“muddy uneducated uncivilized people who need to be educated (probably by any random westerner)”
on July 18, 2007
Category: Racism, Africa
Via Women of Color and Black Women in Europe
Sphere: Related ContentThis is an actual ad-campaign by UNICEF Germany!
This campaign is „blackfacing“ white children with mud to pose as “uneducated africans“.
The headline translates “This Ad-campaign developped pro bono by the agency Jung von Matt/Alster shows four german kids who appeal for solidarity with their contemporaries in Afrika”
The first kid says:
“I’m waiting for my last day in school, the children in africa still for their first one.”
second kid:
“in africa, many kids would be glad to worry about school”
third kid:
“in africa, kids don’t come to school late, but not at all” (!)
fourth kid:
“some teachers suck. no teachers sucks even more.”
Besides claiming that every single person in “Africa” isn’t educated, and doing so in an extremely patronising way, it is also disturbing that this organisation thinks blackfacing kids with mud (!) equals “relating to african children”. Also, the kids’ statements ignore the existance of millions of african academics and regular people and one again reduces a whole continent to a village of muddy uneducated uncivilized people who need to be educated (probably by any random westerner). This a really sad regression.
Bottom lines of this campaign are: Black = mud = African = uneducated. White = educated. We feel this campaign might do just as much harm as it does any good. You don’t collect money for helping people by humiliating and trivilaizing them first.
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27 Comments so far
1. Ann
July 18th, 2007 at 8:45 am
Ack! Just… wow.
Uzodinma Iweala wrote an article for the Washington Post that you might want to read. It’s about the West’s perception of Africa as well.
2. Simon Columbus
July 18th, 2007 at 10:48 am
That’s advertising… and advertising uses symbols. The responsible agenture “Jung von Matt” is (well?) known for many ‘aggressive’ campaigns which don’t always please anybody. But I think one has too look a bit deeper.
The text on the one pic you show says
“In Africa many children would be happy if they could be angry at the school”
I’m a enthusiastic reader of William Kamkwambas blog where I read about a guy who is very happy to be able to go to school again - and I know he’s not the only one who’s parents cannot pay the costs of education. That IS one of Africas major problems as you will acknowledge.
You should know the text between the big letters:
“In Africa every second child is not able to go to school. Everybody has to take part to change this. Write to Angela Merkel (German head of government). All nations - even the G8 - have to keep their promise and to realize the goals of the Global Marshall Plan: Education for every child till 2015!”
Also, the kids aren’t “blackfaces” with mud, I think, and nobody says, Unfortunately I can’t find any mention of this campaign on the German UNICEF site. But I think, this campaign is a good way to show where the world’s problems are. One symbol sometimes says more than than thousand words…
3. Riemer-O-Rama
July 18th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Unicef-Anzeigenserie: “Schulen für Afrika”…
Das blackgefaceten Kinder funktioniert nur, wenn Deutsche nur weiß sein können:
Zur Unicef-Kampagne
via black looks
……
4. Alice
July 18th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
“the kids’ statements ignore the existance of millions of african academics and regular people”
Well, yes! The ad is not promoting academics and regular people. It is promoting the need for education in many African countries. Perhaps you think that is not necessary? Tell that to the 15,000 parents that apply each year for the 170 places in a free school offering quality education in Tanzania.
You want ads that promote the achievements of Africans? That will happen when African businesses have grown sufficiently to sell themselves to world markets.
You have a very determined jaundiced world view that seems quite unrealistic. It must cause you a lot of disappointment.
5. Sokari
July 18th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Ann@ Yes I read the piece - very good. Solomon and Alice - if you cannot see what is offensive about these ads then that is unfortunate. There is nothing unrealistic about expecting UNICEF not to use black faced white kids in their promotions. No, only people cause me disappointment.
6. Yobachi
July 18th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I read the first couple of sentences of your post on a feed, and said no way! When I click and read the rest, what I thought I understood you to be saying was going to be different from what you’re really saying.
It’s really hard to shock me, and I expect racism in general and extreme ignorance in regards to Africa in specific; but this is so blatant it’s hard to comprehend how it went from an ideal ad made it through all filters to be come an actual ad campaign.
Then again, we are talking about Germans, and despite their claims of Nazi-ism being in their past, strong vestiges of those same racial attitudes still exist. After all last year when the World Cup of Soccer was held in Germany (or maybe it was qualifying matches) Black Soccer plays and travelers were warned by officials of the state to stay out of certian parts of the country for their own saftey.
This is reminicent of the Kat’se Moss’ black face and Gwyneth Paltro “I Am African” ads, but much worse:
http://www.visualeditors.com/home/2006/09/racist-kate-moss-in-black-face-on-the-cover-of-the-red-independent
http://annansi.com/blog/2006/08/gwyneth-paltrow-declares-i-am-african-like-david-bowie/
7. brownfemipower
July 18th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
would we say “Europe is full of fat people?” Or “North Americans get too much liposuction done?”
what kind of arrogance is that to defend the writing of an entire freaking continent off as a singular entity? I mean for heaven’s sake–the most obvious question–is there no such thing as a white child in the entire african continent?
nobody is trying to make the point that only “the good” should be highlighted–if you want to “show where the worlds problems are” why isn’t there a campiagn highlighting the children of New Orleans, who also are not going to school and are living in camps etc? And should that campaign read, “In north america, children want to go to school”? Or would we recognize that new orleans is not the entire continent?
8. Jay
July 18th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
This ad represents some major assclownery, first class.
9. Joan Kelly
July 18th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
I understand that nobody wants to feel slapped in the face when their view of their actions is that they were intending to do good. However, what would such folks have people do to address the reality that the intention of many white people/westerners to do good towards/at/on other countries, people of color, fellow citizens, etc. has been and continues to be harmful in and of itself, BECAUSE of the intention to do good, not in spite of it? How would folks wish that to be addressed? And if it is not acceptable to address that very fact, if good intentions and their outcomes ought to be immune from examination by virtue of the fact that they are good intentions…I wish I had the balls to say, “Then I would like you, then, to not examine the fact that it is with the best of intentions that I tell you to take your motherfucking blackface patronizing misleading ads and shove them up your ass.” Alas, I do not have those balls. I know it may look like that’s what I just said, it may resemble other times that people have said that very thing, but it would be unfair for you to jump to the conclusion that that is what I am saying or just said, especially since I am telling you right now that I did not say it. Why are you picking on me?
10. I’m not the only one « Ramblings of an African Geek
July 18th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
[…] and from Sokari, more illustration of well meaning but insulting and paternalistic activism. […]
11. Kym Platt
July 18th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Wow.
12. elle
July 18th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Joan Kelly: Very true and very funny.
Why are balls always used as the standard to judge boldness? I think having the breasts to say something, that needs to be said, is a much stronger image.
13. Slant Truth » But They Didn’t *Mean* To Be Offensive
July 18th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
[…] Black Women in Europe, Women of Color Blog, Black Looks, and Black Folks for analysis and […]
14. Simon Columbus
July 18th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
@ Yobachi:
“Then again, we are talking about Germans, and despite their claims of Nazi-ism being in their past, strong vestiges of those same racial attitudes still exist. After all last year when the World Cup of Soccer was held in Germany (or maybe it was qualifying matches) Black Soccer plays and travelers were warned by officials of the state to stay out of certian parts of the country for their own saftey.”
So you’re the racist. Germany has one of Europe’s lowest rates of nationalists in parliament (none) and despite there are some people sharing nazi ideology these are very few in comparison to other nations. And it’s absolutely not ok to say: In Germany there was a racist regime, they MUST be racist anyhow.
But some here would like to forbid white faced actors to play Shakespeare’s Othello…
15. Sokari
July 18th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Yobachi@ I do agree with Simon regarding your reference to Germans - what happened at the last world cup would just as well have happened in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Denmark, Netherlands etc etc. Try walking down the streets of some parts of south (sarf) east London late at night - be warned.
16. Brian
July 19th, 2007 at 3:21 am
Certainly UNICEF’s campaign is trying to address a real need. But it could’ve done so in a way that broke down, rather than pandered to, stereotypes. It portrays Africans as a bunch of losers who need saving instead of hard working people who just could benefit from a helping hand. Why not show an earnest young African boy or girl in their school uniform?
17. Grandiose Parlor » Blog Archive » Helping Africa: Where Are the African Champions?
July 19th, 2007 at 6:54 am
[…] some grief: A Unicef-sponsored advertisement in Germany which one of her readers call - “well meaning but insulting and paternalistic activism“. The ad features some mud-faced white kids posting as out-of-school African kids - German […]
18. Simon Columbus
July 19th, 2007 at 10:51 am
@ Brian:
“Why not show an earnest young African boy or girl in their school uniform?”
Because it just doesn’t work! This campaign is aggressive, so the people look and see. Good advertising is always problematical.
19. POPLOG
July 19th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Kurze Blackfacingunterbrechung…
“Schwarze Menschen = Dreck = Afrikaner = ungebildet”. Die Gleichung galt bis vor kurzem zumindest im deutschen UNICEF-Land. Nach zahlreichen Protesten (zum Beispiel hier, hier, hier, hier und hier) wurde die von Jung von Matt konzipierte Ka…
20. Yobachi
July 19th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
“I do agree with Simon regarding your reference to Germans - what happened at the last world cup would just as well have happened in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Denmark, Netherlands etc etc. Try walking down the streets of some parts of south (sarf) east London late at night - be warned.”
So racism existing else where somehow lessons the amount of racism in Germany or the wrongness of it? I don’t follow such logic.
Highlighting racism elsewhere doesn’t at all negate the point I made.
21. Simon Columbus
July 19th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
@ Yobachi:
“So racism existing else where somehow lessons the amount of racism in Germany or the wrongness of it? I don’t follow such logic.
Highlighting racism elsewhere doesn’t at all negate the point I made.”
Oh, I think, it does. You said that because this campaign is German one has to negotiate that Germany has racist inhabitants, nothing else. But that’s naturally so, you won’t find any nation without racists. Just because Germany had a racist regime (like many other nations), you can’t tell that Germans are more racist than others. I think, it’s the opposite.
22. Sokari
July 19th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Yobachi @ “So racism existing else where somehow lessons the amount of racism in Germany or the wrongness of it? I don’t follow such logic.”
I dont think I explained my point very well. I was specifically referring to your statement
“Then again, we are talking about Germans, and despite their claims of Nazi-ism being in their past, strong vestiges of those same racial attitudes still exist”.
I am not comfortable with that statement as it implies that somehow Germans are more racist, more inclined to racism, not surprising they are racist because of Nazism. Firstly you could have worded your comment in a different way and still highlighted racism in Germany. Secondly I wanted to point out that racism is rampant across Europe.
23. Africa Media
July 19th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Are they outsourcing the ads to some “edgy” upstart marketing group with this sort of end result secretly in mind? Is racist imagery simply a new marketing tactic by these aid groups, many of which lost their real mission long ago? Is it simply about generating buzz and using “viral” media , etc. etc.? In which case, they not only don’t give a damn if it’s offensive, they likely hope that it is.
24. Simon Columbus
July 19th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
@ Sokari:
“racism is rampant across Europe.”
Not just there… everywhere.
25. Black Looks
July 22nd, 2007 at 1:21 am
[…] American Opinion Pundit decided to write to UNICEF about their “black face” campaign I am concerned about the “racial overtones” of the recent campaign of placing […]
26. No More “Black Faces”- UNICEF Pulls Down Controversial Ad - AfricanLoft
July 22nd, 2007 at 2:52 am
[…] to be educated (probably by any random westerner)” this is Black Looks’ blog post of the controversial UNICEF (Germany) ads. She writes in follow-up post: Good to know that making the effort to write can work and that some […]
27. Noah Sow
July 26th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
hello all!
I started this campaign (not the UNICEF campaing of course - I wrote and posted the initial letter against it
because I didn’t want to go through this alone and because I felt that our black german media-watch organisation “der braune mob” would need all the help we could get. So far: THANK YOU so much for sharing your thoughts and doing this together!
The original link is in our blog, in English and German. The reactions are frequently being updated, and there’s a response letter from UNICEF Germany online that we think doesn’t make things any better. We’d appreciate your thoughts on this one as well.
And also, if you could refer to our organisation “der braune mob” (www.derbraunemob.de) for initiating this campaign.
yours sincerely,
Noah Sow
our UNICEF-blog-link is:
http://blog.derbraunemob.info/english-scandalous-german-unicef-advertising-campaign-please-help/