On November 29, 2019 the popular Afghan comedy skit “Shabake Khanda” aired an episode on TOLO TV where actors were said to be imitating “construction workers rapping a song after work” – while donning blackface and Afro wigs. The Afghan Diaspora for Equality and Progress (ADEP) condemns such racist and offensive acts that demean Black and African communities worldwide.
Blackface in America was widely used by white actors to create caricatures of Black folks, often pinning enslaved Africans as the root of offensive jokes. This affirmed, and continues to affirm, white superiority. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) says, “By distorting the features and culture of African Americans—including their looks, language, dance, deportment, and character—white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis.”
While Whiteness is a driving factor for the racism in blackface, Non-Black people of color are not immune to pushing the same harmful stereotypes, which is the case of the Afghan actors in “Shabake Khanda.”
Afghans on Twitter called out the skit for its blackface which led to Saad Mohseni, Director of Moby Group, the company that owns TOLO TV, denying any use of blackface and claimed the actors were imitating construction workers.
ADEP recognizes the groundbreaking work of Moby Group and Tolo TV since 2004 and honors the commitment and tremendous sacrifice made, but calls on the organizations to cease any reproduction or airing of the skit and to issue a formal apology for its insensitivity.
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