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{{short description|Fear or hatred of African people}}
{{short description|Fear or hatred of African people}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|expanded=Ethnic/national}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|expanded=Ethnic/national}}
{{About|negative sentiment towards African peoples and societies, regardless of race|negative sentiment towards Black people|Anti-Black sentiment}}
{{About|negative sentiment towards African peoples and societies, regardless of race|racism towards Black people|Anti-Black racism}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=May 2024}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=May 2024}}
'''Anti-African sentiment''', '''Afroscepticism''', or '''Afrophobia''' is prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards [[People of Africa|people]] and [[Culture of Africa|cultures of Africa]] and of the [[African diaspora]].<ref name="Pwpa">{{cite book|author1=Kivuto Ndeti |author2=Kenneth R. Gray |author3=Gerard Bennaars |title=The second scramble for Africa: a response & a critical analysis of the challenges facing contempory &#91;sic&#93; sub-Saharan Africa|date=1992|publisher=Professors World Peace Academy|isbn=9966835733|page=127|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScsDAQAAIAAJ|access-date=10 December 2015}}</ref>
'''Anti-African sentiment''', '''Afroscepticism''', or '''Afrophobia''' is prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards [[People of Africa|people]] and [[Culture of Africa|cultures of Africa]] and of the [[African diaspora]].<ref name="Pwpa">{{cite book|author1=Kivuto Ndeti |author2=Kenneth R. Gray |author3=Gerard Bennaars |title=The second scramble for Africa: a response & a critical analysis of the challenges facing contempory &#91;sic&#93; sub-Saharan Africa|date=1992|publisher=Professors World Peace Academy|isbn=9966835733|page=127|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScsDAQAAIAAJ|access-date=10 December 2015}}</ref>


Prejudice against Africans and people of African descent has a long history, dating back to ancient times, although it was especially prominent during the [[Atlantic slave trade]] and the [[Colonial Africa|colonial period]]. Following the [[Industrial Revolution]] in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, Africans were often portrayed as uncivilised and primitive, with colonial conquest branded [[civilising mission]]s. Due to the emphasis on [[Oral tradition|oral history]], and subsequent lack of [[recorded history|written histories]], in many African cultures, African people were portrayed as having no history at all, despite having a [[History of Africa|long, complex, and varied history]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Frederick|date=2000|title=Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians|journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies|volume=34|issue=2|pages=298–336|doi=10.2307/486417|jstor=486417}}</ref> In the United States, Afrophobia influenced [[Jim Crow laws]] and segregated housing, schools, and public facilities.<ref>Greene, Frederick Dennis. "Immigrants in Chains: Afrophobia in American Legal History-The Harlem Debates Part 3." ''Or. L. Rev.'' 76 (1997): 537.</ref> In South Africa, it took the form of [[apartheid]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ochonu |first=Moses E. |date=2020-12-31 |title=South African Afrophobia in local and continental contexts |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/south-african-afrophobia-in-local-and-continental-contexts/41B09403C62C7C16B11DC03F24B1B76F |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=499–519 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X20000543 |issn=0022-278X}}</ref>
Prejudice against Africans and people of African descent has a long history, dating back to [[ancient history]], although it was especially prominent during the [[Atlantic slave trade]], the [[Trans-Saharan slave trade]], and the [[Colonial Africa|colonial period]]. Under the pretence of [[white supremacism]], Africans were often portrayed by Europeans as uncivilised and primitive, with colonial conquest branded [[civilising mission]]s. Due to the use of [[oral tradition]], and subsequent lack of [[recorded history|written histories]] in most African cultures, African people were portrayed as having no history at all, despite having a [[History of Africa|long, complex, and varied history]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Frederick|date=2000|title=Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians|journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies|volume=34|issue=2|pages=298–336|doi=10.2307/486417|jstor=486417}}</ref> In the United States, Afrophobia influenced [[Jim Crow laws]] and segregated housing, schools, and public facilities.<ref>Greene, Frederick Dennis. "Immigrants in Chains: Afrophobia in American Legal History-The Harlem Debates Part 3." ''Or. L. Rev.'' 76 (1997): 537.</ref> In South Africa, it took the form of [[apartheid]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ochonu |first=Moses E. |date=2020-12-31 |title=South African Afrophobia in local and continental contexts |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/south-african-afrophobia-in-local-and-continental-contexts/41B09403C62C7C16B11DC03F24B1B76F |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=499–519 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X20000543 |issn=0022-278X}}</ref>


In recent years, there has been a rise in Afrophobic hate speech and violence in Europe and the United States. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including the growth of the African diaspora in these regions, the increase in refugees and migrants from Africa, and the rise of [[Far-right politics|far-right]] and [[Populism|populist]] political parties.<ref>{{Citation |last=Michael |first=Lucy |title=Anti-Black Racism: Afrophobia, Exclusion and Global Racisms |date=2017 |work=Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime |pages=275–299 |editor-last=Haynes |editor-first=Amanda |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_15 |access-date=2024-10-15 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_15 |isbn=978-1-137-52666-3 |editor2-last=Schweppe |editor2-first=Jennifer |editor3-last=Taylor |editor3-first=Seamus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-16 |title=US racism on the rise, UN experts warn in wake of Charlottesville violence |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2017/08/us-racism-rise-un-experts-warn-wake-charlottesville-violence |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=UN Human Rights Commission}}</ref>
In recent years, there has been a rise in Afrophobic hate speech and violence in Europe and the United States. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including the growth of the African diaspora in these regions, the increase in refugees and migrants from Africa, and the rise of [[Far-right politics|far-right]] and [[Populism|populist]] political parties.<ref>{{Citation |last=Michael |first=Lucy |title=Anti-Black Racism: Afrophobia, Exclusion and Global Racisms |date=2017 |work=Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime |pages=275–299 |editor-last=Haynes |editor-first=Amanda |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_15 |access-date=2024-10-15 |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_15 |isbn=978-1-137-52666-3 |editor2-last=Schweppe |editor2-first=Jennifer |editor3-last=Taylor |editor3-first=Seamus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-16 |title=US racism on the rise, UN experts warn in wake of Charlottesville violence |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2017/08/us-racism-rise-un-experts-warn-wake-charlottesville-violence |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=UN Human Rights Commission}}</ref>


In October 2017, the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) told the Human Rights Council that the human rights situation of Africans and people of African descent remained an urgent concern, citing racist violence, police brutality and killings, and systemic racism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-02 |title=Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to the Human Rights Council: the Human Rights Situation of Persons of African Descent Remains an Urgent Concern |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/working-group-experts-people-african-descent-human-rights-council-human |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}</ref> Earlier that year, WGEPAD had recommended the term Afrophobia be used to describe "the unique and specific form of racial discrimination affecting people of African descent and African Diaspora".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-27 |title=Statement to the media by the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, on the conclusion of its official visit to Germany, 20-27 February 2017 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2017/02/statement-media-united-nations-working-group-experts-people-african-descent |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}</ref>
In October 2017, the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) told the Human Rights Council that the human rights situation of Africans and people of African descent remained an urgent concern, citing racist violence, [[police brutality]] and killings, and systemic racism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-02 |title=Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to the Human Rights Council: the Human Rights Situation of Persons of African Descent Remains an Urgent Concern |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/working-group-experts-people-african-descent-human-rights-council-human |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}</ref> Earlier that year, WGEPAD had recommended the term Afrophobia be used to describe "the unique and specific form of racial discrimination affecting people of African descent and African Diaspora".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-27 |title=Statement to the media by the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, on the conclusion of its official visit to Germany, 20-27 February 2017 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2017/02/statement-media-united-nations-working-group-experts-people-african-descent |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}</ref>


== Terminology ==
== Terminology ==
''Anti-African sentiment'' is prejudice or discrimination towards any of the various traditions and peoples of [[Africa]] for their perceived Africanness.<ref name=":2">Koenane, M.L.J. and Maphunye, K.J., 2015. Afrophobia, moral and political disguises: Sepa leholo ke la moeti. ''Td: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa'', ''11''(4), pp.83-98.</ref><ref name="Pwpa"/> It is distinct from, but may overlap with, [[Anti-Black sentiment|''anti-Black racism'']] or ''Negrophobia'', which is contempt specifically for [[Black people#Africa|Black people of African descent]]'','' excluding other Africans such as [[White Africans of European ancestry|white Africans]] or [[North Africa|North Africans]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Congregational Review, Volume 2|year=1862|publisher=J.M. Whittemore|page=629|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkZKAAAAMAAJ|access-date=10 December 2015}}</ref> The term ''Afrophobia'' may be used to describe both anti-Black racism and anti-African sentiment more broadly.<ref name=":3">Privot, M., 2014. Afrophobia and the ‘Fragmentation of Anti-racism.’. ''Visible Invisible Minority: Confronting Afrophobia and Advancing Equality for People of African Descent and Black Europeans in Europe'', pp.31-38.</ref><ref>Momodou, J. and Pascoët, J., 2014. Towards a European strategy to combat Afrophobia. ''European Network Against Racism, Invisible visible minority: Confronting Afrophobia and advancing equality for people of African descent and Black Europeans in Europe'', pp.262-272.</ref><ref name=":2" />
''Anti-African sentiment'' is prejudice or discrimination towards any of the various traditions and peoples of [[Africa]] for their perceived Africanness.<ref name=":2">Koenane, M.L.J. and Maphunye, K.J., 2015. Afrophobia, moral and political disguises: Sepa leholo ke la moeti. ''Td: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa'', ''11''(4), pp.83-98.</ref><ref name="Pwpa"/> It is distinct from, but may overlap with, [[Anti-Black racism]] or ''Negrophobia'', which is contempt specifically for [[Black people#Africa|Black people of sub-Saharan African descent]], excluding other Africans such as [[White Africans of European ancestry|white Africans]] or [[North Africa|North Africans]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Congregational Review, Volume 2|year=1862|publisher=J.M. Whittemore|page=629|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkZKAAAAMAAJ|access-date=10 December 2015}}</ref> The term ''Afrophobia'' may be used to describe both anti-Black racism and anti-African sentiment more broadly.<ref name=":3">Privot, M., 2014. Afrophobia and the ‘Fragmentation of Anti-racism.’. ''Visible Invisible Minority: Confronting Afrophobia and Advancing Equality for People of African Descent and Black Europeans in Europe'', pp.31-38.</ref><ref>Momodou, J. and Pascoët, J., 2014. Towards a European strategy to combat Afrophobia. ''European Network Against Racism, Invisible visible minority: Confronting Afrophobia and advancing equality for people of African descent and Black Europeans in Europe'', pp.262-272.</ref><ref name=":2" />


=== Afrophobia ===
=== Afrophobia ===
{{Excerpt|Anti-Black racism#Afrophobia}}The opposite of Afrophobia is [[Afrophilia]], which is a love for all things pertaining to Africa.<ref name="Pwpa" />
{{Excerpt|Anti-Black racism#Afrophobia}} The opposite of Afrophobia is [[Afrophilia]], which is a love for all things pertaining to Africa.<ref name="Pwpa" />


=== Afroscepticism ===
=== Afroscepticism ===
''Anti-African sentiment'' and ''Afroscepticism'' are comparable terms to [[anti-Europeanism]] and [[Euroscepticism]]. Afroscepticism is positioned as an opposition to ''Africanity'' (the idea of a shared [[Culture of Africa|African culture]]), [[Africanization|''Africanisation'']], or ''[[Afrocentrism]]'', often seen as facets of [[Pan-Africanism]].<ref>Oloruntoba-Oju, T., 2014. Location of African culture: Beyond Afroscepticism and the new cosmopolitan exotic. ''Culture and the Contemporary African'', pp.120-53.</ref><ref>Horsthemke, K., 2006. The idea of the African university in the twenty-first century: Some reflections on Afrocentrism and Afroscepticism. ''South African Journal of Higher Education'', ''20''(4), pp.449-465.</ref><ref>Nikolaidis, A.C. and Thompson, W.C., 2023. Epistemic injustice: complicity and promise in education. ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'', ''57''(4-5), pp.781-790.</ref> Afroscepticism may include embracing [[Afro-pessimism (Africa)|Afropessimism]], and rejecting traditional African practices or "African Indigenous Knowledge Systems".<ref>Gbogi, T., 2022. Against Afropolitanism: Race and the Black migrant body in contemporary African poetry. ''The Journal of Commonwealth Literature'', p.00219894221113767.</ref><ref>Nokuzola, G.G. and Gqeba, L.M., 2023. Is Afrosceptism at the Core of the Deaths of South African Boys at Initiation Schools? The Contributory Effects of Undermining African Indigenous Knowledge Systems. ''African Renaissance'', ''20''(4), p.367.</ref><ref>Endong, F.P.C., 2021. Images as Afro-positivist narratives and counter hegemonic strategy: A study of# TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou. ''International Journal of Modern Anthropology'', ''2''(16), pp.601-628.</ref> The Afropessimist view sees Africa in terms of "the negative traits described by AIDS, war, poverty and disease", and thus as unable to be helped.<ref>Bodziany, M. and Nowakowska, M., 2020. “Heart of Darkness” and “Dark Continent”: Africa and its Nations in Polish Media and Social Perception. ''Social Psychology & Society'', ''11''(2).</ref>
''Anti-African sentiment'' and ''Afroscepticism'' are comparable terms to [[anti-Europeanism]] and [[Euroscepticism]]. Afroscepticism is positioned as an opposition to ''Africanity'' (the idea of a shared [[Culture of Africa|African culture]]), ''[[Africanization]]'', or ''[[Afrocentrism]]'', often seen as facets of [[Pan-Africanism]].<ref>Oloruntoba-Oju, T., 2014. Location of African culture: Beyond Afroscepticism and the new cosmopolitan exotic. ''Culture and the Contemporary African'', pp.120-53.</ref><ref>Horsthemke, K., 2006. The idea of the African university in the twenty-first century: Some reflections on Afrocentrism and Afroscepticism. ''South African Journal of Higher Education'', ''20''(4), pp.449-465.</ref><ref>Nikolaidis, A.C. and Thompson, W.C., 2023. Epistemic injustice: complicity and promise in education. ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'', ''57''(4-5), pp.781-790.</ref> Afroscepticism may include embracing [[Afro-pessimism (Africa)|Afropessimism]], and rejecting traditional African practices or "African Indigenous Knowledge Systems".<ref>Gbogi, T., 2022. Against Afropolitanism: Race and the Black migrant body in contemporary African poetry. ''The Journal of Commonwealth Literature'', p.00219894221113767.</ref><ref>Nokuzola, G.G. and Gqeba, L.M., 2023. Is Afrosceptism at the Core of the Deaths of South African Boys at Initiation Schools? The Contributory Effects of Undermining African Indigenous Knowledge Systems. ''African Renaissance'', ''20''(4), p.367.</ref><ref>Endong, F.P.C., 2021. Images as Afro-positivist narratives and counter hegemonic strategy: A study of# TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou. ''International Journal of Modern Anthropology'', ''2''(16), pp.601-628.</ref> The Afropessimist view sees Africa in terms of "the negative traits described by AIDS, war, poverty and disease", and thus as unable to be helped.<ref>Bodziany, M. and Nowakowska, M., 2020. “Heart of Darkness” and “Dark Continent”: Africa and its Nations in Polish Media and Social Perception. ''Social Psychology & Society'', ''11''(2).</ref>


=== Anti-Black racism ===
=== Anti-Black racism ===
{{Excerpt|Anti-Black racism#Anti-Black racism}}
{{Excerpt|Anti-Black racism#Anti-Black racism}}


The term ''racism'' is not attested before the 20th century,<ref name="racism">{{Cite web |title=Definition of RACISM |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> but ''negrophobia'' (first recorded between 1810–1820; often capitalised), and later ''colourphobia'' (first recorded in 1834),<ref name="colourphobia">{{Cite web |title=Definition of COLORPHOBIA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colorphobia |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="colourphobia-oed2023">"Colourphobia | Colorphobia, N., Etymology." ''Oxford English Dictionary'', Oxford UP, July 2023, <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9131678901</nowiki>.</ref> likely originated within the [[Abolitionism|abolitionist movement]], where it was used as an analogy to [[rabies]] (then called ''hydrophobia'') to describe the "mad dog" mindset behind the pro-slavery cause and its apparently contagious nature.<ref name="Negrophobia">"Negrophobia, N., Etymology." ''Oxford English Dictionary'', Oxford UP, July 2023, <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5704106894</nowiki>.</ref><ref name="webdictionary">{{Cite web |title=Dictionary.com {{!}} Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/negrophobia |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":022">{{Cite web |last=Garcia |first=J. L .A. |title=Racism and the Discourse of Phobias: Negrophobia, Xenophobia and More---Dialogue with Kim and Sundstrom |url=https://soar.suny.edu/handle/20.500.12648/7164 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=SUNY Open Access Repository |page=2}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |title=The Anti-Slavery Roots of Today's "-Phobia" Obsession |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/128719/anti-slavery-roots-todays-phobia-obsession |access-date=2024-07-20 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}</ref> J. L. A. Garcia refers to ''negrophobia'' as "the granddaddy" of terms such as [[xenophobia]], [[Islamophobia]] and [[homophobia]].<ref name=":022" /> ''Melanophobia'' has been used to refer to both anti-Black racism<ref name="melanophobia">Biale, D., Galchinsky, M. and Heschel, S. eds., 1998. ''Insider/outsider: American Jews and multiculturalism''. Univ of California Press.</ref> and [[Discrimination based on skin tone|colourism]] (prejudice against people with darker skin), especially in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.<ref name="colourism">Madden, R., 2006. Tez de mulato. ''Colonialism and Race in Luso-Hispanic Literature'', p.114.</ref><ref name="Latinos">Torres-Saillant, S., 2003. Inventing the race: Latinos and the ethnoracial pentagon. ''Latino Studies'', ''1'', pp.123-151.</ref><ref name="cloud">Mirmotahari, E., 2015. A Cloud of Semitic Mohammedanism: The African Novel and the Muslim Question in the National Age. ''Interventions'', ''17''(1), pp.45-63.</ref>
==== Negrophobia ====
{{Excerpt|Anti-Black racism#Negrophobia and colourphobia}}


== By location ==
== By location ==
It has been observed that writing and terminology about racism, including about Afrophobia, has been somewhat centered on the US.{{cn|date=January 2024}} In 2016, "Afrophobia" has been used as a term for racism against darker-skinned persons in China. In such usage, that is an inexact term because the racism is directed against darker-skinned persons from anywhere, without regard to any connection to Africa. Conversely, Chinese views for lighter-than-average skin are more positive, as is reflected in advertising.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://africanarguments.org/2016/08/12/claims-of-chinas-afrophobia-show-we-need-new-ways-to-think-about-race-and-racism/ |title=Claims of "China's Afrophobia" show we need new ways to think about race and racism |date=August 12, 2016 |author=Roberto Castillo}} (posted originally at The Conversation, with the title [https://theconversation.com/of-washing-powder-afrophobia-and-racism-in-china-60274 Of washing powder, Afrophobia and racism in China], August 11, 2016)</ref>
It has been observed that writing and terminology about racism, including about Afrophobia, has been somewhat centered on the US.{{cn|date=January 2024}} In 2016, "Afrophobia" has been used as a term for racism against darker-skinned persons in China. In such usage, that is an inexact term because the racism is directed against darker-skinned persons from anywhere, without regard to any connection to Africa. Conversely, Chinese views for lighter-than-average skin are more positive, as is reflected in advertising.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://africanarguments.org/2016/08/12/claims-of-chinas-afrophobia-show-we-need-new-ways-to-think-about-race-and-racism/ |title=Claims of "China's Afrophobia" show we need new ways to think about race and racism |date=August 12, 2016 |author=Roberto Castillo}} (posted originally at The Conversation, with the title [https://theconversation.com/of-washing-powder-afrophobia-and-racism-in-china-60274 Of washing powder, Afrophobia and racism in China], August 11, 2016)</ref>
==Scientific racism==

==Scientific racism and colonial historiography==
{{Main|Scientific racism}}
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{{Empty section|date=December 2024}}
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{{Main articles|African historiography#Colonial historiography|Scientific racism}}
==Colonial historiography==

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{{Main|African historiography#Colonial historiography}}
⚫
{{Expand section|date=May 2024}}
The academic discipline of [[history]] arrived with the discovery and [[colonisation of Africa]] and involved the study of Africa and its history by European academics and historians.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Manning|first=Patrick|date=2013|title=African and World Historiography|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=54|issue=3|pages=319–330|issn=0021-8537|jstor=43305130|doi=10.1017/S0021853713000753|s2cid=33615987 }}</ref> Prior to [[Scramble for Africa|colonisation]] in the 19th century, most African societies used [[oral tradition]] to record their [[History of Africa|history]], including in cases where they had [[Writing systems of Africa|developed]] or had access to a [[Writing systems of Africa|writing script]], resulting in there being little [[recorded history|written history]], and the domination of European powers across the continent meant [[History of Africa|African history]] was written entirely from a European perspective under the pretence of [[White supremacy|Western superiority]] supported by [[scientific racism]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Roberts|first=A.D.|date=1978|title=The Earlier Historiography of Colonial Africa|journal=History in Africa|language=en|volume=5|pages=153–167|doi=10.2307/3171484|issn=0361-5413|jstor=3171484|s2cid=162869454 }}</ref> This predilection stemmed from the perceived technological superiority of European nations and the decentralization of the African continent with no nation being a clear power in the region, as well as a perception of Africans as [[Racism in Africa|racially inferior]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The wretched of the earth|author=Fanon, Frantz|others=Philcox, Richard; Sartre, Jean-Paul; Bhabha, Homi K.|isbn=9780802198853|location=New York|oclc=1085905753|date = December 2007}}</ref> Another factor was the lack of an [[General History of Africa|established body of collective African history]] created in the continent, there being instead a [[Languages of Africa|multitude of different dialects]], [[Cultures of Africa|cultural groups]] and [[List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history|fluctuating nations]] as well as a diverse set of mediums that document history other than [[written word]]. This led to a perception by Europeans that Africa and its people had no recorded history and had little desire to create it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Frederick|date=2000|title=Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians|journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies|volume=34|issue=2|pages=298–336|doi=10.2307/486417|jstor=486417}}</ref>
Most African societies used [[oral tradition]] to record their [[History of Africa|history]], meaning there was little [[Recorded history|written history]]. Colonial histories focussed on the exploits of soldiers, colonial administrators, and "colonial figures", using limited sources and written from an [[Eurocentrism|entirely European perspective]], ignoring the viewpoint of the colonised under the pretence of [[white supremacism]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Roberts |first=A.D. |date=1978 |title=The Earlier Historiography of Colonial Africa |journal=History in Africa |language=en |volume=5 |pages=153–167 |doi=10.2307/3171484 |issn=0361-5413 |jstor=3171484 |s2cid=162869454}}</ref> Africans were considered [[Racism|racially inferior]], supporting their "[[civilising mission]]".<ref>{{Cite book |author=Fanon, Frantz |title=The wretched of the earth |date=December 2007 |others=Philcox, Richard; Sartre, Jean-Paul; Bhabha, Homi K. |isbn=9780802198853 |location=New York |oclc=1085905753}}</ref> Oral sources were deprecated and dismissed by most historians, giving them the impression Africa had no history and little desire to create it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Frederick |date=2000 |title=Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians |journal=Canadian Journal of African Studies |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=298–336 |doi=10.2307/486417 |jstor=486417}}</ref> Some colonisers took interest in the other viewpoint and attempted to produce a more detailed history of Africa using oral sources and archaeology, however they received little recognition at the time.<ref>{{Citation |last=Suremain |first=Marie-Albane de SuremainMarie-Albane de |title=Colonial History and Historiography |date=2019-04-18 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780190698706.001.0001/acref-9780190698706-e-303 |access-date=2024-12-28 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780190698706.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-069870-6}}</ref>


==Stereotypes of Africa==
==Stereotypes of Africa==

Latest revision as of 20:34, 5 January 2025

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This article is about negative sentiment towards African peoples and societies, regardless of race. For racism towards Black people, see Anti-Black racism.

Anti-African sentiment, Afroscepticism, or Afrophobia is prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards people and cultures of Africa and of the African diaspora.[1]

Prejudice against Africans and people of African descent has a long history, dating back to ancient history, although it was especially prominent during the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Saharan slave trade, and the colonial period. Under the pretence of white supremacism, Africans were often portrayed by Europeans as uncivilised and primitive, with colonial conquest branded civilising missions. Due to the use of oral tradition, and subsequent lack of written histories in most African cultures, African people were portrayed as having no history at all, despite having a long, complex, and varied history.[2] In the United States, Afrophobia influenced Jim Crow laws and segregated housing, schools, and public facilities.[3] In South Africa, it took the form of apartheid.[4]

In recent years, there has been a rise in Afrophobic hate speech and violence in Europe and the United States. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including the growth of the African diaspora in these regions, the increase in refugees and migrants from Africa, and the rise of far-right and populist political parties.[5][6]

In October 2017, the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD) told the Human Rights Council that the human rights situation of Africans and people of African descent remained an urgent concern, citing racist violence, police brutality and killings, and systemic racism.[7] Earlier that year, WGEPAD had recommended the term Afrophobia be used to describe "the unique and specific form of racial discrimination affecting people of African descent and African Diaspora".[8]

Terminology

[edit]

Anti-African sentiment is prejudice or discrimination towards any of the various traditions and peoples of Africa for their perceived Africanness.[9][1] It is distinct from, but may overlap with, Anti-Black racism or Negrophobia, which is contempt specifically for Black people of sub-Saharan African descent, excluding other Africans such as white Africans or North Africans.[10] The term Afrophobia may be used to describe both anti-Black racism and anti-African sentiment more broadly.[11][12][9]

Afrophobia

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Anti-Black racism § Afrophobia.[edit]
Afrophobia, or Afriphobia, is often used to describe racism (particularly systemic racism) against Black people of African descent, such as by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR).[13][14] Others use Afrophobia to describe racism and xenophobia against people of African descent, and against especially indigenous Africans, for their perceived Africanness. This may also include prejudice against African traditions and culture. For example, Afrophobia is used to describe xenophobia in South Africa against people of other African nationalities for being too racially Black, too culturally African, or both.[15]

The opposite of Afrophobia is Afrophilia, which is a love for all things pertaining to Africa.[1]

Afroscepticism

[edit]

Anti-African sentiment and Afroscepticism are comparable terms to anti-Europeanism and Euroscepticism. Afroscepticism is positioned as an opposition to Africanity (the idea of a shared African culture), Africanization, or Afrocentrism, often seen as facets of Pan-Africanism.[16][17][18] Afroscepticism may include embracing Afropessimism, and rejecting traditional African practices or "African Indigenous Knowledge Systems".[19][20][21] The Afropessimist view sees Africa in terms of "the negative traits described by AIDS, war, poverty and disease", and thus as unable to be helped.[22]

Anti-Black racism

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Anti-Black racism § Anti-Black racism.[edit]

Anti-Black racism was a term first used by Canadian scholar Dr. Akua Benjamin in a 1992 report on Ontario race relations. It is defined as follows:

Anti-Black racism is a specific manifestation of racism rooted in European colonialism, slavery and oppression of Black people since the sixteenth century. It is a structure of iniquities in power, resources and opportunities that systematically disadvantages people of African descent.[23]

The term quickly came to be used to refer to racism against other groups also considered Black,[24][25] such as Indigenous Australians (who sometimes prefer the term Blak) and Melanesians.[26][27]

The term racism is not attested before the 20th century,[28] but negrophobia (first recorded between 1810–1820; often capitalised), and later colourphobia (first recorded in 1834),[29][30] likely originated within the abolitionist movement, where it was used as an analogy to rabies (then called hydrophobia) to describe the "mad dog" mindset behind the pro-slavery cause and its apparently contagious nature.[31][32][33][34] J. L. A. Garcia refers to negrophobia as "the granddaddy" of terms such as xenophobia, Islamophobia and homophobia.[33] Melanophobia has been used to refer to both anti-Black racism[35] and colourism (prejudice against people with darker skin), especially in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.[36][37][38]

By location

[edit]

It has been observed that writing and terminology about racism, including about Afrophobia, has been somewhat centered on the US.[citation needed] In 2016, "Afrophobia" has been used as a term for racism against darker-skinned persons in China. In such usage, that is an inexact term because the racism is directed against darker-skinned persons from anywhere, without regard to any connection to Africa. Conversely, Chinese views for lighter-than-average skin are more positive, as is reflected in advertising.[39]

Scientific racism

[edit]
Main article: Scientific racism

Colonial historiography

[edit]
Main article: African historiography § Colonial historiography

Most African societies used oral tradition to record their history, meaning there was little written history. Colonial histories focussed on the exploits of soldiers, colonial administrators, and "colonial figures", using limited sources and written from an entirely European perspective, ignoring the viewpoint of the colonised under the pretence of white supremacism.[40] Africans were considered racially inferior, supporting their "civilising mission".[41] Oral sources were deprecated and dismissed by most historians, giving them the impression Africa had no history and little desire to create it.[42] Some colonisers took interest in the other viewpoint and attempted to produce a more detailed history of Africa using oral sources and archaeology, however they received little recognition at the time.[43]

Stereotypes of Africa

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Stereotypes of Africa.[edit]
Stereotypes about Africa, Africans, and African culture are common, especially in the Western World.[44][45] European imperialism was often justified on paternalistic grounds, portraying Africa as less civilized, and Africans as less capable of civilizing themselves.[46][47][48][49][50] As of the 2010s, these stereotypes persisted in European media.[51][52]

Activism

[edit]

To overcome any perceived "Afrophobia", writer Langston Hughes suggested that European Americans must achieve peace of mind and accommodate the uninhibited emotionality of African Americans.[citation needed] Author James Baldwin similarly recommended that White Americans could quash any "Afrophobia" on their part by getting in touch with their repressed feelings, empathizing to overcome their "emotionally stunted" lives, and thereby overcome any dislike or fear of African Americans.[53]

Originally established in 1998 by "approximately 150" organisations from across the European Union, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) aimed to combat "racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism — the accepted categories of the anti-racist struggle at that time". However, Afrophobia wasn't specifically named as a focus of the network until 2011, at the behest of Black civil rights activists.[11]

In 2016, Tess Asplund made a viral protest against Neo-Nazism as part of her activism against Afrophobia.[54]

In academia

[edit]

Some Afrophobic sentiments are based on the belief that Africans are unsophisticated. Such perceptions include the belief that Africans lack a history of civilization, and visual imagery of such stereotypes perpetuate the notion that Africans still live in mud huts and carry spears, along with other notions that indicate their primitiveness.[55][56]

Afrophobia in academia may also occur through by oversight with regards to lacking deconstruction in mediums such as African art forms, omitting historical African polities in world cartography, or promoting a eurocentric viewpoint by ignoring historic African contributions to world civilization.[57]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Kivuto Ndeti; Kenneth R. Gray; Gerard Bennaars (1992). The second scramble for Africa: a response & a critical analysis of the challenges facing contempory [sic] sub-Saharan Africa. Professors World Peace Academy. p. 127. ISBN 9966835733. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. ^ Cooper, Frederick (2000). "Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 34 (2): 298–336. doi:10.2307/486417. JSTOR 486417.
  3. ^ Greene, Frederick Dennis. "Immigrants in Chains: Afrophobia in American Legal History-The Harlem Debates Part 3." Or. L. Rev. 76 (1997): 537.
  4. ^ Ochonu, Moses E. (2020-12-31). "South African Afrophobia in local and continental contexts". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 58 (4): 499–519. doi:10.1017/S0022278X20000543. ISSN 0022-278X.
  5. ^ Michael, Lucy (2017), Haynes, Amanda; Schweppe, Jennifer; Taylor, Seamus (eds.), "Anti-Black Racism: Afrophobia, Exclusion and Global Racisms", Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 275–299, doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_15, ISBN 978-1-137-52666-3, retrieved 2024-10-15
  6. ^ "US racism on the rise, UN experts warn in wake of Charlottesville violence". UN Human Rights Commission. 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  7. ^ "Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to the Human Rights Council: the Human Rights Situation of Persons of African Descent Remains an Urgent Concern". United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  8. ^ "Statement to the media by the United Nations' Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, on the conclusion of its official visit to Germany, 20-27 February 2017". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  9. ^ a b Koenane, M.L.J. and Maphunye, K.J., 2015. Afrophobia, moral and political disguises: Sepa leholo ke la moeti. Td: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 11(4), pp.83-98.
  10. ^ The Congregational Review, Volume 2. J.M. Whittemore. 1862. p. 629. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. ^ a b Privot, M., 2014. Afrophobia and the ‘Fragmentation of Anti-racism.’. Visible Invisible Minority: Confronting Afrophobia and Advancing Equality for People of African Descent and Black Europeans in Europe, pp.31-38.
  12. ^ Momodou, J. and Pascoët, J., 2014. Towards a European strategy to combat Afrophobia. European Network Against Racism, Invisible visible minority: Confronting Afrophobia and advancing equality for people of African descent and Black Europeans in Europe, pp.262-272.
  13. ^ Privot, M., 2014. Afrophobia and the ‘Fragmentation of Anti-racism.’. Visible Invisible Minority: Confronting Afrophobia and Advancing Equality for People of African Descent and Black Europeans in Europe, pp.31-38.
  14. ^ Momodou, J. and Pascoët, J., 2014. Towards a European strategy to combat Afrophobia. European Network Against Racism, Invisible visible minority: Confronting Afrophobia and advancing equality for people of African descent and Black Europeans in Europe, pp.262-272.
  15. ^ Koenane, M.L.J. and Maphunye, K.J., 2015. Afrophobia, moral and political disguises: Sepa leholo ke la moeti. Td: The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 11(4), pp.83-98.
  16. ^ Oloruntoba-Oju, T., 2014. Location of African culture: Beyond Afroscepticism and the new cosmopolitan exotic. Culture and the Contemporary African, pp.120-53.
  17. ^ Horsthemke, K., 2006. The idea of the African university in the twenty-first century: Some reflections on Afrocentrism and Afroscepticism. South African Journal of Higher Education, 20(4), pp.449-465.
  18. ^ Nikolaidis, A.C. and Thompson, W.C., 2023. Epistemic injustice: complicity and promise in education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 57(4-5), pp.781-790.
  19. ^ Gbogi, T., 2022. Against Afropolitanism: Race and the Black migrant body in contemporary African poetry. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, p.00219894221113767.
  20. ^ Nokuzola, G.G. and Gqeba, L.M., 2023. Is Afrosceptism at the Core of the Deaths of South African Boys at Initiation Schools? The Contributory Effects of Undermining African Indigenous Knowledge Systems. African Renaissance, 20(4), p.367.
  21. ^ Endong, F.P.C., 2021. Images as Afro-positivist narratives and counter hegemonic strategy: A study of# TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou. International Journal of Modern Anthropology, 2(16), pp.601-628.
  22. ^ Bodziany, M. and Nowakowska, M., 2020. “Heart of Darkness” and “Dark Continent”: Africa and its Nations in Polish Media and Social Perception. Social Psychology & Society, 11(2).
  23. ^ Husbands, Winston; Lawson, Daeria O.; Etowa, Egbe B.; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Baidoobonso, Shamara; Tharao, Wangari; Yaya, Sanni; Nelson, LaRon E.; Aden, Muna; Etowa, Josephine (2022-10-01). "Black Canadians' Exposure to Everyday Racism: Implications for Health System Access and Health Promotion among Urban Black Communities". Journal of Urban Health. 99 (5): 829–841. doi:10.1007/s11524-022-00676-w. ISSN 1468-2869. PMC 9447939. PMID 36066788.
  24. ^ MacMaster, Neil (2001), MacMaster, Neil (ed.), "Anti-Black Racism in an Age of Total War", Racism in Europe 1870–2000, London: Macmillan Education UK, pp. 117–139, doi:10.1007/978-1-4039-4033-9_5, ISBN 978-1-4039-4033-9, retrieved 2024-07-21
  25. ^ Shilliam, Robbie (2015). The Black Pacific: Anti-Colonial Struggles and Oceanic Connections (1 ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. doi:10.5040/9781474218788.ch-003. ISBN 978-1-4742-1878-8.
  26. ^ Barwick, Daniel; Nayak, Anoop (2024-07-08). "The Transnationalism of the Black Lives Matter Movement: Decolonization and Mapping Black Geographies in Sydney, Australia". Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 114 (7): 1587–1603. doi:10.1080/24694452.2024.2363782. ISSN 2469-4452.
  27. ^ Fredericks, Bronwyn; Bradfield, Abraham (2021-04-27). "'I'm Not Afraid of the Dark': White Colonial Fears, Anxieties, and Racism in Australia and Beyond". M/C Journal. 24 (2). doi:10.5204/mcj.2761. ISSN 1441-2616.
  28. ^ "Definition of RACISM". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  29. ^ "Definition of COLORPHOBIA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  30. ^ "Colourphobia | Colorphobia, N., Etymology." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/9131678901.
  31. ^ "Negrophobia, N., Etymology." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5704106894.
  32. ^ "Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  33. ^ a b Garcia, J. L .A. "Racism and the Discourse of Phobias: Negrophobia, Xenophobia and More---Dialogue with Kim and Sundstrom". SUNY Open Access Repository. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  34. ^ "The Anti-Slavery Roots of Today's "-Phobia" Obsession". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  35. ^ Biale, D., Galchinsky, M. and Heschel, S. eds., 1998. Insider/outsider: American Jews and multiculturalism. Univ of California Press.
  36. ^ Madden, R., 2006. Tez de mulato. Colonialism and Race in Luso-Hispanic Literature, p.114.
  37. ^ Torres-Saillant, S., 2003. Inventing the race: Latinos and the ethnoracial pentagon. Latino Studies, 1, pp.123-151.
  38. ^ Mirmotahari, E., 2015. A Cloud of Semitic Mohammedanism: The African Novel and the Muslim Question in the National Age. Interventions, 17(1), pp.45-63.
  39. ^ Roberto Castillo (August 12, 2016). "Claims of "China's Afrophobia" show we need new ways to think about race and racism". (posted originally at The Conversation, with the title Of washing powder, Afrophobia and racism in China, August 11, 2016)
  40. ^ Roberts, A.D. (1978). "The Earlier Historiography of Colonial Africa". History in Africa. 5: 153–167. doi:10.2307/3171484. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3171484. S2CID 162869454.
  41. ^ Fanon, Frantz (December 2007). The wretched of the earth. Philcox, Richard; Sartre, Jean-Paul; Bhabha, Homi K. New York. ISBN 9780802198853. OCLC 1085905753.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  42. ^ Cooper, Frederick (2000). "Africa's Pasts and Africa's Historians". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 34 (2): 298–336. doi:10.2307/486417. JSTOR 486417.
  43. ^ Suremain, Marie-Albane de SuremainMarie-Albane de (2019-04-18), "Colonial History and Historiography", The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780190698706.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-069870-6, retrieved 2024-12-28
  44. ^ Grinker, Roy Richard; Lubkemann, Stephen C.; Steiner, Christopher (17 May 2010). Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History and Representation. John Wiley & Sons. p. 98. ISBN 9781444335224. Retrieved 16 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  45. ^ Tamale, Sylvia (23 June 2011). African Sexualities: A Reader. Fahamu/Pambazuka. ISBN 9780857490162. Retrieved 16 May 2017 – via Google Books.
  46. ^ "Afrophobia: Europe should confront this legacy of colonialism and the slave trade". Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  47. ^ Amy Clarke (June 2012). "People of African Descent in Europe : A UKREN Briefing Paper" (PDF). Ukren.org. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  48. ^ Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (4 February 2017). "Opinion - The History the Slaveholders Wanted Us to Forget". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  49. ^ "Invisible Visible Minority" (PDF). Kisa.org. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  50. ^ Abbattista, Guido. "European Encounters in the Age of Expansion European Encounters". Ieg-ego.eu. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  51. ^ Olusoga, David (8 September 2015). "The roots of European racism lie in the slave trade, colonialism – and Edward Long - David Olusoga". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  52. ^ "Africa Stereotypes in the European media". En.ejo.ch. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  53. ^ Washington, Robert E. (2001). The Ideologies of African American Literature. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 272. ISBN 9780742509504.
  54. ^ Crouch, David (2016-05-04). "Woman who defied 300 neo-Nazis at Swedish rally speaks of anger". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  55. ^ Mays, Vickie M. (1985). "The Black American and psychotherapy: The dilemma". Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training. 22 (2S): 379–388. doi:10.1037/h0085518.
  56. ^ Marongwe, Ngonidzashe; Mawere, Munyaradzi (2016). "Violence, Identity and Politics of Belonging: The April 2015 Afrophobic Attacks in South Africa and the Emergence of Some Discourses". In Munyaradzi, Mawere; Ngonidzashe, Marongwe (eds.). Violence, Politics and Conflict Management in Africa: Envisioning Transformation, Peace and Unity in the Twenty-First Century. Langaa RPCIG. pp. 89–116. ISBN 978-9956-763-54-2.
  57. ^ Skinner, Ryan Thomas (24 April 2018). "Walking, talking, remembering: an Afro-Swedish critique of being-in-the-world". African and Black Diaspora. 12 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1080/17528631.2018.1467747. S2CID 149746823.
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