A German football club has caused controversy by posting an unusual response to two of its players suffering racial abuse.
Deinster SV, a team from the lower leagues of Lower Saxony, shared an image on their Facebook page after an alleged racially-motivated attack on two Sudanese refugees who play for the team.
The German club shared a team photo which had been digitally altered with the intention of making it look as though their entire team is black, with an accompanying message which reads: ‘Violence against refugees is pathetic… Emad and Amar, you are one of us just like everyone else and we’re happy you are with us.’
The gesture didn’t go unnoticed, and the post was quickly shared by almost 2,000 Facebook users – but not all the response was positive.
While the sentiment behind the photo was well-intentioned, some were quick to point out the history of using blackface as a way of de-humanising people of colour.
https://twitter.com/stavvers/status/715559508240637952
I understand the gesture, but they definitely shouldn't have used blackface for this. pic.twitter.com/ACwWgfJrwY
— Sochan🇵🇸 (@R1Stainless) March 31, 2016
Footballers take blackface photo to protest racism. Probs not the best way to go about it https://t.co/uNS4Gh0nNk pic.twitter.com/jXGJGGTf6v
— Janelle Dumalaon (@janelledumalaon) March 31, 2016
