A mum has been branded a ‘racist’ after photos of her son’s controversial Halloween costume surfaced on social media.
The nine-year-old boy had been dressed as a slave, complete with fake lashing marks to make it look as though he had been whipped.
Credit: CEN
From the photos, you can see that the boy had had his skin painted brown, and also had a metal clamp put around his neck and handcuffs around his wrists.
The costume was apparently designed as an outfit for the boy to wear to his class party at school in the city of Natal in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.
The mother, who posted on Instagram under the name of ‘sabrinaflor‘, shared the photos with the caption: “When your son absorbs the character! Let’s ‘brasilianise‘ this thing! #slave.”
Credit: CEN
Since the post surfaced on Instagram, social media users have slammed the mother for the costume, with one writing: “This monster, who goes by the name Sabrina Flor, dressed up her own son as a slave for Halloween. Dumbfounded.”
Another added: “We demand action! This wave of hate needs to end!”
Someone else said: “Racist monster!”
In an even more shocking twist, the mother later posted a response on social media which said that black slavery in Brazil was ‘a lie’.
She wrote: “Don’t read books about Brazilian history. They say that there was black slavery in the country but that’s a lie. Don’t argue with that statement as you will be being racist, the worst person, rubbish. I don’t understand if the problem was the fancy dress or the ‘17‘ in the photo.“
The ’17’ – a number that also featured in her profile – is apparently the number used by supporters of recently elected far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
The boy’s school reportedly released a statement condemning the costume, saying it ‘touched a historical wound’ in Brazil, as the country imported the most Africa slaves of any country during the Atlantic slave trade era – with an estimated 4.9 million slaves brought over to Brazil between 1501 and 1866.
The statement also stressed that the school did not support ‘racism of prejudice‘.
The boy has not been named in local media and his mother has not given a public statement, but she has since posted on social media again to explain that she ‘extremely regrets’ what happened and did not want to offend anyone.
