A California school has come under fire after a guest speaker wore blackface to dress up as an African woman during a history lesson on a Christian missionary.

The superintendent of the Victory Christian School system in Carmichael was forced to apologize after the chapel speaker was pictured with darkened skin for the elementary class' lesson.

John Huffman wrote to parents, apologizing for his 'poor judgment' and said he was wrong to have allowed the woman, who has not been named, to dress in that way.

In a statement to Yahoo News he said: 'Last Thursday our elementary chapel speaker dressed up as a Central African native woman in order to tell the life story of missionary David Livingston (sic) and his work in Africa in the late 1800s.

'In an effort to bring authenticity to her role, she wore a typical native dress and headdress. She also used makeup to darken her skin tone on her arms, shoulders and face.'

The speaker wore blackface to dress up as an African woman during a history lesson on a Christian missionary. The superintendent of the Victory Christian School in Carmichael apologized after the chapel speaker was pictured with darkened skin

WHO WAS DAVID LIVINGSTONE? David Livingstone was posted to southern Africa in 1841 as a missionary doctor. He became convinced of his mission to introduce Christianity to Africa. Livingstone crossed the continent during the mid-19th century and wrote Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa in 1857. An abolitionist, he publicized the horrors of the slave trade. He died in 1873 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. Advertisement

Huffman added: 'I was wrong to allow the use of makeup no matter how innocent the intentions as it has offended some of my students and parents.

'I should have anticipated that this could be offensive, and I apologized to my students and parents asking to be forgiven for hurting them.'

The woman is said to have been teaching the district's lower school about missionary David Livingstone, who visited Africa in the late 19th century.

A former student, who did not want to be identified, said: 'It was very upsetting, especially because the kids in that class are so young. A mother said she would pull her daughter from the school.'

After seeing the image on social media one Twitter user wrote: 'Im done. Really it's 2019. How can you think this is a good idea?' Another added: 'Utterly speechless.'

The letter sent home to parents from John Huffman after the incident involving a guest speaker

John Huffman, left, wrote to parents, apologizing after the 'poor judgment'. A former student at Victory Christian School called it 'very upsetting' especially in front of 'kids so young'

Courtesy of Fox40.

Huffman is also understood to have spoken about the issue in a school assembly.

He added: 'I wanted to assure them that I am planning future open discussions about this in our chapels and Bible classes in order to help students and staff understand each other's sensitivities.

'There will be other opportunities scheduled for staff as well as teachers as we all learn from this together.'

DailyMail.com has contacted the school for comment.