Alex Hales justifies wearing blackface at New Years' party amid Yorkshire racism row

England cricketer Alex Hales, who was mentioned by former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq in a parliamentary hearing about the racist culture at his county club, is now embroiled in yet another controversy. Just a day after Hales denied naming his dog 'Kevin,' which Rafiq said was based on a racial connotation used by former England cricketer Gary Ballance for all persons of colour, an old photograph of him in blackface has surfaced, causing a massive uproar. Hales can be seen posing with his friends in blackface make-up. 

Hales has now issued a clarification saying that the photo of him in blackface was taken during a New Year's Eve musical tribute fancy dress party in 2009. Hales claimed he was costumed in honour of Tupac Shakur, his "musical idol". The Nottinghamshire opener stated that he had loved Shakur since childhood and that he was unaware at the time that his blackface make-up could be insulting. Hales went on to say that he despises racism in all of its manifestations and apologised for any offence his photo may have caused.

"In 2009, I attended a New Year’s Eve musical tribute fancy dress party. I dressed in tribute to my musical hero, Tupac Shakur, someone who I’ve admired from childhood and, at the time, did not realise the offensive nature of this. I echo my statement from earlier in the week and stress how much I deplore racism and discrimination in all its forms," Hales told The Sun. 

Hales, who has played 11 Tests and 70 ODIs for England, has received criticism from several anti-racism campaigners including British MP Julian Knight, who described the blackface picture as "disturbing and offensive". Knight went as far as to say that the very "soul of English cricket is at stake". Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has launched an investigation of its own to probe the allegations against Hales. Nottinghamshire CCC has launched an investigation into the matter. 

Yorkshire racism row

Rafiq, an English cricketer of Pakistani descent, had first made the allegations of racism against Yorkshire and his former teammates in 2018. However, Yorkshire only acknowledged that a formal inquiry into the matter has been launched in September 2020, after Rafiq went to the press. Earlier this year, Yorkshire released a report admitting that Rafiq was subjected to racism on several occasions. But on October 28, Yorkshire issued a statement where it refused to accept the findings of its own report and said, "There is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or Executives that warrant disciplinary action." 

Image: ICC