November 5, 2010 | 1:46 PM | By

The people who voted for them are guilty, too.

FILED UNDER: Privilege, That's racist.

A Canadian man in a confederate flag and Klan hood leads a former police officer in blackface with a noose around his neck. Their "costumes" took first place.

You know how people threaten to move to Canada if someone whom they dislike is elected, because America would then be intolerable and Canada is more civilized? Or how some of us assume that our neighbor to the North handles concepts like “diversity” and “tolerance” better than we do? Well, I was just sent a reminder that no nation is perfect:

A former police officer who donned blackface for Halloween as was led around on a rope by a friend dressed as a Klansman says it was a stupid mistake.

Terry Nunn says he is in “no way, shape or form” a racist and neither is his friend Blair Crowley.

The two won first prize at the Royal Canadian Legion Halloween party in Campbellford, Ont., Saturday night for their outfits.

Mr. Nunn tells Toronto radio station AM640 that he doesn’t believe in the Ku Klux Klan and he’s surprised someone complained to police.

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →

  • Ankita

    Interesting coincidence…just yesterday, I was traveling on the Turnpike in NJ and I saw a car with a license plate that started with the letters “KKK”…I didn’t think the DMV would issue or allow that…I guess not…

  • Anonymous

    I always do a double-take when I see license plates like that, too. I recently met a wonderful woman in D.C. who is not American, and when she gave me her calling card, I noticed her email address had “KKK” in it. I definitely paused. I don’t know her well enough to be certain, but I’m assuming that since she’s a person of color from abroad, she’s not declaring her allegiance to the Klan. Context is everything, right? Just like how Desis get unfairly slammed for swastikas…