Must be blackface week, huh? Just this week, we’ve reported a case of a blackface promposal and a blackface makeover.

This time, the ridiculous blackface brigade has gone international.

In Sochi, Russia, a government-sponsored parade was filled with marchers in blackface wearing “African clothing” (which, what is that?) and carrying bananas to mark the coming of players from Cameroon who will be arriving in the city to play a soccer game against the German national team as part of Confederations Cup, the Associated Press reports.

The Confederations Cup is a prelude to the World Cup, which will next be played in Russia in 2018.

The city government’s website initially posted a photo with two people in blackface, one wearing an afro-wig and bananas on a string with the other wearing a Cameroon jersey and a headdress while holding a drum, but the photo was later removed.



Lolade Adewuyi, a Nigerian journalist studying in Russia and a witness to the parade, said that the racism didn’t stop with blackface, but that the parade also contained people wearing sombreros and fake mustaches to represent Mexico, whose team will be in Russia for a match next month.

“They don’t understand that it’s an issue to have blackface and then have bananas along with it, you know? They don’t see it,” Adewuyi said, in regards to Russian’s ignorance.



Per a statement released by the Sochi government on Tuesday, the parade was a “celebration of the different continents and a testimony of Russia’s open attitude toward traditions from around the globe.”



“By no means did the carnival parade intend to insult anyone,” it continued. “On the contrary, it was organized with the friendliest of goals in mind: to create a positive atmosphere. We look forward to warmly welcoming the Cameroon national team and its fans, as well as the representatives of all other countries, during the FIFA Confederations Cup.”



Well, they better learn quick. Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, former FIFA vice president and head of FIFA’s anti-racism task force, Jeffrey Webb, said it best, “Russia itself needs a special task force, just for Russia and from an educational standpoint internally.”

Word.