Deadspin and other outlets have been hit with backlash after accusing a young Kansas City Chiefs fan of wearing “black face” at the Chiefs’ away game Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Deadspin writer Carron J. Phillips used a photo for his piece showing only half of the kid’s face, which was black.
As most of us know by now, the other half of the kid’s face was red — one of the Chiefs’ team colors.
Blaze News writer Carlos Garcia pointed out that Phillips, in his effort to double down against his critics, used a non-sequitur that accused them of hating Mexicans.
“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,” he wrote in an X post, which now appears to have been deleted. “Y’all are the ones who hate Mexicans but wear sombreros on Cinco.”
Elon Musk, owner of X, didn’t seem to see things Phillips’ way: “And another @CommunityNotes win exposing deception.”
A whole new problem
Well, at least Phillips, Deadspin, and other outlets can fall back on their accusation that the young fan was at least guilty of cultural appropriation for wearing a headdress, right?
Not so fast.
Turns out the boy’s mother, Shannon Armenta, stated on her Facebook page that her son actually is Native American.
A commenter on Shannon Armenta’s Facebook page noted, “I think the funniest part is that he’s literally Chumash, too … oh god I’m dying.” Tawnee Armenta added: “I was dying reading all the comments on Reddit — up in arms. Cultural Appropriation, racism … I was cracking up. Literally a Native baby & his great uncle was an actual Tribal CHIEF!!! Go Lil Bud!!!! Do your thang!!!!! You’re famous now!!!!!”
Here’s a clip of him in action at the Chiefs-Raiders game:
How are others reacting?
Musk added a much harsher assessment of Phillips in reaction to an End Wokeness post:
Others are also up in arms over the controversy. To wit:
Phillips’ X page as of Wednesday afternoon didn’t contain further commentary on his Deadspin piece. The New York Post said it has reached out to Phillips, Deadspin, and Shannon Armenta for comment.
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