St. Albert fire chief suspended for two weeks over blackface incident
St. Albert fire chief suspended for two weeks over blackface incident
Thu Sep 26 20:31:18 EDT 2019
EDMONTON—The City of St. Albert has suspended its fire chief for two weeks without pay over an incident of him wearing blackface at a private function three years ago, the chief confirmed Thursday.
He said he had no further comment on the incident.
Blackface is the practice of wearing dark-coloured makeup, historically to mock Black people. It’s widely acknowledged as offensive and has historical ties to slavery and the Jim Crow era in the United States.
In a Thursday news release, St. Albert’s chief administrative officer says the actions of Bernd Gretzinger, who apologized on Wednesday, were racially insensitive and not consistent with the city’s culture.
The city says it is using the incident as an opportunity to “educate staff on the importance of reflecting on their own actions, beliefs and experiences.”
On Wednesday, Star Edmonton reported that
Gretzinger wore blackface at a party three years ago as part of a Lenny Kravitz costume. He apologized and said he recognizes the incident was wrong.
In a statement, St. Albert chief administrative officer Kevin Scoble said the actions were racially insensitive and says the employee has taken accountability for the mistake and is “working to make amends, which is a positive step forward.”
He said they won’t be publicly discussing the individual situation or the consequences of Gretzinger’s actions. But they did say they’re using it as an opportunity to educate staff on how to conduct themselves in order to better align with the city’s culture and values.
“Staff are further encouraged to incorporate those values into their decisions and behaviours in the workplace and when off duty,” the statement said.
Malinda S. Smith, a political scientist at the University of Alberta and one of the authors of “The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities,” said she’s not surprised to see that people who have never experienced discrimination don’t necessarily understand the significance of wearing blackface.
“For racialized people, racism has been an ordinary everyday experience. We didn’t need blackface or brownface to bring that to our attention … What it does though, it tells you how unchecked their behaviour was and how little we have done to actually grapple with the history of racism in Canada,” she said.
But she said while the issue of racism has come to the forefront of the news cycle as a result of federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s blackface scandal, the discussion has been largely superficial and performative.
“You haven’t seen (political) parties come out and say this is what an anti-racist program of action would look like,” she added. “In fact, you will see the same people who are criticizing blackface then go ahead and reproduce Indigenous peoples as mascots.”
Rather than focusing on the action of any individual, Smith would like to see the conversation shift to understanding the existence and impacts of systemic, institutional and cultural racism in Canada.
“It’s an opportunity for us to have a larger conversation about the history of racism in Canada and how its durable effects continue to reverberate in the everyday lives of Black (people) and people of colour and Indigenous peoples.”
Omar Mosleh is an Edmonton-based reporter covering inner-city issues, affordable housing and reconciliation. Follow him on Twitter: @OmarMosleh
