The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Court says ‘blackfacing’ incident was not racist

Appenzell centre
The man denied allegations of racism, saying he had no time for that in Appenzell where people “work and don’t look for trouble”. Keystone/gaetan Bally

A court in Appenzell has dismissed a racism case against a yodeller who painted his face black and pretended to be African, reports the SonntagsZeitung.

The case relates to a carnival performance by a yodel choir in November 2022, in which choir head Markus Nef stepped onto the stage with a black-painted face, frizzy wig, drum and grass skirt. Nef, a local farmer, denied allegations of racism, saying he had no time for that in a place where people “work and don’t look for trouble”. He said he had never heard the term “blackfacing” before.

However, the Federal Commission against Racism called the performance “clearly tasteless and racist”. The performance and disguise reproduced racist colonial stereotypes where “black people are belittled for general amusement”, it said, calling for judicial authorities to investigate a possible criminal offence.

The public prosecutor’s office in the northeastern canton Appenzell Outer Rhodes opened criminal proceedings. However, judges have now ruled that while the performance used “typical elements of blackfacing”, the performer did not make racist or derogatory remarks about Africans. They concluded that in the context of the carnival this did not qualify as racism.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

sheep

More

Swiss forced to throw away tonnes of sheep’s wool

This content was published on Swisswool, the largest Swiss wool processor, is not accepting any wool for the first time this spring. For many sheep farmers, the only option is to get rid of the wool.

Read more: Swiss forced to throw away tonnes of sheep’s wool

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR