Institutionalised and Everyday Racism
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Institutionalised and Everyday Racism
After centuries of overtly practised racism against Black people (Slave Trade, Colonialism), racism is in many open and subtle ways very much engrained in all societies, but especially in European societies who have benefitted most of white "supremacy" and downgrading of other peoples and cultures. It is engrained in the very conception of (white) citizenship and is manifest in institutions as well as in daily life. Recent examples include the continued praxis of "Blackfacing" in German theaters, the debate about the use of racist vocabulary in children's books, in Racial Profiling practice by German police as well as in the entrance policies of night clubs e.g. in Munich. It is also manifest in publicity, public campaigns by certain aid organisations and Ministries. Those and other issues and debates have been taken up by AfricAvenir and many likeminded NGOs and groups and will be documented on this page.
Stop Racial Profiling!
Racial/ethnic profiling is a form of institutionalized racism and entails the discriminatory use of personal attributes (such as skin color, ethnic or religious affiliation, national origin or language) as a basis for identity checks and searches without a concrete warrant by the police.
Stop Blackfacing Now!
Following several cases of "Blackfacing" at reknowned theaters in Berlin including the racist use of blackface in the Schlosspark Theatre, the group called Bühnenwatch (engl. Stagewatch) formed as a platfom which has the aim of bringing racist traditions and practices on German stages to an end. Bühnenwatch is working against the use of all racist imagery, like blackface, as well as all instances of discrimination against Black actors and actors of color in future. Bühnenwatch consists of activists of color, Black activists and white activists and works closely with organisations like Der Braune Mob (German media watch organisation), the Initiative of Black People in Germany (ISD Bund e.V.) and the Black German theatre ensemble Label Noir.
Grada Kilomba: Plantation Memories
»Plantation Memories« explores everyday racism. It is a compilation of episodes approaching racism as a psychological reality. Everyday racism, argues Grada Kilomba, is experienced as a violent shock which suddenly places the Black subject in a colonial scene – depriving one’s link with society. Unexpectedly, the past comes to coincide with the present and the present is experienced as if one were in that agonizing past, as the title Plantation Memories announces. Linking postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis and poetic narrative, she provides a new and inspiring interpretation of everyday racism, memory, trauma and decolonization in the form of short stories. From the question “Where do you come from?” to the N-Word or Hair politics, the book is essential to anyone studying African studies, postcolonialism, critical whiteness and psychoanalysis.
Susan Arndt, Antje Hornscheidt (Hg.): Afrika und die deutsche Sprache - Ein kritisches Nachschlagewerk
Zentrales Anliegen dieses Buches ist es, ein Bewusstsein dafür zu schaffen, dass Rassismus und Sprache eng miteinander verknüpft sind. Viele heute gebräuchliche Begriffe haben eine kolonialistisch geprägte, rassistisch wirkende Bedeutungsgeschichte, die auch heute noch zum Ausdruck kommt. Anliegen des Buches ist es aufzuzeigen, wie Begriffe zu Afrika im weitesten Sinne rassistisch gebraucht und welche Konzepte mit ihrer Benutzung transportiert werden. Das Buch soll Menschen zum Nachdenken anregen, die meinen, längst reflektiert zu sprechen. Vielen ist nicht bewusst, dass Begriffe wie „Mischling“, „Schwarzer Kontinent“, „primitiv“ oder „Häuptling“ einen diskriminierenden Gehalt haben..
Im Hauptteil des Buches können über 30 kolonial und rassistisch geprägte Begriffe nachgeschlagen werden, mit denen Afrika und Schwarze Menschen bezeichnet werden. In ergänzenden Beiträgen wird die Wechselwirkung von Rassismus und Sprache diskutiert sowie mit einer exemplarischen Analyse eines Zeitungsartikels vorgeführt, wie sich auch unabhängig von rassistischen Begriffen der rassistische Diskurs sprachlich manifestiert.
Das Buch ist geeignet für die politische Bildung und Wissenschaft und möchte nicht nur Personen in multiplikatorischen Positionen wie etwa Lehrer/innen, Schulbuchautor/innen, Verlage, Wissenschaftler/innen und öffentliche Institutionen erreichen.