A St. Albert fire rescue vehicle.
St. Albert’s fire chief is apologizing for dressing up in blackface at a friend’s Halloween party he attended in 2016.
A photo of Bernd Gretzinger, who took on the role of fire chief in January, surfaced this week of him in a Lenny Kravitz costume, which included a wig, sunglasses and black makeup. At the time, he was the city’s deputy fire chief.
He said on Thursday he wasn’t aware of the history of blackface and how harmful it is.
“I apologize to anyone who I may have hurt by my actions,” he said. “I definitely have the deepest respect for people of all backgrounds and diversity. My whole career … has been building bridges and bringing people together and treating people the same. I realize this doesn’t build bridges, it breaks them apart.”
Gretzinger said the theme of the party was to dress up as your favourite musician or actor, which is why he chose Kravitz. He said he dressed up as the singer two or three times in the past, which included the makeup.
The photo of Gretzinger in blackface was posted on Facebook but he took it down a year ago and apologized for it.
“He’s the musician I dressed up as,” he said. “It was out of respect because that’s the guy I idolize.”
Gretzinger has since been suspended without pay for two weeks and will undergo additional training.
The City of St. Albert issued a news release decrying Gretzinger’s actions calling it “racially insensitive.”
The release doesn’t specifically mention Gretzinger by name but instead refers to him as a city employee.
“The employee has taken accountability for the mistake and is working to make amends, which is a positive step moving forward,” city CAO Kevin Scoble said in the release. “While the individual situation and the consequences of the actions will not be publicly discussed, as they are a personnel matter, the city is using the situation as an opportunity to educate staff on the importance of reflecting on their own actions, beliefs and experiences.”
The issue of blackface has received additional attention recently following the release of three photos of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau in blackface when he was younger.
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September 27, 2019 at 05:27AM
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