Black Lives Matter in the Arab world too

The growth of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, spurred by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, USA, has reopened a much-needed debate in American society about the persistence of structural racism. Ethnic or racial discrimination, however, is a global phenomenon, present in virtually every corner of the globe, and the Arab world, with its long tradition of slavery, is no exception. The huge fallout from the protests in the US has provided equality activists in the Arab world with a chance to tackle a serious taboo in the public arena: racism towards Black people.

Once again, Tunisia has been at the vanguard in the region. At the beginning of June, hundreds of people gathered in the centre of the capital to show their solidarity with the BLM movement and to denounce the mistreatment and abuse of the Black community in the country. It was the only demonstration in support of BLM in the whole Arab world.

The local activists were spurred by the news coming out of the USA, as Ines, creator of BLM Tunisia on Instagram, explains: “We decided to create it because the whole world was saying enough is enough. Our aim is to document wrongful acts against Black people and to raise public awareness.”

English | October 21, 2020

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