Australian model Samie Robinson accused of racism after posting insensitive blackface photo on Instagram



An Australian model has found herself at the centre of a race row after she shared a photo of a woman in blackface on her Instagram account.

Samie Robinson, from Sydney, who signed with IMG Models, upoloaded the shot on Wednesday of herself and friend Lillian Garrett, who was in costume to look like rapper Lil Wayne, which included blackface make-up - an old fashioned theatrical technique deemed highly offensive.

After posting the shot and captioning it with a birthday shout-out to Lillian, some of the 18-year-old's followers pointed out the cultural insensitivity of the photo.

Blackface is considered offensive given its origins in America in the 1800s when it was used in thetrical productions to portray stereotypical black characters, proliferating racist ideas.

But Samie hit back at the detractors, defending the photo and her friend Lilly who was wearing the make-up.  '[I] don't see how [it's racist], [Lil Wayne] is clearly black and she has painted herself this way to portray him,' she wrote.  'Would it not be more racist to portray him as a white man, which he clearly isn't?'

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