S.C. politician says he was ‘smeared’ by surfacing of blackface photo
Brant Tomlinson, who is running for a county council seat, says that the picture was a Halloween photo in which he was dressed as a character from a favorite movie
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A white South Carolina County Council candidate is under fire after a blackface photo of him surfaced on social media.
Brant Tomlinson is blaming his opponent who is running against him for trying to tarnish his name by circulating the photo which has gone viral on social media, reports Columbia, S.C., television station WACH reported.
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But while Tomlinson, who is running for a seat in Kershaw County, admits that it was clearly him in photo with offensive blackface painted on, he fired back about the picture but has yet to apologize for his senseless act. He said in a statement:
“One of my opponents has apparently paid an antagonist to distribute a photograph in an effort to misrepresent my reputation.
“If it is the photo that has been shown to me, it was taken during my junior year in college in 2008 at a Halloween party where we were dressed as the Jamaican Bobsled Team from the popular movie and one of my all-time favorite movies – Cool Runnings.
“It is unfortunate that local candidates have now resorted to the same type of toxic smear campaigns that have infected the political discourse at state and national level. We will continue to focus on issues that address how we can provide a brighter future for families across Kershaw County.”
The incident is similar to another one earlier this year in Brooklyn, N.Y., in which a school sent out an announcement for a fundraiser that included pictures of the PTA members in blackface.
The PTA of Public School 118, The Maurice Sendak Community School, sent out the announcements for a 1920s speakeasy-themed fundraiser. Now, the NYC Department of Education is investigating after a “concerned community member” sent pictures of the “all-white PTA executive board” posing for “horrid pictures of blackface.”
The community member also sent those pictures to the New York Daily News.
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The PTA’s co-president, Nadine Baldasare, issued an apology for the announcement and took responsibility for the oversight.
“There are no acceptable excuses for how this happened (it was late, I was tired, I was rushing, etc.) because no excuse can change what I know to be true. My privilege as a white person requires that I be conscientious, engaged and informed when representing our community and promoting events,” Baldasare wrote.
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