A MOTHER at the centre of a racism row for dressing her child up as a 'lookie lookie' man for Hallowe'en is the sister of Commonwealth Games champion boxer Charlie Flynn, it has emerged.
We reported how nursery nurse Claire Flynn, from Motherwell, has been branded a 'racist' after she covered her daughter Sienna in black face paint.
GET A GRIP: Motherwell nursery nurse mum defends painting daughter black as ‘lookie lookie’ man for Halloween
The move, however, appeared to have been endorsed by gold medalist Flynn, 24, on Twitter.
Flynn shared an image of the youngster and said: "Lookie lookie...Happy Hallowe'en. My big sister has excelled herself with her girl's costume."
He later deleted the tweet hours after posting it.
Flynn has 14,000 followers on the social media website and is the founder of a charity called Inspiration 4 Schools. Flynn and other athletes visit schools throughout the country to talk to pupils about the benefits of sport and inspire them through their own stories.
The charity's official Twitter page
On his role for the charity, Flynn said: "After my success at the 2014 Commonwealth Games I was invited to schools to inspire our youth; giving presentational talks, training sessions, sharing my experiences and telling my story, the majority of which was done for free.
"During the four years of travelling Scotland visiting schools it did not take me long to realise from the gratitude of the teachers and positive effects on the pupils, that although there are many role models in our society there was no structure in place that allowed them to visit schools and invest time back into our younger community."
We reported how his sister Claire, 26, received a backlash on social media after posting the image of her daughter dressed as a 'lookie lookie'. The post is no longer public.
One man said: “Your ignorance is of the highest level. I hope social services get involved, as well as you losing your job. You are in charge of other people’s children. Please educate yourself as to why black face is offensive to black people.”
Others, however, defended the mum and praised her 'creativity'.
Defending her actions, Claire told those who have been offended to 'get a grip'.
She said: “I’m not going to apologise for this or delete my post. If people want to be all PC about it, they need to take a look at themselves. It’s really not an issue.
“We were in Magaluf on holiday in September and Sienna got a toy monkey from the ‘lookie lookie’ men. She loved them and wanted to go back and see them everyday.
"That’s when I had the idea. I’m just a creative person and that’s what Hallowe'en is all about.
“It’s a kid in a costume wearing face paint. People need to get a grip."
The Happy Feet nursery where Claire works told The Daily Record: "Claire isn't a racist in any way."
Former postman Flynn rose to fame during the 2014 Commonwealth Games which were held in Glasgow. He won gold and became a fan favourite with his slogan, 'the postman always delivers'.
Flynn has been contacted by The Evening Times for comment.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article