AFL footballer Nic Naitanui has called for Australians to learn about the origins of blackface after a Perth primary school boy's costume of his idol caused a furore.
The boy's skin was painted brown by his mother as part of the boy's attempt to emulate his football idol for a Book Week costume.
Nic Naitanui, who is of Fijian heritage, admitted he encouraged blackface in the past but has now learnt about its "painful historical significance".
"I don't believe the mother had any intention to cause harm...however she may reflect on this and choose an alternate method next time. #EducationIsTheKey," he tweeted on Friday.
"Let's grow together."
Blackface has been controversial since white actors in the 19th century used it to mock black people in American theatre shows.
It has been publicly called out numerous times recently by prominent Indigenous Australians such as basketballer Liz Cambage and rapper Adam Briggs.
In a post by the boy's mother to a blogger's Facebook page she writes that she worried about the reaction from "politically correct extremists" but went ahead with the costume anyway.
"He is pasty white and if I just sent him in a wig and footy gear, no one would tell who he was," the boy's mother wrote on Constance Hall's Facebook page.
"So I grew a set of balls and painted my boy brown."
The post has since been deleted.
The mother shared this Facebook post about the costume Source: Facebook
The blogger said she did not believe the mother was behaving maliciously but said it was "an ill-informed decision, based on her view that there is too much political correctness in our world."
"I don't agree with dressing your child up in blackface, I can't defend it," Ms Hall said.
The mother clarified her comments in a later Facebook post.
"When I stated 'I grew some balls and did it' I did not mean I chose to offend anyone," she wrote, "What I meant was, instead of sheltering my son and making him choose something else."
"I thought, no you have as much right as anyone else to go as who you want, especially your idol. How this has been twisted into such a nasty vicious thing is beyond me. And a 9 year old kid shouldn't have to be subjected to being called racist or even know what it is at this age."
She added that she has been "been called every single name under the sun" in the past 24 hours but has also received multiple messages of support from some women.
Earlier this week, a woman was fined, banned from Adelaide Oval and offered cultural awareness lessons after throwing a banana at indigenous player Eddie Betts.
