L’Occident n’a pas le monopole du racisme : la preuve par la CAN
The outpouring of hatred that followed the final of the competition on Sunday in Morocco contradicts Emmanuel Macron's discourse on happy diasporas.
It was a truly sad spectacle: the final of the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which pitted Morocco against Senegal (a 1-0 victory for Senegal after extra time), was marred by a wave of racism. In Morocco, African shops were attacked, looted, and burned. This hatred between sub-Saharan Africans and North Africans even manifested itself in France, a country that is not part of the African continent and therefore did not participate in the AFCON.
But even though France wasn't participating in the match, many French people of Moroccan origin, outraged by the Atlas Lions' defeat, flooded social media with racist remarks against Black people. "Animals," "Macaques," "Bunch of savages," "N*ggers," "We'll keep throwing you into the desert," "You showed your true colors in this match: you're only good for slavery"... In response, some French people of Senegalese origin retaliated with equally virulent anti-Maghrebi racist remarks: "Wogs," "Dirty Moroccans"...
Several lessons can be drawn from this regrettable episode. First, Islam alone is insufficient to transcend ethnic divisions. Morocco and Senegal are both Muslim countries. The King of Morocco, a descendant of the Prophet, holds the title of Commander of the Faithful, and Senegal is dominated by Sufi brotherhoods. The universalist and religious promise of the Ummah (the community of believers) clashes with fault lines older than itself, still very much alive today, and which are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, or tribal in nature. Even within France, there is no unity among racialized people or among Muslims. Furthermore, it is clear that the West does not have a monopoly on racism, as demonstrated by the prevalence of anti-Black racism in Arab countries.
"Black Peril"
Regarding the Arab-Muslim slave trade, the work of Senegalese historian Tidiane N'Diaye has demonstrated that 17 million Black victims were enslaved by Arabs, sometimes mutilated and murdered, for over thirteen centuries without interruption. All of this left deep-seated resentments: when Zanzibar, one of the hubs of this trade, had its revolution in 1964, several thousand Arabs were massacred by Black people.
Arab countries are ruthless towards sub-Saharan migrants. It is perfectly normal for these states to protect their borders and regulate migration flows. But the extreme brutality of their methods raises questions: is this legitimate border protection or blatant racism? In August 2023, Saudi border guards shot Ethiopian migrants, killing several hundred, and forced the survivors to bury the bodies.
In the Maghreb, African migrants who are apprehended are routinely abandoned in the desert with only a bottle of water, which amounts to certain death. Tunisian President Kais Saied has launched a major crackdown on sub-Saharan migrants, declaring: "There is a criminal plan to change the demographic makeup of Tunisia, to make Tunisia solely an African country and no longer a member of the Arab and Islamic world." His remarks were met with a flood of support from the Tunisian population on social media.
Maghrebi Arabic is rife with derogatory terms for Black people: kahlouch, kehl, abeed (which means "slave"!)... In November 2012, the renowned Moroccan weekly Maroc Hebdo, concerned about African immigration, ran a front-page story on "The Black Peril." In 2017, CNN revealed that Black migrants were being sold into slavery in Libya. The scandal was immense. On social media, badges supporting slaves proliferated. Then the issue faded into obscurity. In 2019, the election of a Miss Algeria with skin that was too dark triggered a torrent of racial hatred on Algerian social media. Every football match between a Maghrebi team and a sub-Saharan team results in a tsunami of racist insults.
"Beurettes in Kehls"
Finally, the Africa Cup of Nations episode offers a stark rebuttal to Emmanuel Macron's rhetoric about happy diasporas. According to a memo submitted to the president, France is home to "the largest sub-Saharan diaspora in Europe, the largest Indian Ocean diaspora, the largest Maghreb diaspora, the largest Muslim diaspora, and the largest Southeast Asian diaspora." One might ask: has a country that holds all these records truly pursued a wise and controlled immigration policy? And, more importantly, do these diasporas actually get along with each other?
With immigration, the anti-Black racism prevalent in the Maghreb has crossed the Mediterranean and taken root in Europe, with some North Africans displaying violent hostility towards Black people. Many influencers, including the well-known Bassem Braïki, constantly denounce what they call "beurettes à khel," meaning North African girls who date Black men. In April 2021, Mourad D., a forklift operator of North African origin, assaulted a pizza delivery driver of Haitian origin. Confronted by a Black woman after the altercation, he yelled at her: "You filthy nigger, you dirty nigger... I wouldn't even touch you with a stick. For eight hundred years, you've been sold like cattle. I'm Algerian. We Algerians sell you like corn." "Outrageous, his statement was an admission consistent with historical reality, something that many anti-racist activists do not want to see."
When you browse the regional press, you are astonished by the proliferation of intercommunal clashes on our soil: Moroccans against Algerians, North Africans against Roma, North Africans against Travellers, North Africans against Africans, North Africans and Africans against Chinese, North Africans against Chechens (as during the punitive expeditions carried out by the Chechens in the spring of 2020 in Dijon), Turks against Armenians (as during the anti-Armenian pogroms carried out by the Turkish far right in Roanne in October 2020), Turks against Kurds, Turks and Kurds against Africans, Mahorans against Iraqis, Albanians against Africans, French-speaking Africans against English-speaking Nigerian Africans, Afghan migrants against migrants from the Horn of Africa in the Calais jungle… The multiracial society is becoming multiracist. With the diasporas, France has imported new tensions and problems.
Wrong culprits
But these new forms of racism—worrying for public order, national unity, and civil peace—generally fly under the radar of political and media outrage because they don't come from the right culprits. For the politically correct crowd, only the provincial white man should have a monopoly on racism. The racist must remain a kind of stereotypical, chauvinistic Frenchman in a Basque beret.
Those who champion diversity tell us often enough: immigration is changing French society. That's absolutely true. But they would do well to take their logic to its logical conclusion and see that it's also changing the face of racism. Racism in France in 2026 is no longer, or no longer only, your uncle ranting about foreigners at Christmas dinner; it's also a young North African born in France who calls Black people "slaves" because his parents' country lost to an African team. Welcome to the France of the diaspora.
Commentaires (12)
Si un etre humain be d une mere et d un pere qui mange et part au toilette Chak jour destine a perime du jour au lendemain pour finir dans une tombe comme un dechet devrait penser a Autre que D etre raciste.
Un raciste que tu sois arabes Blanc noir ou jaune n entrera pas au paradis un raciste est un descendant direct de ibliss meme mentalite que ibliss leur deumeure c'est l enfer pour eternity etre raciste est synonyme de mecreance.
L etre humain a ete cree par Allah swt quelque soit sa couleur s iL ya a detester on doit detester ce qu Allah swt deteste et pour CA ya pas de race de couleur et meme de lien familial.
TAWHEED BEST TOOL TO FIGHT THE DEVIL.
TO ALL MUSLIMS IF YOU THINK YOU CAN BE A MUSLIM AND STAY RACIST WAIT TIL YOU DIE
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