Black VoicesSerena Williamssydney blackface

Australian Football Players Don Blackface, Dress Up As Venus And Serena Williams

Days in Australia since last blackface incident: 0.
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By 

Editor, HuffPost Australia

SYDNEY, Australia – Another racist incident is making headlines in Australia where three football players dressed in blackface for end-of-season celebrations, commonly referred to as “Mad Monday.”

The trio, who play for a local Australian Rules Football (AFL) club in the state of Tasmania, dressed as tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams and Kenyan-born AFL player Aliir Aliir. 

Photographs of the costumes surfaced on Facebook on Thursday, drawing immediate outrage from social media users. 

“Some Australians still have no clue what is considered racist,” Twitter user Francis Gonzalez tweeted. “This Mad Monday “costume” is clearly racist. And I’m a person who is fed up with today’s over-the-top political correctness.”

The stunt comes just days after Australian newspaper Herald Sun published a racist and sexist caricature of Serena Williams after the tennis legend’s loss to Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open women’s final.

The newspaper doubled down on its support for cartoonist Mark Knight by reprinting the picture of Williams on its front page the following day.

The latest racist incident involving players from the Penguin Football Club has left many Australians setting their “days without blackface incident in Australia” boards back to zero again, as many Twitter users quipped.

In a statement to HuffPost, Penguin Football Club said it was not aware the players “intended to dress in this manner” and that their behavior was “unacceptable in this day and age.”

While the trio have been reprimanded, the club insisted that their “actions were never intended to be racist in any way” and “all they meant to do was dress as one of their sporting idols.” 

The players have apologized, and the league said it has put in place strategies “to ensure that this completely unacceptable behavior never happens again.”

AFL Tasmania, the state’s recognized AFL organization, told HuffPost that it vehemently disapproved of the behavior. 

“We will be working with the league and club to get more information and to see how we can assist in providing education for the players,” CEO Trisha squires said. 

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., Aboriginal activist Michael Mansell said the football club had to take “responsibility for any racist, sexist or offensive behavior.”

“People enjoy playing their sports, but they are entertaining in front of the public and therefore they need to acknowledge the values that the public expects them to adhere to,” he said. “This sort of racist behavior is offensive to most reasonable people.” 

Thursday’s incident isn’t the first time an AFL club has made headlines for dressing up in blackface.

In 2016 players from a suburban club in Melbourne dressed up as various African-American singers at a party where they were encouraged to dress as their favorite recording artists.

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Before You Go

Fighting Racism And Discrimination Everyday
Bullying(01 of12)
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Even kids who share the same identity -- be it racial or gender -- can be guilty of bullying and discrimination against each other. Ontario's Ministry of Education defines bullying as "a form of repeated, persistent, and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem, or reputation." (credit:Alamy)
Cyberbullying (02 of12)
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Social media can be a platform for bullying to continue even after school is out. Cyberbullying occurs when young people take malicious actions online. through chat rooms, email, social sites and instant messaging. (credit:Getty Images)
Stock Answer To 'What Are You?'(03 of12)
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"You don't need to go into full confessional mode, but have fun with it, if that helps. Or be perfectly honest," author Jonathan R. Miller said. Miller writes e-books with multi-ethnic characters and themes. You don't have to talk about all the nuances of your family tree every time you're asked about your background, he said. That can be exhausting. Find something that works for you personally. (credit:Shutterstock)
Real Answer To 'What Are You?'(04 of12)
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"I like the word 'mixed' because it's a messy word, and in my experience growing up mixed is exactly that," Miller said. He suggests that it's important to allow yourself to truly wrestle with questions of identity in environments you consider safe. (credit:Shutterstock)
A Friend To Confide In(05 of12)
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If you are struggling with your identity, you don't have to tell the whole world, but confide in a friend that you trust. Having someone to confide in is important. "If you can, find someone who you can talk to about your most honest, ever-evolving, often-messy answer to the question, 'What am I?'" Miller said. (credit:Getty Images)
If You Can't Speak, Write(06 of12)
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"Maybe you don't have anyone trustworthy to talk to honestly about your experiences. Write about them. It helped me, sometimes, to get those out," Miller said.It may not make a lot of sense initially and it might feel uncomfortably personal, but write. Keep a journal, write short stories and rename the characters, try your hand at poetry -- whatever feels best. (credit:Shutterstock)
Let Your Identity Be An Open Question(07 of12)
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"You are likely being told at different times, more or less, to hurry up and get off the fence, pick a side and get on with it," Miller said. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be unsure of who you are, even if your peers seem to have their acts together, he said. Teenage years are discovery years. Miller also quoted author Rainer Maria Rilke: "'Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. ... Live in the question.' That's good advice. Difficult to follow, but good." (credit:Shutterstock)
Embrace The Chameleon(08 of12)
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When it comes to mixed heritage, "you don't have to be 'both' or 'other' or 'all of the above' all of the time. Sometimes the only way to figure out what you are is to choose one thing and be it for a while," Miller said.Explore how it feels to fully embrace a single aspect of your identity, for short period of time. See "what stick and what slides off." It's simply learning, Miller said. (credit:Shutterstock)
Don't Be Afraid To Abandon The Labels Altogether(09 of12)
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"I can't tell you how many multi-racial people I've met who have chosen a single race or ignored race entirely and been perfectly content with the decision. A biracial friend of mine used to tell me, 'I'm black and white, yes, but I'm black. Period,'" Miller said. He said he knows many people have chosen to identify with only one aspect of their multi-background, while others have embraced the blend. (credit:Shutterstock)
Get Involved In Life(10 of12)
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Find creative ways to occupy your time, Miller said. Join a group or do an activity (with others) where you are empowered to be who you are, instead of having to act how others think you need to be in order to fit in. (credit:Getty Images)
Be Proud Of Who You Are(11 of12)
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Take pride in your ethnic (culture, color or religion) heritage. You have no control over your heritage, and you can't change that fact that this is who you are. So embrace it and learn as much as you can. "You may feel like it would be an insult to your heritage to embrace one aspect of yourself above the others, but trust me, it wouldn't be. This is important: it is not your job to uphold, with perfect equity and grace, all of the elements that went into your making," Miller said. (credit:Shutterstock)
Have A Ready Defense Against The Identity Police(12 of12)
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"Often they're the 'gatekeepers' that decide whether you're 'in' or 'out.' But what you can do is have a ready answer for the 'charges' they level against you. Whether you use humour, earnestness, or self-righteous anger, it helps to have your defense lined up and ready," Miller said. Sometimes people think all the "members" of their cultural or ethnic community must behave, dress and think a certain way. But as an individual, you can do whatever you want and find your own identity. (credit:Getty Images)
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