Nic Naitanui urges public to ‘grow together’ after mother paints son’s skin for Book Week parade

[DroopStDanny]

The mother obviously didn't watch 'hey hey it's Saturday' years ago..

Or maybe she did and thought "Here comes my fifteen minutes of fame."

 

[DEECEE]

Everyone's favourite SJW campaigner Erin Riley was first on twitter to showcase her outrage.

Now I know it's a non-issue.

Erin beat Andrew Wu to post? he will be furious.

 

[TBellicious]

How stupid can one person be.

 

[JeffDunne]

Another bogan football will have to help educate.

 

[Hoffy95]

As usual, white people somehow seem to be the ones most offended by something that has nothing to do with them.

 

[JohnnyFontane90]

i blame this on the banning of tanning beds

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

This women knew it was going to offend people but did it anyway.

She knew it was racist but did it anyway.

That tells you all you need to know about this rocket scientist before the usual types try and defend her.

How the * is it racist? His hero is Nic Nat, so he dressed up as him and has his skin painted so it was the same colour as Nic Nat. What's the issue?

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Naitanui said he had encouraged such mistakes in the past but was now educated on the serious origins of blackface.

So even Nic Nat wasn't aware of why it's offensive in the past, but people have now taught him to be offended by it? The kid clearly meant no harm. We should leave this taboo for American's to get upset over, Aussies don't have a history of oppressing Fijians.

Besides, blackface had a unique sort of style to it (dark black shoe polish colour with a large emphasis on the lips). The kid dressed as Nic Nat isn't really in blackface.

 

[DroopStDanny]

Offensive? Or just out and out s**t?

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Stupid me for opening this thread thinking there would be no 1950s attitudes.


Good on you nicnat!

 

[THE411]

If I was NN I would feel pride if a youngster wanted to dress up like me... instead he more or less labels the kid and parents as racists. Great way to treat your fans...

“I don’t believe the mother had any intention to cause harm, just wanted her kid to simple be “Nic Nat”

"Hobestly, I've encouraged this mistake in the past"

He clearly hasn't labelled anyone as a racist.

 

[SloppyJoe]

Agree with it or not, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know the stigma attached to blackface. So why do it? But I will give this lady the benefit of the doubt and assume she is just ignorant.

EDIT: Just saw her Facebook post. I take back what I said. Celebrating with a wine before midday sums it up nicely.

 

[stew42]

Boo, what a whinger

*sarcasm sign*

 

[JeffDunne]

How the **** is it racist? His hero is Nic Nat, so he dressed up as him and has his skin painted so it was the same colour as Nic Nat. What's the issue?

There's plenty of sources on the net that will help educate you on why black people are offended by it.

Do some reading. That'll answer your question.

 

[Plugger35]

What's the world come to when a kid can't dress up as his favourite footy player? To associate that with racism is just ridiculous.

 

[Bluelegs]

View attachment 280956

Offensive? Or just out and out s**t?

Why is this movie always brought up in discussions about blackface? It's a one off example that got panned across the board and bears no cultural significance.

 

[J_Moore]

Erin beat Andrew Wu to post? he will be furious.

What? Andrew Wu never ventures into comment at all.

 

[JeffDunne]

So even Nic Nat wasn't aware of why it's offensive in the past, but people have now taught him to be offended by it? The kid clearly meant no harm. We should leave this taboo for American's to get upset over, Aussies don't have a history of oppressing Fijians.

So if one member of a group doesn't find something offensive then it's ok to offend the rest by doing it?

Strange logic that won't get you far in life.

 

[J_Moore]

Good thread though, Bigfooty. Great discussion. You've all earned the right to celebrate with a wine before 12pm. ✌

 

[kickazz]

I agree that the context is everything and it does not apply so much in Australia. The Hey Hey skit seemed innocent enough, but when there was a guest from the South of the USA involved, it was ignorantly insensitive.

The reality is though we live in a highly connected, small world these days and some cultural norms (unfortunately dominated by America) are starting to globalise.

NicNat summed it up best. Not trying to score points. Used to think it was okay, has learned why it's not so cool.

 

[RUNVS]

Blackface is something that I doubt I will ever be able to agree is inherently racist. Obviously it can be, but context is important; and in the context of a child wanting to dress up like his idol, I just can't agree that it should be considered racist.

Agree there. In this case it seems obvious that the mother had no intention of making a racist mistake, quite the opposite as she was perfectly happy with Naitanui being her sons favourite player. I also agree that blackface is an American concept, not one we really saw in Australia but since we now live in a much more globalised world it is important to remember that we have sort of appropriated racist concepts America has and a racist "could" use blackface in an attempt to be racist. In this case though education is the key as there was no harm intended.

 

[Number37]

If I was NN I would feel pride if a youngster wanted to dress up like me... instead he more or less labels the kid and parents as racists. Great way to treat your fans...

The kid idolises his football playing ability which has nothing to do with the colour of his skin.
If you buy a NicNat jumper do you paint your face black when you wear your NicNat jumper to a game?

 

[coerced]

Those aren't the 'serious origins' of blackface, mate. Good on you for having a go, though.

Well aware of that.

How does that apply to an Australian kid dressing up like his idol?

 

[kickazz]

View attachment 280956

Offensive? Or just out and out s**t?

Offensive because it is s**t.

 

[HairyO]

There's plenty of sources on the net that will help educate you on why black people are offended by it.

Do some reading. That'll answer your question.

By black people you mean black Americans, right?

I may be wrong, but Nic Nat is neither black, nor American. Is he?