While Americans are busy dropping Confederate flags from their historical repertoire, the Afro-Colombian community has succeeded in vanquishing their own signs of obvious racism. Caracol Televisión’s Saturday afternoon programming is prompted to finally drop their well-known blackface character Soldado Micolta from the variety show “Sábados Felices.” For the unfamiliar, Soldado Micolta is a “popular” unintelligible, mentally deficient, comedic character who has been a part of the show for years.
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Since the show broadcasts to the largest Afro-Colombian community in South America, offended viewers protested to have the character removed from the show. Afro-Colombians launched a massive campaign via social media and have had numerous visits to Caracol’s central offices in Bogotá. The character’s creator Roberto Lozano and the Caracol TV’s executives mutually decided to ax Micolta. Although Lozano defended his show at first, it’s good to see the network act swiftly and ensure the show doesn’t continue to give viewers reason to feel insulted.
¡Se desmonta el soldado Micolta! Un triunfo de la inclusión. @RAYCHARRUPI #CIMPI2015 pic.twitter.com/Kv1OhrxiGi
— CHAO RACISMO (@chaoracismo) October 29, 2015
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Colombia isn’t the only country guilty of racism within their programming. Last year, the UN voiced their opinions about Peru’s racist TV show. Since the bigoted sitcom is still on-air, we can appreciate Caracol for responding to the voice of their people.