Drinkers in Christchurch pub shocked to see men in blackface win competition

Drinkers were shocked when two men in blackface were awarded best dressed at a Christchurch pub.

The Bower owner’s partner, who awarded the men, is unapologetic, questioned why it was racist and said the pub’s predominantly Māori, Pasifika or Asian clientele saw “the funny side”.

A woman, who did not want to be named, said she was at The Bower in New Brighton on Saturday night with two friends.

The bar’s Facebook page advertised a Social Club Black n White function with deals, raffles and prizes for the best dressed.

The woman said she was taken aback by two men dressed up in blackface.

“Two men decided it was completely OK to dress up as gollywogs/blackface. The bartender who served us noticed our shock and apologised multiple times,” she said.

The blackface practice originated in the 1830s in the US when performers used the exaggerated dark black facial colouring and oversized red lips specifically to poke fun at an enslaved race they deemed less than human.

The woman said they sat a distance away from the men, but later in the night saw they were awarded prizes for best dressed which was captured on video.

“When confronted by someone in our group about their choice of dress-up and the blatant racism and ignorance that comes with it, the men and their group became aggressive, spitting while yelling, telling the woman to kill herself,” she said.

“One member threatened to bottle her.”

As the altercation escalated the woman’s group was removed from the bar by the same staff member who awarded the men best dressed.

She said he told them the men would be ejected as well, but they waited in the car outside and did not see the men leave.

Bar owner Katrina Hargen declined to comment on the incident.

However, a man who said he was Hargen’s partner and gave his name as Pierre, said he awarded the prize and escorted the women out.

He said the incident happened at a Black and White themed function while the All Blacks were playing.

“The three ladies that took exception to this… were the only ones in a bar of 100-odd people that sparked up,” he said.

“Half our people down there are Māori and that, and they were loving it so why does that matter. Why is it racist?”

He asked the women to go outside to calm down while he talked to the men to get their version of the story and when he returned the women were gone, he said.

“It was a fancy dress function. Black and White. 80% of our clientele is Māori, Asian, Samoan, Tongans and all that. Did they kick up? No they seen (sic) the funny side.”

It is the latest in a series of blackface incidents in New Zealand.

In May, a group of women in Southland posted photographs of themselves in blackface. The images showed the women had painted their faces, necks and arms with black paint, and donned wigs and costumes.

Their Facebook post said “This year Becky went to Jamaica and left us behind … so we decided to go too!”

In 2020, the Mayor of central Otago was forced to apologise for a blackface performance of Louis Armstrong from 2001.

“19 years on, I, like the rest of the world, look at things through a different lens,” he said.

In July 2019, a group of men ”dressed as pirates and Arabs in blackface” were kicked out of a Wanaka pub after being made to wash their faces.

In December 2019, at the height of the Christmas season, the Netherlands Society Christchurch caused controversy after using a blackface character in Christchurch’s St Nicholas Day celebrations.

In the November 2018 A&P Show, the Hāwera Lions Club’s float – which featured people in blackface – was awarded second place in the judging and given $300.

In May 2018, eight Harcourts staff members were filmed wearing blackface and afro or beaded wigs at the company’s annual national conference in Auckland.

And in 2015,The Bachelor star Art Green found himself in hot water for attending Colin Mathura-Jeffree’s Bollywood themed party in blackface.