Italian public service ends with "blackface"

The program Tale e Quali Show is broadcast on the Italian public service channel RAI and involves celebrities imitating artists.

Since the start in 2012, the program has had several white participants who imitated and put on make-up for black artists, something that upset parts of the audience and organizations working against racism.

In the past, artists such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé have been imitated.

Last in line was Italian rapper Ghali Amdouni.

After the program, Amdouni reacted on his social media and wrote that the imitation of was an expression of racism: "Autotune and a good-looking appearance were enough.

It is not necessary to make blackface to imitate me or other artists ”.

The TV channel responds to the criticism

Afro-Italians have for several years expressed their dissatisfaction with the Tale e Quali program.

In January this year, several anti-racist groups joined forces and wrote letters to the channel's executives to stop the images.

The management of the channel has now heeded the criticism and answers that they "promise to try to ensure that it will not be repeated".

Kristina Kappelin, journalist and Italian connoisseur, says that Italy is far behind many other countries when it comes to views on racism and sexism.

That is the reason why RAI's decision comes so late, she believes.

- Television reflects society and society reflects television.

That the decision is coming now is probably due to the fact that Italy has become a country with quite a lot of immigration.

People have finally started to get used to looking at society from a modern perspective from a gender equality and diversity point of view.

Although RAI's decision has created some debate in Italy, the issue is hardly at the top of the agenda.

- The awareness of the TV audience is surprisingly low.

But as usual in this type of context, it is quite polarized.

Some think it was really about time.

Others do not understand at all why it is a problem, says Kristina Kappelin.

Blackface originated in the first half of the 19th century when white people made fun of black slaves by dressing up and using clichés. This helped to create racist stereotypes that have since survived, not least in popular culture.