CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — A southern Indiana police captain has apologized for a blackface Halloween costume and his department plans to update sensitivity training following the disclosure.
The News and Tribune reports it was recently made aware of Facebook photos showing Clarksville Capt. Joel DeMoss, a 20-year veteran of the department who is white, dressed as rapper Kanye West, who is black.
The officer said in a statement Tuesday that he and his wife attended a party four years ago dressed as West and his wife, Kim Kardashian, and he was “uneducated on the meaning of blackface.” He says he’s since educated himself on the history of blackface and it’s something he’d “never do again.”
Recent disclosures about people wearing blackface have angered and frustrated many black people, who say it’s mocking and demeaning.
