Editor’s note: This story previously contained a poll, which we’ve removed due to its inappropriate nature. We’re sorry for any offence it may have caused.
A professional Australian basketball player sporting blackface sparked outrage on social media over the weekend. But not in the way you might think.
Painting your face in an apparent attempt to pretend to be African American is widely considered racist, a relic of 19th Century American minstrelsy, in which white people blackened their faces and portrayed a dehumanized caricature of black people.
But when Australian Opals star Alice Kunek did it for her national league’s “Silly Sunday,” she wasn’t the one to face the brunt of the backlash after posting it on Instagram.
The vitriol was instead aimed at her teammate Elizabeth Cambage, whose father is Nigerian. The prospective Rio Olympian said she was “shocked and disturbed” by the photo.
“Blackface is disgusting, I honestly have no words,” Cambage wrote on Twitter — only to be shot down by angry people who had plenty of words.
Another commenter added that “the only thing offensive about Alice Kunek’s costume is the political correctness coming out of Cambage’s mouth.”
Kunek has since apologized and deleted the controversial Instagram photo, replacing it with one that doesn’t include any dark paint on her face.
“I’m sorry that people would think my support of Kanye as being racist in some way,” was Kunek’s defence.
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