"Le Vif" justifies its controversy and apologizes

Front page of the Belgian magazine -

“What we wanted to do is anti-blackface”.

In One of the

this week, under the title "And if they had been black?

», The readers of the Belgian magazine have discovered the portraits of several Belgian personalities, the tenniswoman Kim Clijsters or the President of the European Council Charles Michel, all of them with black faces.

In this week's Le Vif / L'Express available in bookstores or via our application:

Our file: What if they had been #Noirs?

|

# Rentreelitteraire2020: daring, intelligence and strong emotions in 40 novels https://t.co/x7rneJpQz2 pic.twitter.com/qBKwZg3P3s

- LEVIF / L'EXPRESS (@LeVif) September 3, 2020

A recourse to the "blackface" which did not take long to cause a lively controversy on social networks, ranging from incomprehension to anger.

"Selling to the detriment of the substance by apologizing for the racist Blackface is deplorable", notably estimated a Brussels deputy.

For his part, the virologist Emmanuel André did not hide his amazement at finding himself on the front page of the magazine: "I would have preferred not to have my photo grayed out on a magazine to illustrate this".

Putting on the front page of the Whites painted in black instead of the Afrodescendant.es in the dossier is an editorial choice that lowers the journalistic work necessary on the issue.

Selling at the expense of substance by apologizing for racist Blackface is deplorable. # Blackface #LeVif pic.twitter.com/0zradetOn4

- Kalvin Soiresse Njall (@SoiresseKalvin) September 3, 2020

If I had been Afro-descendant, if I had been a woman, or if I had grown up in a difficult socio-economic context, you probably wouldn't be reading this tweet.

But I would have preferred not to have my photo grayed out on a magazine to illustrate this.

- Emmanuel André (@Emmanuel_microb) September 3, 2020

Faced with these reactions, the editor-in-chief of Le

published an article on Thursday to explain this choice of illustration.

“The cover (…) visibly arouses a real stir, which is most evident on social networks.

It therefore seemed important to us to come back to our journalistic approach and put it in context, ”writes Anne-Sophie Bailly.

"There is not an ounce of mockery on our part"

She then explains that she started working on this subject after the George Floyd affair in the United States last spring.

"We asked ourselves this question: of course, the violence of white police officers against people of color is not comparable in Belgium and the United States, but in substance, is Belgium as egalitarian as it is? does she say so?

".

Further, she provides this justification: “The title of the cover refers directly to the fact that Afro-descendants, with equal skills, are less likely than whites to get by in life, especially at school or on the job market (…) It is exactly this discrimination that the front page title and its illustration refer to.

"

Accused of having resorted to "blackface", Anne-Sophie Bailly considers on the contrary to have done the opposite.

“The reactions ignited on social networks where this cover was widely relayed without text or context, fueling the underlying idea that this illustration was a new example of blackface (...) Now, what we wanted to do, it's anti-blackface.

There is not an ounce of mockery on our part in this illustration, ”she says.

In conclusion, the editor-in-chief still apologizes to those who were shocked by the illustration of the number.

“The image may have been felt as hurtful by some, whereas our intention was never to hurt, on the contrary.

If so, we apologize, ”she wrote.

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