UQ researcher Dr Stephen Townsend claim toxic culture partially to blame for TRL blackface controversy

A desire to be more controversial and outrageous than others is a clear example of a toxic culture within the sporting world, a UQ expert said following a blackface controversy. Find out more here.

A controversial Mad Monday celebration where two rugby league players dressed in blackface has been called an unfortunate symbol of toxic culture running through sporting clubs.

University of Queensland senior research project officer Dr Stephen Townsend said the actions of two Highfields Eagles senior rugby league players was a conscious decision regardless of whether the duo were aware of the offensive history of blackface.

“(Blackface) is explicably and fundamentally a racist expression of white people’s disdain for black people,” he said.

“They would create stories and skits that would portray African Americans as lazy, or superstitious, or of low intellect, and that transferred to Australia.

The Highfields Eagles have come under fire after an image surfaced of players dressed in blackface during the club's Mad Monday celebrations.

“These two who dressed up … they are certainly aware of the current cultural climate, so they would have been painting their skin and putting on these costumes and making a conscious decision.”

Dr Townsend said while the issue surrounding blackface was not necessarily something many people would be aware of, blackface “has a cultural presence here and it is noticeable”.

During the club’s Mad Monday celebrations, two Indigenous Australian allegedly dressed as the main characters from the film White Chicks, and outrage has since followed as to why it was not taken as seriously.

While Dr Townsend acknowledged he is a white Australian and cannot speak for Indigenous Australians, his perspective is there is a difference between the power discrepancies and the historic power relations between the two groups.

“If you’ve got two members of a historically hegemonic white group who are dressing up as a group of people who have been historically suppressed and subjugated, that’s different to two members of a historically discriminated against group dressing up as members of a group of people who have historically suppressed them.”

In 2009, Hey Hey It’s Saturday made headlines when five men performed in blackface as the Jackson 5 for a reunion special.

In 2016, a Perth mum was blasted on social media after dressing her son as his favourite football player, Nic Naitanui, which involved darkening his face.

“There are lots of incidents of blackface at footy clubs for Mad Mondays … a combination of alcohol consumption and pack mentality play a part in that,” Dr Townsend explained.

Jackson 5 act The Jackson Jive. The blackface skit on a Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion show.

“These people get together and they think, ‘I can do something controversial’, ‘I can be outrageous’ and ‘I’ve got 15 to 20 other people around me who can come to my defence if something goes wrong’.

“A level of one-up manship happens, where they think, ‘how can I be more outrageous and controversial that the other person’ … this was their answer.”

An avid sportsman himself, Dr Townsend said this was another example of the need for the culture in sporting clubs to change.