One of the Cleveland area’s most popular Halloween events of the year is the annual “Spooky Pooch” parade in Lakewood. For the seasonal festivities, owners and their furry friends dress in matching costumes for a panel of judges and walk in a parade for the community to enjoy.
This year, that included a ton of cute pups and dazzling costumes, and some dude in blackface.
It isn’t clear how many people saw the costume, but the non-profit that hosts the event every year, LakewoodAlive, posted a since-removed video where, in the background, the man donning blackface makeup while dressed as Tiger Woods can be seen.
“This racist costume should never have been allowed in the event,” said Alison Meredith in a Facebook comment to organizers. She continued:
“The participant should have been stopped at registration, and when that failed should have been pulled from the parade at whatever point an organizer saw it, even at the risk of ‘causing a scene’. The tepid response and shrugging off of responsibility are making a terrible situation much worse. You allowed a blatant and disgusting display of racism in your event that was advertised as being for the community. At the absolute least the community is owed an apology and a clear plan for future events that includes advertised guidelines and a firm zero tolerance of racist costumes, speech, actions, etc, and accountability from the organizers and event team that they will not allow something like this to happen to again.”
A few hours ago, almost a day later, LakewoodAlive posted their official response to the complaints, acknowledging that the man’s participation should never have been allowed.
Commenters were nonetheless displeased that it seemed posts tagging LakewoodAlive were being deleted. Director Ian Andrews addressed that in a post attempting to explain.
That explanation leaves a lot to be desired.
Just a reminder: Don’t wear blackface, for Halloween or ever.
This article appears in Oct 17-23, 2018.
I get it, he dressed as Tiger Woods. But I’m sure ONE person made an issue of it, and here we are again, responding with the typical political PC “Oh, I’m so sorry” crap. Folks, people are being slaughtered all over the world, governments are corrupt, children are dying, women are inprisioned in sexual slavery, puppies are being tortured, our world is being over run with terrorism, we are on the brink of bio-chemical genocide …. don’t we have bigger, better things to worry about? Seriously, lighten up.
Poor taste, yes. An issue? Not even close. Stop apologizing.
^^^^^
What he said! I thought costume was awesome and relevant
What the hell have these Pooky Spooch folks been doing for the past ten years? You mean they never bothered to monitor what the parade participants have been wearing or doing BEFORE now? And now ONE shmuck sends everyone into a tizzy? Yes, it was stupid and in poor taste, and quite unamusing , but what the hell was his point? Tiger Woods owns a dog? Someone can wear blackface if they want to? What was he even trying to SAY?
For all those in an uproar and going apeshit on Facebook and wherever else…black greasepaint may be disgusting and racist, but it is not yet illegal. Would they really have created an incident and draged him off the street? Why aren’t they “policing ” this event beforehand? And just a hypothetical what-if here…what happens if somebody dons (ouch) ORANGE facepaint and a blonde wig? What then?
So, because of ONE a-hole, and one or two clowns who are “offended”…a happy occasion and a family-friendly, low-key, laid-back event becomers a “cause” and is invaded by political correctness, as is so much else these days.
And you know what? It looks like almost everything BJ writes about or covers has to do with some “issue” or “cause” or “social justice” or “injustice”. Is that whey they enticed her here from Chicago? To be the “Issue Editor” for SCENE? More and more column inches “speaking out” about this or that “outrage” or “horror… be it political, racial, sexual, gender-related, blah, blah, blah.
These outraged horror stories are getting old and tiresome…and I’m a leftist, fer chrissake. Lighten up already, will ya? Can’t you write about something non-controversial for at least ONE DAY?
I’m going as BJ for Halloween.
Get that black lipstick and blue eye shadow now…you won’t be able to find any by next week.
I think BJ and this Alison Meredith should get together and go bowling..
This is the most absolutely absurd thing I have ever heard of! Where you do people get the idea that the costume is racist??? Who’s to say that they’re not the biggest Tiger Woods fans EVER?? It’s a golf costume, people. It’s a shame that our world is this unbelievably unreasonable. Get a life people and leave this poor couple and their dog alone.
Could have just been honoring Tiger’s Thai heritage.
I love when things happen like this because it helps me convince my spouse that living in Cleveland is a bad idea.
If you’re already here, GTFO…you won’t be missed.
If you’re somewhere else, STFU…you don’t know jackshit.
I don’t think the organizers can be held responsible if they are few in number. This guy may not even have registered, he may have slipped in somewhere along the route. Blaming it on them does not seem right. From now on they could simply put on the registration form something about having costume in “good taste” and if the organizer deem it not in good taste you could be asked to leave.