Fraternity sparks outrage after posing with black 'Beyoncé' sex doll in racist Christmas card

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A fraternity at the University of Pennsylvania has been accused of racism after including a black blow-up sex-doll in their annual Christmas card.

The picture meant to send holiday greetings from the Phi Delta Theta fraternity sparked outrage when recipients spotted the black doll among the overwhelmingly white group of young men. 

The Phi Delta Theta fraternity has now been forced to apologise for the Christmas card, saying that there was 'no justification for this act of poor judgement'.

Accused: The Phi Delta Theta fraternity at University of Pennsylvania have apologised for including a black blow-up sex doll in their annual Christmas card

The picture was posted on the Phi Delta Theta's Facebook and shows 29 young University of Pennsylvania students posing in what appears to be a lounge room.

Among the young smiling men with their arms on each other's shoulders is a plastic blow-up sex doll.

According to fraternity brothers, the doll was a 'Beyoncé sex toy' that had been bought as a 'gag gift' for Secret Santa, and had been included in the photograph with no intention of causing offense.

Shortly after the picture was posted on Facebook, several organisations on and off campus, including the university’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, accused the fraternity of racism.

The picture has now been removed from the fraternity's page and all activities have been suspended while Phi Delta Theta's parent organisation investigates the incident.

Apology: The fraternity said the doll had been included as a joke with no intention of causing offense

Bow down: The fraternity claim the plastic toy was a 'Beyoncé sex doll', but that the doll 'bore no resemblance to the artist beyond skin color adding to its offensive nature'

Several organisations on University of Pennsylvania's campus, including the university’s chapter of the NAACP, accused the fraternity of racism

The fraternity has issued an apology, admitting that Beyoncé sex toy was 'distasteful' and that 'once removed from the packaging, it bore no semblance to the artist beyond skin color adding to its offensive nature,' The Daily Pennsylvanian reports.

Phi Delta Theta added that 'the absence of racial motivation is no justification for this act of poor judgement and the decision not to include a sex toy in a holiday picture should have been an easy one.'

'We are deeply concerned by this image,' Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity VP Sean Wagner told The Daily Pennsylvanian. 

'Phi Delta Theta is a values-based organization and the lack of judgment associated with this image indicates a disconnect from those same values.'

This is the latest racist controversy surrounding sororities and fraternities at American universities.

Last week, a sorority girl at the University of Maryland posed for a photograph with a racist birthday cake made of alcohol bottles that reads, 's*** a n**** d***' on her 21st birthday.

The photo from Delta Gamma Sorority was posted online to Instagram along with an offensive hashtag comment that featured the 'n-word.'

Delta Gamma posted a grovelling apology on their Facebook page, saying the sorority 'is a dynamic organization committed to diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religious affiliation, color, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status or physical disability.'