Dark-Skinned Singer Faces Racial Discrimination In Tunisia

It's sad to see that racism is still so prevalent in this day and age around the world. Shamefully, it still exists today in the U.S., but certainly not to the extent it did prior to the civil rights days. The fact a black man was elected president (although I did not vote for him because of his politics, not the color of his skin)is a testament to that. We have black politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and the ones in the Republican party will have my vote come November. The white male still has most of the advantages in almost every business industry, but if the rest of us work hard we can succeed. It's not fair, but that's the way it is. In my industry, it's the same thing, most of the acting work goes to the white males, because most of the scripts are written that way, but at least the blacks have been afforded more opportunities now than they've had in the past. It wasn't always that way, but they lobbied hard to be represented in the film industry and so we have some major, talented black stars including Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding, Bill Cosby to name just a few. They have leads in almost all the TV series, and many of the major recording stars are black. No racism for them.

tunisiansinger S3gSv 16105

However, it's not the same in Tunisia where Salah Misbah, a dark-complected singer, has said he is often discriminated against because of the color of his skin. As a result, he will be talking about that discrimination in a planned autobiography. He claims that dark-skinned actors have very few opportunities to work in TV and film in his country because they are not written into the scripts.

“The only exception is historical works. Otherwise, they are absolutely excluded from the entire society.”

Misbah said he intended to tackle the issue of racial discrimination in his autobiography which he will call “No brother, no friend… not as Arabs, not as Muslims.”

Misbah, who was once sentenced to jail for assaulting an officer in the Tunisian army, said he is constantly harassed for his skin color and extremely improper racial slurs are hurled at him, the most common of which is calling him “a dirty slave.”

“Racial discrimination does not stop at street harassment, but also extends to the entertainment industry in Tunisia.”

Misbah recounted a story when he held a part at his house to celebrate the release of his second album and one of the journalists recommended that he changes his skin color like Michael Jackson.

“He said that this is how I can guarantee having fans in the Arab world.”

Misbah seems to think the racism has its roots in the countryside.

“People in the countryside are not exposed enough and haven’t had the chance to mingle with other colors and other cultures unlike in big cities.”

However, he added, this ideology has now extended beyond the countryside.

“There is now a trend that tries to instill the idea of racism in people’s minds and encourages them to discriminate between people based on the color of their skin.”

It's a good thing that he is bringing to light the problem of racism in Tunisia because it's only until we bring things out into the open that there is a chance for making positive changes. Discriminating against someone on the basis of their skin color is something that should be relegated to the past. Hopefully he can be the catalyst for that change.