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Moroccan TV Network Reprimanded for Controversial Racial Sketch on Comedy Show
Sunday 3 March 2019, by
The sketch by Abdellah Elberkaoui, in Stand Up, which had sparked a lively controversy on social networks due to its alleged racism, has just earned the SNRT a reprimand from the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) through a decision of the Superior Council for Audiovisual Communication (CSCA): a warning and an obligation to notify the Council’s decision and to publish it in the official bulletin.
Abdellah Elberkaoui, who during a sketch where he was impersonating a sub-Saharan migrant went so far as to use the term "kahlouch", this during the humorous show Stand Up broadcast on Al Oula at the beginning of last month, had caused an outcry and aroused many indignations. The HACA was then seized of the matter. Let us recall, as mentioned by the CSCA in a press release, that Abdellah Elberkaoui had introduced himself in these terms: "(…) I present to you (candidate’s name), from (sub-Saharan country of origin) ... Kahlouch from Morocco! (…)".
The CSCA has just ruled! It declares that "the SNRT, the editor of the public television service "AL OULA", has violated the provisions in force, in particular those relating to human dignity; Decides to issue a warning to the SNRT; Orders the notification of the present decision to the SNRT, as well as its publication in the Official Bulletin".
The council’s decision contains a good summary, or rather an appropriate angle, to understand the verdict: "Whereas the Superior Council for Audiovisual Communication considers that the repeated use of the qualifier "kahlouch", although adopted as a stage name by the candidate himself, constitutes a nickname, with a pejorative connotation, referring to his skin color; which, combined on the one hand with the character embodied of a sub-Saharan immigrant, as represented by the staging, with a caricatural accent, as well as on the other hand, the reactions of the jury members and the cheers of the audience on the set, chanting the said nickname, go beyond the comic character and border on mockery and contempt, which therefore constitutes an insult with a pejorative connotation and a racial perception, towards a category of the public".
In short: The sketch was indeed racist.