blackface is alive and well: chinese new year gone wrong

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!! But also… no Blackface please?

You might think this a strange and outdated request in 2018, but apparently China’s most popular lunar year TV special has missed the memo as they broadcasted a comedy skit featuring a Chinese woman graciously blessing the screen in blackface: complete with a kente-style dress, prosthetic backside, fruit basket…and her beloved monkey companion, naturally.

The scene centers around a young black woman who  “tries to convince her mother to let her move to China by getting a Chinese friend to pretend to be her fiancé”– and long story short, when the mother (in blackface) figures out the lie, she realizes she couldn’t possibly be mad because China had “contributed so much” to African countries, and she should be grateful. A failed attempt at self-congragulation with just a hint of extreme racism.

As the country in the same breath denies racism, CCTV claimed it’s objective to be illuminating and celebrating the ties between China and it’s allying African countries… by portraying them in some of the most generationally discriminatory ways. Hm.

Though social media caught ablaze, and China is given no choice but to confront the weight of their actions, Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang sticks to his message that “any efforts to use this as a pretext for making a fuss and driving a wedge between China and African countries are futile[…]” .

Yet again, another politician more focused on trade relations than interealations, but the more mistakes like this are made, the quicker we are to catch them, and the more platforms the public is given to use its voice.

Check out the craziness below and Happy Lunar New Year 🙂