Outrage after award for dad’s blackface
A primary school P&C has come under fire after a father dressed in blackface was awarded the “best dressed” prize at a ’90s-themed disco fundraiser in Perth’s north.
Photos circulating on social media showed the man with a brown-painted face and what appeared to be a dreadlocks wig and a black, green and gold full-body suit.
While the photos have since been deleted, the man appeared to have been dressed as a member of the Jamaican bobsleigh team from the 1993 film Cool Runnings.
The West Australian reported on Monday that many attendees at the event, hosted by North Woodvale Primary School’s P&C, were outraged by the use of blackface.
The event, reportedly drawing about 100 people to Padbury Hall on May 25, also drew swift condemnation from Western Australia’s Education Department.
Director General Lisa Rodgers told the WA paper that the use of blackface was “both disappointing and unacceptable” and the principal had taken action.
“This was an after-hours off-site parent event – with no staff in attendance – however, this clearly does not reflect the school’s culture and values or that of the community,” Ms Rodgers said.
“As soon as this matter was brought to the attention of the school principal, he immediately contacted the president of the P&C association to raise his concerns and express his disappointment.”
Attendees to the P&C fundraiser had been encouraged to come dressed in their favourite ’90s outfit, with organisers awarding the man a prize for his costume.
In a statement provided to The West Australian, the school’s P&C bingo committee apologised for the use of blackface and acknowledged it had been “naive”.
“North Woodvale Primary School P&C bingo committee would like to own and acknowledge our mistake and our own personal naivety in not understanding the complex history of a certain costume, which we awarded best-dressed male costume on the night of May 25 at our bingo fundraiser,” it said.
“We sincerely apologise to the wider school and the Woodvale community for the hurt it clearly caused. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and welcoming committee within our school and will learn from our mistakes.”
The father is not suggested to have deliberately tried to be offensive, though the use of blackface has in recent decades been widely condemned in Australia and abroad.
Once a common practice during the early years of American stage and cinema acting, blackface has a long history in Australia through travelling minstrel shows.
In 2016, a Perth parent sparked uproar when she painted her nine-year-old’s skin brown to portray West Coast player Nic Naitanui for a book week parade.
