January 11, 2016

Returning the Gaze

tags:	#Arabic looks, #cologne, #crime, #New Year's Eve, #North African looks, #people of colour, #Racial profiling, #racism, #racist prejudices
by:	Deniz Zehra Tavli

In Cologne several women were sexually harassed, threatened and robbed during the New Year's Eve celebrations around the city centre. The victims stated in their reports to the police that the culprits were of "Arabic or North-African looks". While the police is investigating, German media is not holding back in profiling the perpetrators racially, thus repeating and spreading a now widely perceived imagery of the dangerous, criminal, misogynist "Arabic or North African man" leading to a hightened tension over migrants deriving from those regions.

The problematic spreading of such imagery is not only creating new racist suspect profiles but over all serves already prevailing prejudices against People of Colour. In times of a global refugee crisis and a general strengthening of the political right wing in Europe, it becomes more than necessary that journalists and other opinion makers in media overthink their rhetorics in reporting on topics which include People of Colour and crime.

The European Race & Imagery Foundation (ERIF) is an NGO which dedicates itself to the topic of racially motivated representations of People of Colour and especially Black people. Namely they are interested in how European understandings of home, belonging, space, citizenship and identity are racialised. ERIF aims to conduct critical research of the various media expressions, provide education for a broader audience and raise awareness of the counter movements and narratives taking place throughout the continent.

Support this meaningful platform by donating and/or sharing their content through your channels and help attaining a better understanding and sensitization of contemporary negative representations of people of colour, especially in the media!

Digital Art: Nkiru Oparah via africandigitalart.com