The Zurich public prosecutor’s office is investigating the blackfacing procedure

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Neither the Zurich city police nor the public prosecutor’s office have received any reports related to the “Ball bei Böögg” event. However, the Zurich-Limmat public prosecutor’s office has opened a so-called preliminary investigation, announced Friday at Blick’s request.

This is a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is sufficient suspicion of a criminal offense and whether the conditions for initiating a criminal investigation have been met. As long as this preliminary investigation is ongoing, the prosecutor’s office will not provide any further information, she said.

Last weekend for the traditional Sechseläuten, a select group of Zurich’s elite gathered at the Terrasse am Bellevue restaurant for the “Ball bei Böögg”. An exclusive occasion that caused a scandal this year: the “Tages-Anzeiger” published a video showing a questionable moral image of this society.

Among other things, there was an ugly case of blackfacing. A white man with a face painted black, a raffia skirt, and a curly wig appeared. A video of it is now circulating, which has been criticized from various sides.

“Blackfacing is racist”

“It’s amazing that people can and want to laugh at such jokes these days. The video is tasteless and reproduces racist stereotypes,” the Federal Commission Against Racism (EKR) said when asked by Blick.

The blackface is racist because in this case it depicts black people in a one-sided and discriminatory way, using racist stereotypes. It is important to understand that the problem of blackface is not just a matter of makeup, the EKR continues. “It is rather about the prevailing balance of power in a society where black people are still affected by racism and discrimination and about the historical roots of blackfacing.”

Director of Justice condemns incident

The Zurich justice director Jacqueline Fehr (59) also spoke via the short message service Twitter. “Where does humor come from that thrives on belittling other people?” Fehr asked rhetorically in her tweet. She also wrote that the incident is not getting any better just because it was a private matter. (oco/lha)

Source:Blick