An AFL fan has gone to ground after dressing up in blackface make-up to impersonate injured AFL star Nic Naitanui.
Zak Calvert joked about the West Coast Eagles ruckman’s knee injury by donning a yellow jersey, some dark face paint and an Afro wig.
He posted the image to his 140 Facebook followers on Saturday afternoon as Naitanui, who has Melanesian Fijian ancestry, missed out on playing in the grand final, where the Collingwood Magpies were narrowly defeated in the final quarter, 79 to 74.
Zak Calvert joked about the West Coast Eagles ruckman’s knee injury by donning a jersey and some dark face and body paint to impersonate Nic Naitanui
He posted the image to Facebook on Saturday afternoon as Naitanui, whose has Melanesian Fijian ancestry, missed out on playing in the grand final against Collingwood
‘Since I won’t be playing I’ll get to spend the time with my pals,’ he said.
The image, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, was soon deleted.
Daily Mail Australia also sought a right-of-reply from Calvert.
Last month, three Australian amateur league football players painted their faces black to impersonate African-American tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams.
Tasmanian Penguin Football Club players Mitch Stanley and Matt Chamberlain wore blackface make-up and wigs to impersonate the Williams sisters, while another player, Beau Grundy, stood between his teammates dressed as Sydney Swans player Aliir Aliir, who was born in Kenya to South Sudanese parents.
Tasmanian footy players Mitch Stanley and Matt Chamberlain impersonated the Serena and Venus Williams sisters, while Beau Grundy as Sydney Swans player Aliir Aliir, who is African
Zac Calvert was impersonating an AFL player who ancestors hailed from Fiji, where South Sea Islanders were shipped to Queensland sugarcane fields to be used as indentured labour
Blackface make-up is controversial because it was commonly used during the early 19th century in the United States in Minstrel shows, where white vaudeville actors impersonated Africans, who were used as slaves until after the Civil War of 1860 to 1865.
Minstrel shows and blackface make-up continued to feature in popular American culture after the Civil War, particularly during the Jim Crow era of the late 1870s which saw the introduction of racial segregation laws, mainly in the southern states which previously had slavery.
Blackface acts were common until the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned racial discrimination in employment.
While Calvert’s wasn’t impersonating an African-American, with his parody of Naitanui, the AFL player’s parents hailed from Fiji, where South Sea Islanders were shipped to Queensland sugarcane fields to be used as indentured labour, from the 1860s until the early 20th century.
Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight unwittingly challenged orthodox political correctness by drawing a cartoon of Serena Williams throwing a baby-style tantrum at the U.S. Open
Last month, Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight came under fire for his cartoon of Serena Williams throwing a baby-style tantrum at the U.S. Open.
‘It’s a cartoon about poor behaviour. It’s nothing to do with race,’ Knight told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
His employer, News Corp Australia, defended Knight against criticism from the likes of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling by printing a front page showing how white politicians, including U.S. President Donald Trump, had been depicted with grotesque, caricature features.
This was to counter criticism that Knight had drawn Williams with big lips and frizzy hair to mock her African ethnicity.