Covid-19 coronavirus: Child science educator Nathan Wallis apologises after outrage over pillow

Neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis was pictured on screen during a class with his head resting on a pillow featuring the confederate flag. Photo / File

One of the hosts of New Zealand's official home-learning TV channel has apologised for upsetting viewers with his controversial pillow.

Earlier today neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis was pictured on screen during an class with his head resting on a pillow featuring the confederate flag - which for many is a sign of racism and slavery in the United States.

In a video shared on Facebook, Wallis explained that the pillow was given to him by his family because it had a picture of Wonder Woman on the back.

"I had kind of a crush, more like an obsession with Wonder Woman as a child, so it's kind of a family joke.

"Now I know that this pillow doesn't just represent Dukes of Hazzard to people but also lots of horrible stuff then we will get rid of it. You won't see it again, thanks for letting me know."

Neuroscience educator Nathan Wallis was pictured on screen during a class with his head resting on a pillow featuring the confederate flag. Photo / File

In response to the video, many people said there was no need to remove the pillow.

"You shouldn't have to justify, that's so bad man. People are rude, I think the cushion is awesome. Don't get rid of it," one person said.

While another said: "So, his answer was innocent enough but to all those people here who think it's just a flag, you're wrong. It's a symbol of the endemic racism of the American South, the US civil war was basically fought over black slavery and the confederate states in the south were in favour of the horrific trade in human lives and the confederate flag was what they fought under."

WTF Nathan Wallis? #papakaingatv #homelearningtv pic.twitter.com/bmjeqafR8l

— strangedays (@strange20108312) April 20, 2020

Some people accepted the apology, saying Wallis had realised his mistake, and were pleased he quickly got rid of it.

But others criticised Wallis' apology for not being meaningful enough.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Wallis is part of Home Learning TV, launched with TVNZ, to provide teacher-led lessons for 5- to 15-year-olds.

Some of the other educators on the show include Suzy Cato, Karen O'Leary and Jordan Vandermade.