normalization of racism, especially in regards to blackface and the fact that it was literally birthed by racism.
But nope! We have people willingly being ignorant in regards to this.
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