Beautiful story. Thank you for covering! Makes me proud of my Spanish heritage. And I second the comments below: this particular instance of “black face” should not be seen through the lens of the American blackface tradition. Christian accounts of the “three wise men of the Orient” coupled with Spain’s connection to Moorish culture (most Spaniards including myself have Moorish ancestry) are responsible for the inclusion of realistic depictions of characters in the Reyes Magos tradition. Nevertheless, I’m glad Spain’s new residents are participating in this tradition.
This is a nice story of welcoming immigrants.
But some of the coverage and the response has ignored a point here: The tradition of dressing up as dark-skinned people in the Three Kings parade in Spain is not quite the same as Black Peet in the Netherlands or as blackface in the United States. Why? Because the point of the Three Kings parade and the tradition of Balthazar's court is to stress the inclusivity of Christianity. It itself does not make a mockery of dark-skinned people and does not cast them as servile or as caricatures. Nor does it grow from that tradition.
It is not fair to read this tradition through the lens of North American slavery and racism. Spain has plenty of questionable traditions (the "matar judíos" lemonade drink in León comes to mind), but the Three Kings are not one of them.
At the same time, the accompanying tradition of the public dressing up in blackface is indeed guilty of racist blackface. This tradition has adopted a minstrel costume for the "pages" (e.g. in Alcoy) who are meant to help the kings deliver presents. This ancillary tradition does indeed invite merit opprobrium and should be changed.
Is there a way to fix the tradition without throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
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Up in the Netherlands where I reside part-time, a similar blackface-ladened festival takes place prior to Christmas. To see the community ditch blackface in exchange for honoring their new immigrant neighbors is heartwarming and encouraging to us who despise seeing blackface used under the guise of entertaining children. Honoré is a hero to all immigrants here in Europe and indeed, this Spanish city is setting an example. I hope my Dutch neighbors think of this city before Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) and the blackface defenders return here in December.
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What an epiphany! Praise the befana and the wise citizens of Reus. They truly behaved in a most Christian way.
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Great story. I wish there were happy endings for more migrants. You have to be truly desperate to take the chances these immigrants did. I don’t think most people who read the NYT can have any idea how bad things have to be to make people refugees. I know I don’t. We really have no right to cast judgement upon people who are only trying to stay alive and improve their futures. When nations close borders they need to acknowledge that they are acting from pure self interest. Casting blame of any sort upon the refugees is cruel and unwarranted.
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Reus is who Americans really are. We help one another, we help others, and we generally are always ready for a good party. Hang on folks, we'll get back to that America soon! Great story.
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Reus is who they really are. I think there are many similar people in America, we just need to be more vocal.
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I think that the article creates the impression that only Reus has non black-faced Baltasars ("Reus invited an African immigrant to play Balthazar"). That is a thing of the past. I think the only unique/special aspect may be the fact that it was such a recent arrival ( 6 months). Except in the smallest villages, most Baltarsas are recent immigrants (last 10 years).
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I wish these people well but …. it is a little much, to glorify illegal immigration. They are economic refugees who had hardship in Libya by choice, they chose to migrate to Libya in the interim, to launch-off from there to the EU. The would not have faced hardship in Libya had they remained in their home countries. How many would-be migrants will see this parade and have grandeur that they will be greeted the same way? How many people will have false expectations that they will be sought after in such a way in Europe? Also, they were rescued in the Mediterranean because they sailed there by choice, not because they were there legitimately.
The Europeans are being taken advantage of by a tremendous scam and are glorifying it.
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@Philly
So, great. Let us then recommed mistreating all refugees, including those fleeing wartorn Syria, so that no more come.
Just how cynical can you get.
All refugees are - like all of us - looking for a better life for their children. And you see that as as Europeans being taken in by a scam.
Ho ho ho.
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Ridiculous. 1. The man left to find work and support his family. No one would undertake such a trip if more safe and local options were available. 2. PHILLY: your ancestors came without legal permission to enter— they just came here— uninvited. I guarantee no one wanted them (Irish? Eastern European? Italian??) and many TRIED to pass laws to stop them. 3. And worse- KkK marched against Italian immigration. Irish barred all over. Influx of Germans in 1848-50 were left-wing radicals, refugees from 1848 revolts and industriaLism. 4. USA was built by people willing to pick up and pack out to seek opportunity. Take a 9th grade history class and then reflect on how these are the heroes— today’s pilgrims and pioneers and settlers. We are proof that there’s no stopping people determined to improve their lives through work. 5.if, deep down,
Why thEither you feel guilty about your own laziness in adapting and finding new opportunities (or your kids’ inability to keep up in 21st cent. ) tell your kids to “work like an immigrant” - i do and I’m here 5 generations. 6. also read up on the history of European colonialism- the French robbed this guy’s home land (Cameroon) blind- they should be accepting any and all who want to work to change their destiny plus pay reparations for a century of colonial rape. There’s Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria etc for French, Italians in Ethiopia, Belgians who raped Congo, British everywhere else...
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@Conrad Ehrstahl A voice of reason and knowledge, thank you. It pains me how much lack of education and genuine historical insight (or willful ignorance) leads to ridiculous comments left on stories like these. People taking their biased news or neighbors hateful comments and rehashing them into ill formed thoughts.
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That is indeed the right way to go Reus.
These men are fully integrated and this start in their new lives will permanently influence the way they behave and are accepted.
Utmost respect - that is the easiest way to describe what I thin of this step.
Well done!
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