Speaking what she thought would pass as Sudanese Arabic, Shaimaa Seif, wearing blackface, chatted to commuters on a bus.

An Egyptian comedian has sparked anger by using blackface in a sketch and mocking Sudanese people, drawing attention to what experts say is a deeper racism problem in the region.

Speaking what she thought would pass as Sudanese Arabic, Shaimaa Seif, wearing blackface, chatted to Egyptian commuters on a bus as part of a sketch aired on the programme Sha’labaz.

The footage was broadcast by the local affiliate of Saudi-funded MBC, one of the largest entertainment channels in the region, and offended many in the Sudanese community who voiced their anger online.

There have been calls to boycott MBC, and the broadcaster has not apologised for the sketch since it was aired on May 10.

“Was this supposed to make us laugh? While you were filming we were protesting with the people,” said Marwa Babiker, a Sudanese doctor with a sizeable social media following.

She was referring to unprecedented mass protests in Sudan that led to the removal last month of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir.

Others turned to social media to criticise negative portrayals of Sudanese people, just the latest such incident involving Egyptian entertainers.

Sometimes you ask yourself,no one in the production,filming,marketing team , mentioned that the #blackface is freaking racist and wt she is doing isn’t funny, it’s freaking racist, not even one sane person said that,it’s not a joke it can’t be aired ?? #شيماء_سيف pic.twitter.com/iBOfeuFcwd — Lana (@TheLanaKamal) May 10, 2019

In December, Bushra, a well-known actress and singer, released a video clip showing a man in a black mask.

And during Ramadan, last year, comedian Samir Ghanem and his daughter sported fake dreadlocks and darkened their skin for a TV series.

Eve Troutt-Powell, a Middle East history professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said blackface has “been a trope in Egyptian entertainment for over a century”.

“There is a larger history at play behind the racist caricatures of black people in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East as well, and that is the history of slavery,” said Troutt-Powell.

Arab traders sold millions of Africans as slaves from the ninth century, a past which continues to affect race relations throughout the Middle East.

The Arabic word for slave, abed, is commonly used as a racial epithet.

There is a huge difference between comedy and cultural inappropriation! next time before you produce such a cheep show GET A CONSULTANT

If it’s disrespectful demeaning and hurt the feeling of a certain group DO NOT PROCEED! or else be ready to be labeled as RACIST!#شيماء_سيف pic.twitter.com/SH2VHQiU4q — Hol Joseph 🇸🇸 (@hol_jok) May 12, 2019

‘Fixation on skin tone’

Egypt has been bold in its political and economic push towards countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but that has not prevented racist outbursts by its diplomats.

An Egyptian official was in 2016 accused of calling African diplomats “dogs and slaves” at a United Nations conference in Kenya.

Mona Kareem, a research fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin, explained such slurs are rooted in the idea of “blackness as something to fear or ridicule”.

“A fixation on skin tone is only an expression of … racial bias, and does not capture the complexity of the racial experiences that blacks have had in the Arab world,” she told AFP news agency.

“Many of these representations (on television) give voice to already-existent racial images and myths,” Kareem added.

Several human rights groups have criticised pervasive racism and obstacles to local integration for non-Egyptians of African descent in the country, as well as in other Arab nations such as Lebanon.

In Western countries where blackface was a common practice during the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the Netherlands and the United States, incidents of its modern-day usage lead to outrage, at least among parts of the nations’ population.

Yet, despite vigorous online debates in the Arab world, critics of blackface have not been as effective in changing attitudes towards Arabs of African descent and sub-Saharan Africans.

“It seems, particularly in comedy, that a clear-eyed and heartfelt discussion of political and racial history still needs to take place in Egyptian society,” said Troutt-Powell.

“And it must also continue in other societies.”