Madrid’s city hall said sorry for sharing videos of a white actor in blackface for a popular festival.
In one of the videos, a man with black makeup on his face was speaking in a strong accent, which made some people think it was being racist.
Madrid’s deputy mayor said sorry for the “bad mistake” and blamed the company that made the videos.
Blackface is when white people made fun of black people for fun.
On January 6th, Christians celebrate Epiphany. It’s the day when the Magi – also called the Three Kings or Wise Men – visited Jesus. This day is a big celebration in Spain.
Children clean their shoes the night before a special day called “El Dia de los Reyes” (the Day of the Kings) and leave them out for the Three Kings – Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar – to put gifts inside.
For a lot of people in Spain, the day is very important, like Christmas.
The Three Kings parades happen every year on 5 January and are a popular part of Christmas in Spain.
Before this year’s event, Madrid City Hall paid a company to make special video messages from the kings for the kids in the Spanish capital.
The deputy mayor said that around 20 to 30 video messages were sent out.
The group Afrofeminas strongly criticized the videos and said they were very wrong and irresponsible.
Blackface is a very old tradition that started about 200 years ago. Many people think it’s racist and really offensive.
Many times, it means that someone, usually with white skin, paints their face darker to look like a black person.
Many important people, including the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have been involved in blackface controversies recently.
Date:
Madrid City Hall issues apology for videos of Blackface Epiphany
