Friday is Halloween and online retailer Cdon is one of the major retailers of fancy dress costumes in Sweden. For two years, they have promised to remove the blackface ad – but before Halloween this year, it was back.
The same costume was on the site in 2023 and 2024 and the models wore blackface then too.
In 2023, Cdon wrote to Aftonbladet that the product would be removed. Despite this, the suit reappeared the following year. At that time, Cdon CEO Fredrik Norberg wrote to Dagens ETC that a technical error had caused the products to reappear on the site.
Third time it happens
Now the same costume has appeared for the third year in a row, now under the name: “Costume for adults African man”. It was displayed on the site until October 29. It was only when TT drew the company's attention to the ad that it was removed.
But it's not the only similar product Cdon sold this year. An ad called "The Wise Man Balthazar" also shows a model in blackface.
Yonnas Seyoum, who is chairman of the National Organization of Afro-Swedes, believes that stereotypical representations of the black man and woman, or the African, continue to spread.
In this case, an African is equated with a black person. Which of course is not always true, there are different skin colors in Africa. It is a stereotypical image that is problematic and a reflection of our times.
But it's hard to say that it would be ignorance on Cdon's part if they received criticism for this earlier, says Seyoum.
“Shouldn’t exist”
In a written comment to TT, Cdon CEO Fredrik Norberg says that the company has a system that automatically searches for this type of product, but that this ad slipped through. The explanation for this is that Cdon is a marketplace with over a thousand connected merchants, Norberg says.
"This is not an excuse, but an explanation for how it could go this wrong. There are many products, with different messages for example, that can be in a gray area around one's own preferences, but this type of purely racist product is definitely on the wrong side and should not be for sale with us."
Cdon also states that new merchants have posted the costumes and that the merchants have received penalties because they violated Cdon's merchant agreement.
Blackface has existed in various parts of the world since the 19th century. It became widespread in the United States, among other places, through so-called "minstrel shows" where white people painted themselves black to imitate and ridicule black people.
In the early 19th century, playwright Thomas Darthmouth Rice created the caricature "Jim Crow". He painted himself black and used stereotypical African-American language during his performances.
In the 20th century, blackface also appeared in film and entertainment. In the Swedish musical film "Resan till dej" released in 1953, Alice Babs wore blackface and sang about wishing she had white skin.
Blackface is now considered racist and a legacy of slavery, but it still occurs – for example in the Spanish city of Alcoy, where people celebrate Christmas by wearing blackface and taking part in parades.
Source: SVT
