Ontario waterpark accused of using racist imagery
The Calypso Waterpark in Ottawa is being criticized over images displayed for their “Kongo expedition.”
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The Calypso Waterpark in Ottawa is being criticized over images displayed for their “Kongo expedition.”
The Calypso Waterpark in Ottawa is being criticized over images displayed for their “Kongo expedition.”
According to CTV News, a local man named Robin Browne has complained that the decorations on the ride are racist.
“Racist images like people in the U.S. South have on their lawn,” he said. “[It’s] like blackface, but really big ones looking like Africans with wild bulging eyes.”
He also points out when users go under a giant cauldron for a portion of the ride.
“[It] is totally a reference to the 1950s movie where they show Africans as cannibals,” he claimed.
If you have gone to Calypso water park & not said anything about the Images is African People cooking people in a cauldron, or the Big Menacing Guards in traditional garb, etc., you are complicit in upholding racism in Canada.https://t.co/I8Iftr6Bsq
— ??Leena ???????? (@CrazedIndianW)
He also sent a letter of complaint to the park in early July but has not yet received a response.
Browne is not the first person to feel this way. On TripAdvisor, a website where people review restaurants, bars, and attractions, numerous people believe the ride has racist undertones.
One of the review dates as far back as 2014.
The waterpark has not commented on this issue.
Calypso Waterpark is located just off the Trans-Canada Highway near Ottawa. On its website, it describes the “Kongo Expedition” ride.
“An old legend has it that there is a mystery at the end of this wave river. What could it be? Jump on a giant inner tube and let the waves transport you through an unexplored world.”
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