Photos from an "Africa"-themed 21st birthday party have recently gone viral, thanks to one Tumblr poster and a reporter from Buzzfeed, both of whom posted the offensive pictures of guests wearing blackface, KKK costumes, elephant and gorilla costumes and various stereotypical garb associated with the continent, the Huffington Post reports.
Tumblr user "BlackInAsia" was alerted to the racially insensitive Facebook photos via one of his followers and was quick to post his response along with the offending images.
"Attendees were all asked to wear 'African themed' clothing to depict the continent and this is what resulted...blackface, elephant and gorilla costumes, warpaint, native American headdresses (?!) and more.... I'm at a loss for words," he wrote. "And yes, this is from 2013. The girl posted the pictures proudly and flatly refused to take them down when confronted by another individual about how they were racist apparently. Pictures were reported to facebook weeks ago and they still have not been taken down. Wow. In case you ever wanted to know how white folks saw us black Africans...here you go."
The girl who threw the party is 21-year-old Olivia Mahon of Australia, who has since deleted her Facebook page. She threw the party with the help of a Pinterest board (also since deleted), pinning photos with captions like, "Though now in Africa you also have people who live in modern day houses like us. The woman tend to dress more traditionally and the children play outside and go to school," while referring to the women of Africa as "beautiful" and highlighting safari-themed cupcakes and an inspiration for her Cleopatra outfit.
After her photos went viral on Tumblr, Mahon posted an explanation on her (since deleted) Tumblr blog in response to "BlackinAsia" and in an attempt to clarify the incident, in which she referred to Africa as a country, which "BlackinAsia" later went on to mock.
"It was my 'African themed' party and it was honestly made that theme because I have always wanted to go to Africa (to teach english) but haven't made it there yet," Mahon wrote. "In no way was this party intended to hurt anyones feelings or upset anyone at all. In fact as you can tell from the photos I dressed up as cleopatra, whilst MAJORITY of my guests came as animals, that can be found in africa or wore traditional african clothes or even dressed up as famous people who come from africa. If anything this was to celebrate the amazing country and people."
She went on to offer excuses for the offending costumes and the guests' use of blackface, arguing, "People wear oktoberfest cotumes to parties and no one cracks it that they are not German?"
"Also, I have NEVER been asked to take these photos down, however if I had of course I would have done so, as I had no idea that anyone other than friends and guests could see these photos, and to be honest I am not a racist person at all so I didn’t think anyone could possibly take it that way. I intend to spend 2 months teaching english in cambodia in January, and cant wait to do the same in Africa. If you will still have me," she added.
"I have lost faith in humanity," one Tumblr user wrote in reply to the post, while another commented that they thought it was "hilarious" and a lot of the costumes were "really creative," though they added they were in "bad taste."
via Tumblr
Click here to see more photos that Olivia Mahon posted from her "Africa"-themed 21st birthday party.
