Australian cruise passengers shocked as staff dress up as KKK members

Cruise staff seemingly dressed up as white supremacist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members during a Christmas-themed event, horrifying passengers as they marched by the swimming pool.P&O Cruises Australia issued an apology after footage surfaced online of a group of eight staff walking through the pool deck of the ship wearing their white cleaning uniforms and pointy hats“Is this appropriate for 2024?” a passenger captioned the clip after uploading it to Facebook.The cruise company says the housekeeping crew had no idea what they looked like when they chose to dress up as “upside down snow cones” for the event during a Pacific Explorer voyage from Melbourne to Hobart in December.“We regret if a recent incident on a Pacific Explorer cruise offended any guests,” a P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson told news.com.au.“Several crew members dressed up as snow cones for a Christmas family event, not understanding how their costumes could be misconstrued.”The spokesperson explained the crew were only in public view for a short time before management acted quickly and had them remove the costumes.“The crew members were horrified and extremely apologetic when they learned of the distress their outfits could cause.”Kl Klux Klan, commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, was a racist group who notoriously hunted down black people to hang them from trees, and left burning crosses in the front yards of the homes of black families.Lynne Scrivens, communications director of P&O Cruises Australia, explained the housekeeping crew are from all over the world and “never heard of the organization” when management pulled them aside to immediately remove their outfits.“No one can seriously think that was their intention,” she told 2GB host Ben Fordham on Wednesday.“They are limited with what resources they have on ships,” she said, adding they make do with what they have when it comes to costumes.They were so distressed … they really are so hardworkin...