Should Moor heads disappear on Supermarket Shelves in Switzerland?

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Born in Switzerland, as a young boy I grew up enjoying eating a Mohrenkopf, it was, and still is today for children, what would be equivalent eating a Hershey Bar or  Hershey Kiss in the USA.

Moorhead’s are made of a Marshmallow type,

foamy mixture mounted on a wafer biscuit and covered by dark chocolate couverture. Not ever did I think I would be insulting a black person by eating this traditional Swiss specialty when I was a kid! Racism never came to my mind. I think if someone, while buying or eating a Mohrenkopf, has any racist or prejudiced thoughts, then they have definitely underlying serious other problems, to begin with.

Coop, Migros, Manor, and Volg, the leading Swiss Supermarket retailers, toke the Moor’s heads off the shelves now because of their name. Is that the right approach? In view of what is going on in the world at this time, It is good that all the retailers have taken the “Mohrenkopf” off the shelf. The name belongs to the garbage heap of language history, right next to the N-word for black people. In order to understand this, there is no need for historical research into the term “Mohr” or for racism investigations among customers.

It is enough to listen to a person who has no white skin. “When I was a child, the word ‘Moorhead’ always stung me,” Says Lukas, who is half Swiss and half Nigerian, It is not so much a question of the individual term, but of “the sum of discrimination that permanently gives you the feeling that you are worthless”. I can understand a black, or colored person to feel insulted by the name, my wife feels the same way, as she is of Indian heritage.

Those who are now distributing “Mohrenkopf” out of solidarity with the manufacturers should ask themselves whether it is really too much to call a candy “Schokokus”, “Schocoturm”, or  “Neigeturm”, ( Turm, meaning Tower) instead of “Mohrenkopf” if this means that blacks feel at least one less stitch in everyday life? 

Mr.Dubler,

the main manufacturer of Mohrenkopf’s, and companions were also warned. Three years ago, an online petition asked for a new name for the “Mohrenkopf”. It is therefore fair and proportionate that traders should finally banish the name now that the topic arises with new urgency all over the world.

Migros, the largest Supermarket in Switzerland

, made the start and removed the Dubler “Mohrenkopf” from its shelves, other retailers followed suit. This has little to do with the heroic fight against discrimination. Migros’ decision follows a different pattern: a multibillion-dollar company cuddles up to a small, but the very noisy minority who cannot re-educate society quickly enough. Would a name change mean that Swiss people wouldn’t be eating Mohrenkopf’s anymore? Really, aren’t we eating it for what it is, not for what it apparently stands for??

In the Dubler case, an outraged tweet was enough to bring Migros to its knees. “We no longer consider the name to be up-to-date,” comments a Migros spokesperson. In a mature society, such as Switzerland, every consumer should be allowed to decide for themselves. Migros does not have to relieve them of this decision. Especially since “Mohrenkopf” boss, Robert Dubler made his position crystal clear: “As long as I live, the name remains.”

If you think that is wrong, just avoid buying the “Mohrenkopf”, I don’t think there is another, compatible product on the market, but there are enough, other Swiss chocolate products to choose from.

Swiss Citizens can be expected to do that much, especially on sensitive issues such as racism and discrimination. Eliminating the product is not the right resolve, renaming it would probably be more logical. But then what about names such as “Schwarzkopf”, a German Company which has been producing Hair and Beauty products for the past 120 years, what about “Black Friday” isn’t that racism ? are we going to ask them to change the name? Where does it end?

Definition of “Mohr”

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Mohr (disambiguation).

Mohr is an outdated German term for people with dark skin tones. Historically (Old and Middle High German) it initially referred to residents of Mauritania (Moors), already in the Middle Ages also generalized people with dark skin tones, since the 16th century exclusively in this expanded meaning. [1]

The word has rarely been used since the end of the 20th century, and if so, in historical or literary context or as part of terms, e.g. B. as a coat of arms figure in heraldry. The name and the image of the Moor also found their way into numerous subsequent names, for example in the area of ​​fauna and flora. Pictorial representations of the Mohren served as a company logo and in advertising for certain products, but also in the context of different customs.

Since about 1960, there has been an ambiguity in the word between historical development and use as a stereotypical term, which arouses a certain idea of ​​a black person, which has led to discussions about its discriminatory character.