AFL star Nic Naitanui says Perth child's blackface tribute 'hurts my heart'
A Perth mother has come under fire after painting her son's face black for a Book Week parade. (Facebook)
West Coast Eagles player Nic Naitanui has called for better education after a Perth mother was slammed for painting her son in blackface for a school assembly.
Naitanu took to Twitter today to say he did not believe the mother meant to cause harm, after a Facebook post including a photo of the boy drew an onslaught of criticism.
But he asked that she “reflect” on her actions and choose “an alternate method next time”.
“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 ‘blackface’ has had previously on the oppressed,” he wrote.
The mother originally wrote on Facebook her son wanted to dress as idol Naitanui .
She said that despite being "a little worried" when deciding to paint his face, she "grew a set of balls and painted my boy brown".
"So many politically correct extremists these days," the unidentified woman wrote.
"He is pastey White (sic) and if I just sent him in a wig and footy gear, no one would tell who he was."
The mother said she'd been warned "it's a horrible idea" but her son "won the f---ing parade".
The post with accompanying photograph on blogger Constance Hall's Facebook page has since been removed.
Hall defended the mother, who she said was not behaving maliciously and "I don't believe that she intended to hurt anyone".
"You are clearly not a racist woman, your child has an amazing idol and that must be a reflection of being raised in a home with no racist intentions," she wrote later.
Despite the original post having been deleted, screenshots have circulated with many condemning the mother's actions.
https://twitter.com/AllanJClarke/status/768750858733359105
Indigenous rapper Briggs said it was blatantly racist and the mother's "ignorance is not an alibi".
"This was such an obviously reckless, racist thing to do — I thought it was a set up," he said, adding that the mother "should've stopped at the jumper and wig".
"The mother identified she knew this would be an issue and decided to paint her son anyway, genius."
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