A primary school has slammed a P&C fundraiser held on its campus after a father wore blackface and a dreadlocked wig before winning the prize for best dressed.
The man wore the offensive outfit to a ’90s themed bingo night organised by the P&C committee at North Woodvale Primary School in Perth’s north.
The guest was seen wearing brown face paint, a dreadlocked wig and a green, gold and black body suit in now-deleted photos from the event on May 25.
Guests were invited to come as their favourite ’90s character, with the man dressing as a member of the Jamaican bobsleigh team from the comedy Cool Runnings.
The school’s P&C bingo committee has been forced to apologise after the matter was brought to the attention of North Woodvale’s principal.
In a statement, the committee said it had been ‘naive’ to the complex history of blackface when it heralded the father as best dressed on the night.
‘North Woodvale Primary School P&C bingo committee would like to own and acknowledge our mistake and our own personal naivety in not understanding the complex history of a certain costume, which we awarded best dressed male costume on the night of May 25th at our bingo fundraiser,’ it said.
‘We sincerely apologise to the wider school and the Woodvale community for the hurt it clearly caused. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and welcoming committee within our school and will learn from our mistakes.’
Education Department Director General Lisa Rodgers told the West n the incident was ‘disappointing and unacceptable’.
She saaid the bingo night had been held off-site and without any staff present and did not reflect the school’s culture and values.
‘As soon as this matter was brought to the attention of the school principal, he immediately contacted the president of the P&C association to raise his concerns and express his disappointment,’ Ms Rodgers said.
Blackface routines were common through much of the 20th century but a white person taking the stage with their skin darkened, particularly for comedic purposes, is now considered offensive in most contexts.
Daily Mail has contacted North Woodvale Primary School for comment.