Dear Allan,

As an organization, Facing History and Ourselves is committed to supporting you and your students engage with current events. We know that bringing these moments into the classroom can be challenging: the news cycle moves quickly, the issues can spark strong feelings, and classroom time is tight. But we also know that grappling with current events is an essential part of educating young people to be informed and humane participants in a democracy.

We have all been closely following the evolving news of Prime Minister Trudeau’s recent admittance and public regret for participating in the disturbing practice of “brown and blackface”. We know that students are also seeing the images, following the news and listening to the public discourse on this topic. We want you to know that we are here to offer you support and resources to discuss this in your classroom.  

The lesson and links below will support you in having historically informed and nuanced conversations on the topic of “black and brownface” and will allow you to shape the dialogue in a way that's above the political fray or the choice of any one individual.

This lesson was not written for this specific incident in Canada, but was developed last February after a photograph was circulated of a Governor in Virginia wearing “blackface”. The lesson will provide helpful historical background and questions that you can bring to your classroom. You will easily be able to “translate” the lesson to our current moment in Canada, but please feel free to contact us if you need any additional support. The following resources will be helpful as you explore the lesson from our Canadian context. 

• View Historica Canada’s Black History timeline, which highlights the history of racial segregation and exclusion of Black Canadians in Canada
• Know that blackface incidents and mistrel shows have existed in Canada for over a century.  McGill University published a timeline of Canadian blackface incidents
• This article from CBC, and this article, published in The Conversation explore the nuances and problems of brown and blackface

Feel free to share the lesson with colleagues, but please be sure and send this framing along with it.  

Thanks for all that you do everyday!