Justin's blackface pic on a T-shirt not part of the AC dress code

[mijbil]

Does anyone have the full story on this one? Is a cranky biscuit shooter overstepping her bounds and being a bit of a Karen, or is there a back story not told in the news article? RCMP sound like they were a bit thuggish also at least from this article. The guy is lucky he wasn't holding a stapler or he might have been tased to death like they did to the Polish guy in YVR a few years back, and then lied about it.
Another one for the "At AC we aren't happy until you're not happy" file.

Link here. It's a paywall so a cut and paste is below the link.
https://www.junonews.com/p/exclusive-ma ... rom-flight

A Nova Scotia man was removed from an Air Canada flight for wearing a shirt that featured an image of former prime minister Justin Trudeau in blackface, which a cabin crew member found to be “offensive.”
Daniel Greaves, 62, was sitting in his seat on a plane bound from Edmonton to Vancouver on July 8, waiting for the aircraft to leave the tarmac, when he was first notified of the problem regarding his clothing.
Greaves, who flies frequently to and from his work in northern Alberta, said he’d worn the shirt while flying before without any issue.
However, he was notified that a member of the cabin crew of flight AC245 took issue with the imagery on Greaves’ shirt, calling it “offensive” and “racial.”
The shirt featured an infamous image of Trudeau wearing a turban with black face paint.
He attempted to express to the flight attendant that the shirt was a comment about the former prime minister and not one about race.
Greaves, who felt that such a request violated his rights, decided to remain seated and asked the flight attendant to present him with documentation that would justify why he would have to be removed from the plane and miss his flight.
The flight attendant told him that his t-shirt was not up to the airline’s “dress code,” particularly because Trudeau was no longer in office, telling him that they too have a dress code and weren’t allowed “to wear bikinis.”
Greaves attempted to get his phone to record the exchange, but was told he was not permitted to record on the plane. However, he decided to record audio anyway, discreetly.
He was then asked to leave and walked off the plane on his own.
Several RCMP officers met Greaves at the boarding gate and told him he was being “detained” and could potentially face a charge of mischief. (In Canada that can be 7 years in jail after 10s of thousands in legal fees?)
In an audio recording provided to True North by Greaves, he can be heard asking an RCMP officer if he could reboard the plane if he turned the shirt inside out, to which the officer said he would ask the flight captain.
However, according to Greaves, moments later an officer grabbed the back of his elbow from behind him and he “flinched,” which resulted in him being “picked up and thrown on the ground.”
“This is the reason why you’re not on the plane. I’m trying to escort you out, and you want to start turning around and start flinching on me. This is why you’re not going anywhere,” said an RCMP officer after Greaves was taken to the ground.
“Then he put handcuffs on me,” Greaves told True North. “So I shut up and listened to them. They walked me down the stairs and let me go. I’m 63 in another week or so, 145 pounds. I’m not a big man.”
Before being released and uncuffed, Greaves was told by officers that he had been “disrupting the enjoyment of other people on the plane.”
“You were told to get off the plane because the captain chose that you could be a problem on the plane,” said the officer.
True North contacted the RCMP in Edmonton to verify whether there was any documentation of their exchange with Greaves.
“Upon arrival, officers met with an individual who was upset with being denied boarding on an aircraft. Upon being denied boarding, the individual was told to leave the secure side of the airport, which he did not comply, contrary to Section 139 (1) of the Canadian Aviation Security Regulations,” Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told True North.
Section 139 (1) states that if a person has been given notice, orally, in writing or by a sign, that access to a part of an aerodrome is prohibited or is limited to authorized persons, the person must not enter or remain in that part of the aerodrome without authorization.
“The male was detained in order to be escorted out of the restricted area of the airport. Once he complied, the male was released without charges,” said Savinkoff.
“From my understanding, the individual did have a t-shirt that had an image of former prime minister Trudeau. I won’t speculate on why he was denied boarding, as that is with the air carrier, and we dealt with the disturbance after the incident,” RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told True North.
Air Canada declined True North’s request for comment.

[JungleRiot]

Does anyone have the full story on this one? Is a cranky biscuit shooter overstepping her bounds and being a bit of a Karen, or is there a back story not told in the news article? RCMP sound like they were a bit thuggish also at least from this article. The guy is lucky he wasn't holding a stapler or he might have been tased to death like they did to the Polish guy in YVR a few years back, and then lied about it.
Another one for the "At AC we aren't happy until you're not happy" file.

Link here. It's a paywall so a cut and paste is below the link.
https://www.junonews.com/p/exclusive-ma ... rom-flight

A Nova Scotia man was removed from an Air Canada flight for wearing a shirt that featured an image of former prime minister Justin Trudeau in blackface, which a cabin crew member found to be “offensive.”
Daniel Greaves, 62, was sitting in his seat on a plane bound from Edmonton to Vancouver on July 8, waiting for the aircraft to leave the tarmac, when he was first notified of the problem regarding his clothing.
Greaves, who flies frequently to and from his work in northern Alberta, said he’d worn the shirt while flying before without any issue.
However, he was notified that a member of the cabin crew of flight AC245 took issue with the imagery on Greaves’ shirt, calling it “offensive” and “racial.”
The shirt featured an infamous image of Trudeau wearing a turban with black face paint.
He attempted to express to the flight attendant that the shirt was a comment about the former prime minister and not one about race.
Greaves, who felt that such a request violated his rights, decided to remain seated and asked the flight attendant to present him with documentation that would justify why he would have to be removed from the plane and miss his flight.
The flight attendant told him that his t-shirt was not up to the airline’s “dress code,” particularly because Trudeau was no longer in office, telling him that they too have a dress code and weren’t allowed “to wear bikinis.”
Greaves attempted to get his phone to record the exchange, but was told he was not permitted to record on the plane. However, he decided to record audio anyway, discreetly.
He was then asked to leave and walked off the plane on his own.
Several RCMP officers met Greaves at the boarding gate and told him he was being “detained” and could potentially face a charge of mischief. (In Canada that can be 7 years in jail after 10s of thousands in legal fees?)
In an audio recording provided to True North by Greaves, he can be heard asking an RCMP officer if he could reboard the plane if he turned the shirt inside out, to which the officer said he would ask the flight captain.
However, according to Greaves, moments later an officer grabbed the back of his elbow from behind him and he “flinched,” which resulted in him being “picked up and thrown on the ground.”
“This is the reason why you’re not on the plane. I’m trying to escort you out, and you want to start turning around and start flinching on me. This is why you’re not going anywhere,” said an RCMP officer after Greaves was taken to the ground.
“Then he put handcuffs on me,” Greaves told True North. “So I shut up and listened to them. They walked me down the stairs and let me go. I’m 63 in another week or so, 145 pounds. I’m not a big man.”
Before being released and uncuffed, Greaves was told by officers that he had been “disrupting the enjoyment of other people on the plane.”
“You were told to get off the plane because the captain chose that you could be a problem on the plane,” said the officer.
True North contacted the RCMP in Edmonton to verify whether there was any documentation of their exchange with Greaves.
“Upon arrival, officers met with an individual who was upset with being denied boarding on an aircraft. Upon being denied boarding, the individual was told to leave the secure side of the airport, which he did not comply, contrary to Section 139 (1) of the Canadian Aviation Security Regulations,” Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told True North.
Section 139 (1) states that if a person has been given notice, orally, in writing or by a sign, that access to a part of an aerodrome is prohibited or is limited to authorized persons, the person must not enter or remain in that part of the aerodrome without authorization.
“The male was detained in order to be escorted out of the restricted area of the airport. Once he complied, the male was released without charges,” said Savinkoff.
“From my understanding, the individual did have a t-shirt that had an image of former prime minister Trudeau. I won’t speculate on why he was denied boarding, as that is with the air carrier, and we dealt with the disturbance after the incident,” RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told True North.
Air Canada declined True North’s request for comment.

I find it more offensive that they deplaned him.

L air canada

[N181CS]

You can’t be offended, you can only take offence! To not allow a shirt change and to slam any person because of a natural human reaction, especially to such a minor thing…. This is why I don’t call the police and I will never deplane someone for something less than a very serious incident. I won’t call a level 4 and I will step in if I see a cop assault a person on the secure side. Cops, the world’s largest street gang.

[itsgrosswhatinet]

Take it up after the fact. This 'I'm not leaving my seat' thing never works out for them.

[digits_]

Take it up after the fact. This 'I'm not leaving my seat' thing never works out for them.

Doesn't it? It made the news now. People are talking about it. If he would have quietly deplaned, nobody would have known or cared.

I'm not sure how accurate the article is. The fact that they seem to talk about potential 7 years of jail time and then at the end quietly mention he was released without charges, does sound a little bit grotesque.

If it's all correct, it's especially sad that the complaint came from a flight attendant. I could somewhat understand if another passenger took offence, but this is an employee being paid to be there by their employer. If you can't have a bit of a bigger skin dealing with the travelling public, it might not be the job for you.
It's a t shirt with a well known picture.

On the other hand, if you want to wear political t shirts publicly, don't be surprised people respond to it. But that you get denied travelling, goes too far IMO. If what you're wearing is legal to wear in the terminal, then the airline should not have any business kicking you off the plane for your clothing choices.

[itsgrosswhatinet]

Indeed. It's legal to be topless in the terminal

[cdnavater]

Take it up after the fact. This 'I'm not leaving my seat' thing never works out for them.

Doesn't it? It made the news now. People are talking about it. If he would have quietly deplaned, nobody would have known or cared.

I'm not sure how accurate the article is. The fact that they seem to talk about potential 7 years of jail time and then at the end quietly mention he was released without charges, does sound a little bit grotesque.

If it's all correct, it's especially sad that the complaint came from a flight attendant. I could somewhat understand if another passenger took offence, but this is an employee being paid to be there by their employer. If you can't have a bit of a bigger skin dealing with the travelling public, it might not be the job for you.
It's a t shirt with a well known picture.

On the other hand, if you want to wear political t shirts publicly, don't be surprised people respond to it. But that you get denied travelling, goes too far IMO. If what you're wearing is legal to wear in the terminal, then the airline should not have any business kicking you off the plane for your clothing choices.

Plenty of information out there condemning blackface, brown face or any other colour that isn’t your own, to wear this shirt in a public setting is out of touch with the world.
The shirt doesn’t say whether he supports Trudeaus wearing of brown face or if he’s condemning it, the guy had to explain that part and if you have to explain you’re not a racist, it’s likely something you should only wear in your circle.
I have a couple shirts that say things that are not for everyone, I don’t wear them to a restaurant, I wear them hanging out with friends, it’s friggen common sense.
I’m sure this guy put up a stink because in his mind, what’s the problem? Perhaps the FA could have asked him to cover it up, perhaps a passenger complained to the FA about the offensive shirt but bottom line, if you’re arguing with aircrew, some will escalate it to deplaning you pretty quick, right or wrong, on the airplane is not the place to take your stand, if the police get involved it could be very bad for you.
Get off, ask to speak to a manager and then call CTV news with your story, they love this kind of stuff and it will be much better for you if the news is covering big bad Air Canada instead of videos of your arrest.

[digits_]

Plenty of information out there condemning blackface, brown face or any other colour that isn’t your own, to wear this shirt in a public setting is out of touch with the world.

So what? Plenty of people are out of touch with the world. Doesn't mean you've got to kick them off airplanes.
He was also not painting his face black, he was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of an ex prime minister in blackface. The horror.

The shirt doesn’t say whether he supports Trudeaus wearing of brown face or if he’s condemning it

Right. People don't know what he actually supports, but let's be offend either way!

if you’re arguing with aircrew, some will escalate it to deplaning you pretty quick, right or wrong, on the airplane is not the place to take your stand, if the police get involved it could be very bad for you.
Get off, ask to speak to a manager and then call CTV news with your story, they love this kind of stuff and it will be much better for you if the news is covering big bad Air Canada instead of videos of your arrest.

An airplane should also not be a magical place where special societal norms are applicable. If the shirt can be worn through security, at the bank, at a restaurant, in the grocery store, then why not in an airplane?

And yes, the crew have the right to throw anyone off the plane for any reason at that moment. But in these cases -again, assuming the information in the article is all correct, which it certainly might not be-, I'm quite happy people 'fight' back so these decisions get highlighted. The right to throw someone off the plane should not be abused for wearing a t-shirt. Passengers need to comply with valid crew instructions. Aircrew do not need to be moral gatekeepers.

The fact (or fear?) that other passengers might be offended is an extremely weak argument to kick someone off a plane.

[cdnavater]

“An airplane should also not be a magical place where special societal norms are applicable. If the shirt can be worn through security, at the bank, at a restaurant, in the grocery store, then why not in an airplane?”
Can I wear my cloak and hood out now, racism is racism! I guarantee there is somewhere this guy will wear this shirt and get punched in the face for it and that is his right!
I personally disagree that he was kicked off and people get offended real easy these days but wearing a shirt like that has a certain level of inevitability to it.

[itsgrosswhatinet]

An airplane should also not be a magical place where special societal norms are applicable.

It absolutely should be.

[fish4life]

If the person (Trudeau) can wear blackface and not face any real repercussions I find it hard to see why wearing a shirt of it is grounds to get kicked off a plane.
Personally I’d love to see pyjamas and general sloppy clothes banned from flying as well but it ain’t happening.