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La Ronde T-shirt censorship draws complaint
Man told to cover T-shirt depicting Bob Marley, marijuana alleges racial profiling
Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010 | 1:24 PM ET
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Montreal’s La Ronde amusement park is defending a security guard who ordered a man to cover up his T-shirt depicting Bob Marley and marijuana because it violated the facility’s family-friendly dress code.
Brunaud Moïse wore a t-shirt with this image of Bob Marley. (CBC)
The T-shirt owner, Brunaud Moïse, said he is filing a complaint with Quebec’s Human Rights Commission against the amusement park, alleging he was a victim of racial profiling on Aug. 6.
Moïse said that after he had spent several hours at the amusement park security guards approached him and ordered him to turn his T-shirt inside out or leave the premises.
Moïse believes the guards targeted him because he’s black, and associated a black man wearing a Marley shirt with something criminal. “I was surprised, and I was also really insulted and humiliated,” he told CBC News.
La Ronde said it wasn’t Marley’s image that was offensive, but the garland of marijuana leaves that encircled his face.
Anything with rude, vulgar, offensive language or other graphics deemed not “family-friendly” is prohibited, park spokesman Martin Roy said in a written statement.
La Ronde says the image violates its code of conduct, which is displayed prominently at the amusement park. (CBC)
Moïse said he has a hard time believing the park’s rationale. “It’s mostly artistic [in] design. It has no values, specifically.”
La Ronde also noted that one of the security guards involved in the incident is black himself.
Montreal’s leading race relations watchdog said it doesn’t really matter who was involved at the amusement park.
“That connectivity of Bob Marley, of what he represents in a larger culture, and seeing the race element – again, we have to look at it in a larger context,” said Anthony Morgan, a civil rights advocate at the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRAAR).
Moïse is seeking damages, including reimbursement of his ticket. He also wants La Ronde and Six Flags to apologize to Marley’s family.
