No excuses for racists costumes at the Legion

No excuses for racists costumes at the Legion | Joe Warmington | Columnists | News | Toronto Sun

CAMPBELLFORD - Will this pretty little place on the Trent River ever survive the day the KKK came to town?

“Of course,” said Mark Andrade, one of very few black residents here. “This is a great town and one I call home and have no plans to ever leave.”

But they won’t soon forget it.

Andrade, owner of popular Rubbs Barbeque Bistro, still finds himself in disbelief at being face to face with someone at a Halloween party at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 103 Sunday dressed in a white sheet and coned hood of a Ku Klux Klan member, draped in a Confederate flag dragging around another person with his face painted black and a noose around his neck.

 

Disgusting, the Legion officials at the branch should have known better. The uniform is one thing but walking around with a "lynched slave" is another thing.

Priceless. Slavery may have been officially abolished "years and years" ago but racism, the KKK, etc are still present and for some people, their brutality is still in living memory.

 

Seems to me like a over reaction, I guess one cannot be politically correct enough these days.

My daughter went out as an Indian Chief, hope she didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

KTK

 

dressing as an Indian Chief isn't exactly the same as dressing as a KKK member and a lynched slave :/

 

Unfortunately there are racists everywhere. The odd thing is the man apologized... I find it weird for a kkk or skinhead to apologize for being hateful....

 

Unfortunately there are folks who would consider my daughter racist, but that's the point of my first post. There are always some who would wish to see stupidity as racist and then there are some who believe all that disagree with them as racist.

This incident falls pretty much under the heading of stupid in my opinion, I would have to assume that a racist would be smarter than that.

KTK

 

In some ways the fact that the man and committee did this without realising that there might be a reaction is disturbing.

In other ways it could be that it indicates that the issue is no longer in the forefront of certain peoples minds, which might be a good or a bad thing.

 

Native Americans, First Nations, etc weren't persecuting white settlers, terrorizing them at night, lynching them, etc unless a war had broken out, in most cases it was the European nations who started it first. If anything, they were on the receiving end of such actions most of the time, especially in the States.

Sorry but I don't see the connection between the KKK outfit complete with a lynched slave in blackface where an entire Legion committee gave them awards for such an action and Native Americans/First Nations tribal wear which also has various positive notions in North American history. I'm sure not all of them were racist, but it seems they are all partially stupid for not saying anything.

I should disclaim by saying out of those that knew anyway, the KKK never really took off here/was well known. Nazism [mostly Neo] and Communism seem to have been the main ones.

An old professor of mine who is originally from Texas told us stories about seeing lynch mobs "on the prowl" around that time as well. I don't remember if they had done anything that day.

 

One could argue though that stupidity is a cause of racism.

 

Its not political correctness, calling a person reenacting a Heer or Red soldier a racist would be political correctness. These people SHOULD know better!

 

thats just sick.

 

Read in the paper this morning that the police have been investigating it and found it is not criminal in nature but investigations are still on going. I do wonder how this will impact the Legion though, especially public perceptions.

 

I bet some heads will roll at the Legion

 

Didn't Prince Harry dress up as a SA member or something at a costume party years ago? He should have thought about that twice.

 

he had to afterwards - got a lot of flak - wasn't quite as bad taste as the slave though

 

Does it make me racist that one year, i went out on halloween wearing my Artikllery Majors tunic and peaked visor? Heh heh, a Cop stopped me but not to give me a ticket-he wanted to buy the tunic and cap-I had to decline as im srtill not finished complete ing the uniform.