• Sports outlet Deadspin has accused a young Kansas City Chief’s fan of wearing racist blackface despite photos showing him wearing team colors 
  • The young fan was also pictured wearing  a Native American headdress, supposedly banned by the club since 2020 
  • Reporter Carron Phillips received pushback online for using a ‘disingenuous’ image and for targeting a child 

Sports outlet Deadspin has accused a young Kansas City Chiefs’ fan of wearing racist blackface despite photos showing him wearing team colors across his entire face as well as a Native American headdress.

The uproar started when a photographer of the young fan, taken in profile, showed his face painted black.

Sports reporter Carron Phillips later wrote on Monday that ‘a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time.’

But others pointed out the other half of the child’s face – one not seen in the initial picture – was painted team color red.

He also took a shot at the headdress, which the team has banned since 2020, saying the fan ‘doubled up’ on racism by wearing the clothes some consider ‘cultural appropriation.’

Many indigenous communities consider wearing Native American clothing as a costume cultural appropriation, meaning the superficial or inappropriate use of another people’s cultural expression.

Blackface is the act of painting a non-black person’s skin darker to typically mock or imitate a black person.

Phillips also takes aim at the NFL in the article, writing: ‘If the NFL had outlawed the chop at Chiefs games and been more aggressive in changing the team’s name, then we wouldn’t be here.’

Deadspin argues if the league changed the Chiefs name the same way the Washington Redskins became the Commanders, then the issue would not have arisen.

Several sports teams have faced mounting pressure in recent years to change their names and mascots that may be deemed offensive to some.

The Cleveland Indians changed to the Cleveland Guardians in February 2021 after facing mounting criticism to drop the ‘Indians’ moniker.

While the Chiefs have faced less criticism than other team’s controversy remains around their use of the tomahawk chop, a celebration move using the forearm forwards and backwards repeatedly with an open palm to simulate a tomahawk chopping.

Wearing headdresses and war paint has been banned inside the Arrowhead stadium since September 2020.

‘The answers to all of those questions lead back to the NFL,’ the article read.

‘While it isn’t the league’s responsibility to stop racism and hate from being taught in the home, they are a league that has relentlessly participated in prejudice.

‘If the NFL had outlawed the chop at Chiefs games and been more aggressive in changing the team’s name, then we wouldn’t be here.’

After receiving pushback online by users who argued it was unfair to target a child and that it was disingenuous to say the child was in blackface, Phillips doubled down.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: ‘For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it even worse.

Adding: ‘Y’all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco.’