Peru official confirms dressing in blackface during a 2013 Halloween party

A top-ranking city official in Peru has acknowledged dressing in blackface as part of a costume he wore to a Halloween party almost 10 years ago.

Eric Carls, Peru’s director of engineering and zoning, who is white, confirmed that he appeared in a since-deleted photo that had been posted on his Facebook page in which he dressed in blackface during a Halloween party Oct. 25, 2013.

“It’s not racist in any way or intended to be racist in any way,” Carls said. “At the time, it was probably a poor choice in a Halloween group. I mean, it wasn’t just me, as you can see – there were many of us that dressed up as the basketball team from this movie.”

The group dressed up as characters from the movie “Semi-Pro,” a 2008 sports comedy that included Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson and Andre Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000 from the rap group Outkast.

Carls used makeup to darken the skin color of his face, hands and arms and dress as the character Clarence “Coffee Black” Withers, played in the movie by Benjamin. In the photo, he’s seen wearing an afro wig, headband and Tropics T-shirt under the caption “Jackie Moon & Coffee Black just playing pick up in the Valley!” In the photo, Carls was the only person dressed in blackface.

Shaw Local News Network received a screenshot of the photo from an individual who declined to go on the record. Given Carls’ role in the city and the matter being of public interest, Shaw Local News Network approached Carls for comment on the photo.

“There’s no ill intent in it. It was a Halloween costume,” Carls said. “I have a lot of African American friends, I have a lot of Hispanic friends, I have a lot of Oriental friends. I’m not a racist person in any manner.”

The Peru City Council approved a $33,000 raise for Carls in December, citing the variety of work he does for the city and his job performance. The move increased his pay to $165,000 annually, making him among the highest-paid municipal staff members in La Salle County.

Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski said he had been unaware of the photo and that Carls wasn’t an employee at the time it was taken. In his time as mayor, Kolowski said, he’s had “no issues whatsoever” with Carls.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Kolowski said. “I can say at the time Eric Carls has been at the city of Peru he’s been nothing but an excellent employee.

“It’s a sensitive subject in the world we live in today,” the mayor added. “I think everyone would recognize we all make mistakes. I’m not speaking for Eric at all. I think we all make mistakes in our lives, we apologize for them and try to move on.”

The photo no longer is posted on Carls’ Facebook page. Carls said he doesn’t recall when or how it was deleted because of the length of time since he took it down. The photo was taken when Carls was 32 years old and about seven months before Carls was hired at the city.

“Looking back, I probably wouldn’t make that choice again knowing society and the way it is,” Carls said, later adding, “At the time, in my mind, it’s just a Halloween costume and we’re all dressing up and going to a Halloween party.”

The Rainbow Push Coalition is a Chicago-based nonprofit founded by the Rev. Jesse Jackson that focuses on social justice, civil rights and political activism. The organization led a rally in October 2021 in Peru and La Salle, in which hundreds of individuals marched and called for answers into the death investigation of Jelani Day, a Black Illinois State University graduate student.

Acting National Executive Director Tavis Grant, who was shown the photo, said the photo is “crass” and “tasteless.”

“It depicts the very images and language associated with racism and the vestiges of cultural acceptance by white privilege,” Grant said. “No matter how far back this occurred, it is still unacceptable today.”

Recently, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam have been involved in similar controversies. Trudeau apologized after a photo emerged of him wearing brownface during his school days.

Blackface was originated by white actors performing in minstrel shows who would darken their skin with polish to look stereotypically “Black.”

Joseph Flynn is an associate professor at Northern Illinois University with a research background in multiculturalism, race and social justice education. He’s also the executive director for equity and inclusion at NIU.

Flynn said blackface and minstrel shows are a relic of a deeply racist society that perpetuated stereotypes of Black people as being dangerous, savage, compliant and lazy, among other things. Because these shows took place before mass media, Flynn said, a vaudeville show was many people’s first and only representation of Black people.

“The so-called jokes became a reality and constructed how Black Americans were viewed,” Flynn said, later adding, “It was a tool of oppression, and I think that’s a message people really need to understand. The use of blackface had a profound impact on how people saw African Americans.”

Grant said blackface is part of the institution of racism and implicit racial bias, when an individual is unaware of acting in discriminatory ways.

“Black and brown people have to live with the pain, historically, of people who see our race and culture as comical,” Grant said. “While he refuses to apologize, we refuse to be demoralized.”

Carls said the incident is not a fair depiction of his character.

“I think my reputation, if you ask around, I hope it precedes itself,” he said. “I’ve been a community guy my whole life. I volunteer a lot of time, whether it was coaching grade school basketball or youth leagues or different nonprofit organizations, volunteering time, the stuff I do here at the city.

“I think I’m a pretty stand-up person in the community. Somebody putting this out there, trying to imply or represent I might be a racist individual, I think, is very unfair. I can’t say it enough – it’s a Halloween party at the time over a decade ago.”