Blackface Image From 2016 Resurfaced in 2020 & Former RI Student Apologises For His ‘Stupidity’ Back Then

Last Updated on 2020-06-07 , 10:25 am

A Wise Old Man once said:

“Be aware of what you’re doing, because eventually, the past catches up with you.”

And though I hate the Wise Old Man’s guts, I’ve to concede with him on this one. Those words ring true. 

As the Black Lives Matter movement increases in tenacity, random individuals around the globe have seen their past oversights of cultural insensitivity re-surface, with heavy criticism lying in wait. While some instances were in the form of remarks, others came in a visual package…

Which, as the following group of former Raffles Institution (RI) students find out, makes things even worse.

Blackface Image From 2016 Resurfaced in 2020 & Former RI Student Apologises For His ‘Stupidity’ Back Then

In April 2016, a former RI student, now a student in a local university, posted a racially insensitive photo on his Instagram account.

In the picture, a student who’s reportedly of Sri Lankan descent is seen posing with a paper bag that’s labelled with his name, and the words “whitening kit”. Posing around him are his schoolmates, all of whom had black beauty face masks on.

One of them is holding up what appears to be a photoshopped poster of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, and another a “painted picture of a brown-skinned man standing next to sports cars”. There are also instances of Nivea lotion, deodorant and fake cash in the photo, with the last one presumably in reference to the movie.

While nothing’s explicitly stated, the visual clues are enough to tag it as a ‘problematic’ picture…

Which, unfortunately, was not taken well four years later.

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On 3 June, the photo was unearthed and reposted on social media platform Twitter by someone outside the group.

Backlash followed, and the former RI student has since taken down the picture from his social media account.

He also addressed the photo in Instagram Stories, stating that the pictures were posted with the “full consent” of their friend and that the post was not meant to be a “racist commentary”.

“It was not a racist commentary but of course in hindsight, it was insensitive as f*** because it is literally blackface, and I’m not denying that, but we posted these pictures with the full consent of our good friend,” he wrote.

“We consulted him and asked whether he was okay with it, and even if he was, it was still wrong on our part to perpetuate such stereotypes.”

He added that it was “stupid teenage behaviour” carried out “in good fun with the intention of bantering with [their] friend”. The Black Lives Matter movement was also referenced, with the University student acknowledging that African-American culture has contributed to his life as a dancer.

He then ended his statement with an apology, and promised to do his part for anti-racism.

“Moving forward, I will be using this platform to educate my friends and my social circle about the current state of racism in Singapore.

“It is up to every single one of us to curb this while we can and acknowledge our faults.”

You can view screenshots of his Instagram updates down below:

Culturally Insensitive

The issue of racism has been especially prevalent in recent times. A while back, a white police officer in the United States had kneeled on the neck of a black man, which led to the latter’s eventual death.

Protests have since swept the nation, with razing and looting incidents commonplace among certain areas, including the police station that’s affiliated with the incident.

Donald Trump has called an end to the violence and threatened to impose a violent countermeasure if things do not improve.

A social media trend, which prompts users to post a fully-black picture in support of the deceased black man, George Floyd, has also been making its rounds on the net.

Local Youtuber JianHao Tan has also retired a recurring character from his series of videos, stating that the character portrayal of Peter Papadum might have been insensitive in nature.

He also stated that he has a “responsibility to educate” his “young and impressionable audiences”, before ending with an apology to Singaporean minorities, who might’ve been hurt by “any of” his jokes.

Well, one thing’s for sure;

Cultural insensitivity is not to be played with, especially in a turbulent period like this.

Also…

Your past will always catch up with you, so it’s wise to watch while you’re doing, even right now.