adminSifelani Tsiko
The rise in attacks on Africans in Asia and racial stereotyping in advertising has sparked outrage, threatening to dent Africa–Asia diplomatic relations. The brutal murder of a young Congolese man, Masonda Ketanda Oliver, in India recently, has emerged as the greatest disaster in modern India’s foreign policy. The racially-based attack forced African diplomats to protest against the treatment of Africans in India, especially that targeted at the large student community.
Many saw this as an unwelcome extension of the humiliation of Africans that has gone on for many centuries in Europe and the United States. Ceaseless racist attacks on Africans have for the greater part been largely confined to Europe, the US and the Middle East, but the lid was also blown off recently in India sparking outrage of a sheer scale among Africans.
As if this was not enough, the image of a black man being shoved into washing machine and emerging as Asian in the Qiaobi brand’s advertisement in China also exposed the deep-seated hatred of dark-skinned people.
The Chinese laundry detergent advert caused widespread outrage and is now being seen as one of the most racist commercials to be screened in decades. Africans worldwide were angered by the advert at a time when India and China are looking to this continent for a vast range of mineral resources and business.
Several Africans, mostly students, staged a protest in the Indian capital against the rise in cases of attacks on their community.
“We have gathered to protest the increasing number of racial attacks on our members,” said a protestor, demanding safety and security for students during a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. “It is a serious issue and the government needs to take a strict action to stop the attacks.”
The Indian government has been at pains to explain itself, referring to the attack as a short-term embarrassment. The five-day India-Africa Summit in New Delhi in October 2015 seemed to have opened the way to cementing relations.
New Delhi announced a doubling of India’s assistance to African states through a US$10 billion loan and US$600 million in grant assistance. The Chinese, too, have poured into African countries, seeking natural resources, new markets, and other business opportunities.
China’s trade with the continent has sky-rocketed over the years surpassing the US to become Africa’s largest trading partner. By 2014, flows exceeded US trade with the continent by more than US$120 billion.
Some critics say the attacks on Africans could derail this.
“Africa has a long-standing history for its hospitality,” says a University of Zimbabwe sociologist. “We have accepted Indian people and they freely own homes and businesses here on our home soil. Our tolerance levels are quite high. They freely participate in politics and have freedom of worship. For them to kill our people is quite reckless and racist. The Indian government must guarantee the security of our students to avoid a long term damage to India–Africa relations.”
Africa has power in its numbers and mineral resources, apart from the fact that it hosts millions of Indians and Chinese.
The death of the Congolese student cannot go unnoticed. According to media reports, five arrests were made in the wake of Oliver’s death. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured the victim’s family of a speedy trial and harsh punishments.
New Delhi is acutely aware of the need to maintain diplomatic relations. India’s President Pranab Mukherjee said it was important to remember the long-standing ties with Africa, and said there was no need for Africans to fear for their safety.
African diplomats sent a formal complaint to India’s government, demonstrating their commitment to protecting their own.
“Given the pervading climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi, the African heads of mission are left with little option than to consider recommending to their governments not to send new students to India, unless and until their safety can be guaranteed,” Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, Ambassador of Eritrea, was quoted saying.
Violent and subtle forms of xenophobia and violence against African communities have been reported across Asia. In the week following Oliver’s death, two other major instances of violence were reported in Hyderabad, India, where a 23-year-old male Nigerian student was beaten up with a rod and hospitalised after a tiff over a parking space.
In the south Delhi area, nine Africans were attacked in three separate incidents; while in February, on the streets of Bengaluru, a 21-year-old Tanzanian woman was pulled out of her car, stripped, and beaten by a mob.
There is a long history of violent and unprovoked attacks on Africans in India.
In March 2015, Ivorians were attacked in Bengaluru, allegedly for being a “nuisance”; while in September 2014, three male students from Gabon and Burkina Faso were attacked by a mob at a Delhi metro station.
In 2013 and 2014, Ugandans, Nigerians and Burundians were attacked violently by Indian men.
“This list is not exhaustive and, in several cases, definitive arrests were not made, some incidents were passed off as minor and nonchalant statements were made by the authorities,” said one Indian commentator. “Moreover, while the most disturbing incidents get reported, several smaller instances of daily racism continue to go unreported.
“Students endure racial slurs on the street, refusal from landlords to grant accommodation, and some African students have even said that they are feared by locals and constantly stereotyped. Instances like the above have added to their sense of insecurity.”
Last month, African envoys demanded an apology from Egypt after an official referred to “dogs and slaves” in his remarks about Sub-Saharan Africans at a United Nations conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
Egypt has a long history of denigrating black Africans and little wonder it downplayed the allegations as flimsy. Racial intolerance is rampant in Egypt and other Arab-speaking countries like Morocco, Libya and Tunisia.
“Be careful, those blacks might eat you,” a Moroccan juice seller in the little border town of Fnideq was quoted saying recently. “They can do anything.”
“Arabs hate black people. And that is not from today, it is in their blood,” said a young Senegalese man, hoping to cross over into Europe from Rabat, Morocco. “Friends of mine were attacked with a knife. Bandits target us because they know we cannot go to the police, even if we are robbed and hurt. Having no papers, we will be caught instead. Blacks have no rights here.”
Some analysts say Russian attitudes towards Africans were generally neutral during the Soviet Union era because of its internationalist agenda. However, in recent years, African students in Russia have been physically attacked. Attacks in Moscow Metro are common, and “monkey” insults are so frequent that students have ceased reporting them, according to media reports.
“Discrimination and racial attacks in Asia are an example of ignorant discrimination that immigrants in general and Africans specifically have endured for decades,” said the UZ sociologist. “We had in the past confined the humiliation of the African to the US and Western Europe. Now this humiliation is spreading to Asia and we as Africans have to speak out against all forms of racism by anyone across the world.
“Yes, we are enjoying good ties with India and China, but this must not come at a cost of our humanity and dignity as Africans.” Some critics say attacks on Africans must be an agenda item at all future Africa–Asia engagements.
“There is a lot that can be done to correct these stereotypes and perceptions of any dark-skinned people being inferior,” says a Harare-based development expert. “Why not discuss these issues and voice Africa’s concerns over racism? We must demonstrate to India and China, even Russia that Africans are not poor managers of their lives and destiny.
“Today, Africa is on trial, not from the same world that persecuted it for centuries, but a new world that is eyeing the continent for business, resources and a whole range of other services. We must push for equality of sovereign nations and peoples and not allow racism to blunt Africa’s march to unity and self-determination.”
He says promoting greater intercultural understanding between Africa and Asia could help ease the tension.
“Music, film and reciprocal exchanges of students, scholars and artists can help bridge the gap and promote racial tolerance.”
Online Reporter