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Carron Phillips: Deadspin reporter who wrongly claimed young Kansas City Chiefs fan was wearing 'blackface' receives backlash

Carron Phillips was slammed for accusing a young Kanas City Chiefs fan of wearing 'blackface' based on a misleading photo

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI: Sports reporter Carron Phillips, a senior writer at Deadspin and a Pulitzer nominee, recently accused a young Kansas City Chiefs fan of wearing "blackface" based on a photo taken in their profile. 

In his Monday, November 27, article Phillips wrote that "a Kansas City Chiefs fan found a way to hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time."

While some have accused the fan of wearing blackface, a closer look at him in other pictures shows clearly that he was donning team colors across his entire face, along with a Native American headdress. 

On the discovery, netizens slammed Phillips for being a "bully," especially as his article was targeted toward a child.  

What did Carron Phillips write in his Deadspin article?

Carron Phillips raised some questions in his article surrounding the debacle, writing, "Why did the camera person give this fan the attention? Why did the producer allow that camera angle to be aired at all? Is that fan a kid/teenager or a young adult? Despite their age, who taught that person that what they were wearing was appropriate?" 

Despite the allegations, it was not mentioned in the said article that the other half of the child's face, which was not visible in the original photograph, was painted red as per the team's color.

Having said that, the child was wearing a Native American headdress, which has been banned by the NFL team since September 2020. 

Phillips, who has won the National Association of Black Journalists Award, slammed the NFL in his article, writing, "The answers to all of those questions lead back to the NFL." 

He argued, "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," opined the journalist. 

Many indigenous communities consider the use of Native American clothing as a costume to be a form of cultural appropriation, which refers to the superficial or inappropriate use of another people's cultural expression.

On the other hand, "blackface" is the act of painting a non-Black person's skin darker, often to denigrate or imitate a Black person. 

As per recent reports, the child named Holden Armenta has Native American heritage himself, with a grandfather serving on the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

His mother, Shannon Armenta, wrote on Facebook, "He is Native American - just stop already." 

This raises issues of journalistic diligence on the part of Phillips, who jumped the gun in accusing the boy of racism without actually substantiating his claims by committing background checks. 

On top of that, according to the Deadspin article, if the league had renamed the Chiefs, as it did with the Washington Redskins becoming the Washington Commanders, this debate would not have occurred.

In recent years, many sports teams have faced mounting pressure to change their names and mascots that may be regarded as offensive to some individuals.

As a response to criticism, the Cleveland Indians changed their name to the Cleveland Guardians in February 2021.

While the Kansas City Chiefs have faced less criticism than some other teams, there is still controversy surrounding their use of the tomahawk chop - a celebration move that involves repeatedly chopping the forearm forwards and backward with an open palm to simulate a tomahawk chop. 

Deadspin reporter Carron Phillips faces backlash over his 'blackface' allegations

After receiving backlash for his reporting, Carron Phillips doubled down on individuals who claimed it was unjust to attack a child and that claiming the child was wearing "blackface" was deceptive.

In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Phillips wrote, "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. Y'all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco."

The backlash against the journalist continued, with one writing, "The media is really trying to smear a child over this. The author of this piece is @carronJphillips What a bully. Shame on you."

Another said, "Congrats. You win the dumbest writer on the Internet award for the day. Don't be surprised if you cost your employers millions of dollars."

"You deserve everything that comes your way as a result of this," noted a person, while someone else added, "Oh @carronJphillips you suck so bad for this crap article!!"

One more wished, "Oh I hope you get sued into oblivion," with another asserting, "Have fun with the lawsuit. Or we can have fun while we watch. Either way it will be fun!"

A netizen expressed, "Just when you think it's not possible to despise journalists more than you already do."