Australian footballer Nic Naitanui left with 'hurt heart' after child's backfired 'blackface' tribute

Nic Naitanui, a West Coast Eagles footballer, is of Fijian heritage
Getty Images
Hatty Collier26 August 2016

Australian footballer Nic Naitanui today told how he was left with “hurt heart” after a mother “blacked up” her child in a backfired tribute to him.

The AFL player called for better education about race after the mother put her son in a “blackface” costume to look like his idol for his school’s book week.

She sparked an outcry after writing a lengthy post about her son’s costume on Facebook.

Naitanui, who is of Fijian heritage, said he did not believe the mother intended harm when she decide to paint her primary school aged son’s skin brown.

“Honestly, I’ve encouraged this mistake in the past but I’m now educated of its origins, let’s grow together,” the Eagles ruckman posted on Twitter on Friday.

“It’s a shame racism coexists in an environment where our children should be nurtured not tortured because they are unaware of the painful historical significance of “blackface” has had previously on the oppressed.”

The boy’s mother had earlier described the incident as a “parenting win” and a “queening moment” but later deleted the message from Facebook.

“I NEED to share my absolute QUEENING moment,” the mother had said in the original post.

A mother has drawn strong criticism for painting her son brown for a book week costume
Facebook

“My son had book week parade today. He wanted to go as his idol Nic Naitanui from the west coast Eagles.

"I was a little worried about painting him. (So many politically correct extremists these days) he is pastey [sic] white and if I just sent him in a wig and footy gear, no one would tell who he was.

“So I grew a set of balls and painted my boy brown and he looked fanf******tastic.”

The post ended: “Parenting win! I’m celebrating by having a wine before 12pm...”

The message was removed once it had drawn widespread attention and criticism.

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