Qantas blackface two: Australians defend ‘tribute’

Australian rugby's man-of-the-moment, Radike Samo, has found himself at the centre of a racism row after the team's sponsor Qantas posted a photograph of two Wallabies fans wearing blackface and afro wigs on Twitter. The fancy dress was intended as a tribute to Samo, who is originally from Fiji, but has caused controversy among critics who believe it was racist.

The two fans won a competition run by Qantas for two tickets to the Bledisloe Cup, the annual rugby union match between Australia and New Zealand. In return for the prize, the fans had to promise to dress up as their favourite player. Qantas knew full well that the winners were planning to dress up as Samo and wear "facepaint".

Dressing up in blackface has a long tradition in Australian sport – among players and fans. So-called 'larrikins' are usually aware that their un-PC behaviour is frowned upon by the liberal elite, but regard their actions as mischievous fun rather than racist.

After the game, which Australia won 25-20 thanks to an amazing 60-metre solo try by Samo, Qantas posted a picture of the happy fans, in full costume, on Twitter.

The response was predictable. Twitter users laid into the Australian airline, with one saying he was "not so much offended as utterly gobsmacked that blackface is still seen as acceptable by some".

Qantas deleted the photograph and apologised via Twitter, saying: "We apologise the photo of two Radike fans offended people. We've spoken with Radike and whilst he has no issue with it we have removed the image."

However, Samo himself, who allowed himself to be photographed with the fans in their controversial fancy dress, professes not to have been offended, saying: "These guys were actually paying me a tribute. It was a bit of fun and I think it's great that they regarded me as their favourite Wallaby."

Samo's reaction has led some in the Australian media to come out fighting against Qantas's critics.

In a column for Melbourne newspaper the Herald-Sun titled 'There is no greater offence than in portraying respect as racism', Andrew Bolt takes the opportunity to rail against Australia's "grievance industry" which "goes out of its way to invent injustice and take offence".

And in Sydney's Daily Telegraph, Tracey Spicer sarcastically apologises to anyone who was offended by her daughter, who dressed up as the Native American Pocahontas for a school Book Week Parade. The Qantas two "did not paint their skin black to imply that Pacific Islanders are inferior to white folk. They did so to honour their rugby hero".

"Real racism does exist in Australia," she writes. "But let's not get distracted by pointless petty examples of political correctness." ·