Breathe a sigh of relief in Walzenhausen AR
Criminal proceedings against “black” Appenzell yodelers dropped
Appenzell judges have dropped criminal proceedings against a yodeller choir. At a carnival party, a yodeler painted his face black and pretended to be an African. The “blackface” was apparently not racist and goes unpunished.
Published: 12 minutes ago
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Updated: 1 minute ago
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This black Appenzeller yodeler caused a racism scandal in November.
November 2022 in Appenzell: At a carnival party, a yodeler with a black painted face, curly hair wig, drum and bast skirt suddenly stepped onto the stage – and caused a racism scandal. The reproach? “Blackfacing” when white people put on make-up to represent black people.
Markus Nef, farmer in Walzenhausen in Appenzell and president of the Jodelchorli, reacted with astonishment to the accusation. He had never heard the expression “blackfacing”. He doesn’t deal with “that kind of ‘stuff’,” said Nef about “20 minutes”. He doesn’t have any time for that in Appenzellerland with its “wonderful views”, where people “work” and “don’t seek arguments”.
The Federal Commission against Racism (FCR), on the other hand, called the performance “clearly tasteless and racist. The performance and disguise reproduce colonial racist stereotypes and degrade black people for general amusement.” According to the EKR, the responsible criminal authorities should examine a possible criminal offence.
No racial discrimination
The Appenzeller didn’t want to discriminate against the Africans at all, according to yodeller boss Nef on “20 minutes”. The performance “started with a traditional Appenzell song, then another culture came on stage – and we make music together”. Politically correct critics, on the other hand, suspected that the Appenzeller Jodelchorli show made fun of Africans.
The public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden opened criminal proceedings. In the meantime, this has been discontinued, as the “SonntagsZeitung” reports. The performance did use “typical elements of ‘blackfacing'”, according to the hiring order.
The actor, on the other hand, did not make any racist or derogatory statements about Africans. “In the context of the carnival” the “fact of racial discrimination is not fulfilled per se”. (kes)