Blacks in Europe

[mbewane]

Just a few numbers :
- There are 2 million black people in metropolitan France out of 63 million people, that's a little above 3% (this figure may be higher, but ethnic statistics are forbidden in France), 1/5 of them are west indians (400K), the rest are from sub-saharian Africa (1.6M). There are 6 million maghrebi people, so they are 3 times more than black people.
- There are 3.5 million people who lives in overseas department and territories (DOM-TOM) but I don't know which ratio of black people there is then. But let's say more than a half of them is black, that makes less than 6% of the whole french population.
- Taubira is the Ministress of Justice which is one of the 5 kingly ministries. That's a great honour for both a woman and for a black person and she's both.
- There is also George Pau-Langevin (West Indian and their names ) who's also black, which is a junior ministress of educational success
- Let's not forget that the first secretary of the Socialist Party (the party in power) right now is a black man : Harlem Désir.

I can't check right now but I think the first black member of government in France was in the 1920's. He was a mixed guy from Martinique. He was involved with Pétain and Laval so I think he got swept under the rug... There were a few others prominent political figures like Monnerville who was President of Senate in the 50's.

If you ever go to Panthéon -where French great men are honored- you will find some black men such as Toussaint Louverture, Félix Eboué, Aimé Césaire...

All this doesn't really mean shyt in the grand scheme of things but hey...



OK then all Black people in France look and talk the same no matter where they come from

Yeah I agree with all of that I just wanted to point out that Italy went from having hardly any Black people in the country to having a Black minister in about 30 years, which I find kind of impressive, even more so given the fact that she's a true migrant (she only moved to Italy when she was about 20, learned the language there). If I'm not mistaken all Black French politicians that were mentioned were/are born French.

 

[karim]

What so they have to do with me?
Those cats are Africans who emigrated to Italy.
I'm not.

shyt, I can drop names too:
Treyvonn Martin
Oscar Grant
Rodney King
Emmett Till

 

[Birnin Zana]

Meant to say that's important to know.

 

[Birnin Zana]

Yep


Yep, Barca.Only black people you see there are african immigrants begging or selling dvds etc etc. When was there they looked at me like an alien to see a black man in gucci. Then on top of that even though I was dressed like a baller I was followed around every shop and even stopped by police more than once.

Spanish are crazy racist, my experience in the basque region was 20 times worst

Indeed most black ppl in Barcelona were African immigrants posted up in the street. And def true about the basque region. I was on the French part (at Perpignan by the border of France and Spain). While I and my homeboys were at a grocery store, the security guard followed us around even though we left our bags at the cashier. Dude wasn't even slick about it.

EDIT: In the end, all I'm saying is, yes I'm sure there is plenty of cism going on not only in Barcelona but throughout the country. That we can def agree. But, imo, the cism i faced was really not that different than what I've faced stateside. I just think Barcelona (specifically) is still worth visiting. But like I said, we all have different opinions of it,I simply could've been lucky not to experience some crazy shyt during my stay.

 

[606onit]

I've been to barcelona, as recently this January. The weather is great, the city's well organized (imo), the people are cool there and the city is very diverse, by Spain's standards.

The women there were . Clubs were poppin (they party hard in bcn, it ain't for rookies. Need a lot of energy), and the vibe was mad cool. The beach was nice as well.

I'm sure there is cism in other parts of the country, and probably parts of barcelona too. But overall in barcelona it wasn't even an issue during my stay.

And yes, im black. Have you been to Barcelona (or Madrid) breh?

I love BCN. I'm going back this year too. The women on the beach come up and do that double cheek kiss.

Dude said Africans was begging in the streets, but do they SPEAK CATALAN??? If they dont, . The vibe is cool......I was walking all throughout the mall (like a Chiraqi thug, Jordans, backwards cap, Saggin shorts ) and the vibe/energy was not like the ones I would feel in Rockford, Naperville, Oak Park ......All I got were smiles and "holas" from the people not even WORKING THERE.

I dont mind cats fearing Spain or calling it "racist."......obviously there are certainly pockets, but take a look at your OWN U.S. SundownTown and figure out how much these people HISTORICALLY are feeling your Black presnce. Spain? Not so much.

 

[Birnin Zana]

But for real though it's true. When folks overseas learn that you are from the US, it's cool for the most part overall. They just dont see many (If any) black folks from the states. I'm certain my experiences would have been different if I was not from a 1st world country. It obviously doesn't mean everyone's gonna dikkride you cuz your are black from the US.

Like I said it still trips me the fukk out. Only difference myself and someone from, say, Senegal, may be my nationality. But that alone can make a big difference in the locals.

 

[Lewis Black]

Not tryna blow the african american horn but my bro went to egypt and he said they were on his dikk cos he from the usa. Not cos they see african americans as "better" than normal africans, he said to them american = money/rich

 

[5010]

this thread is depressing.

 

[Rem]

Europe in general is a lot more racist than the US. For all it's racism, black people are accepted as members of society and it is normal to see them. Nobody will stare at you, just because you are black. And in the US the problem of racism is aknowledged and discussed. Europeans will swear up and down that there is no racism and if there is, it is restricted to "a couple of idiots". You won't get into clubs and you will be treated with subtle contempt by civil servants, and the police. Living in Germany I have been stopped and searched by the police countless times. One time, I was on a train full of white people and the police walked straight up to me and asked to see my id. They controlled nobody else. The same thing happened when I stepped out of a plane at the airport. I barely set foot in the building when I was approached by two cops and asked for my id.

Hell, in Italy, black soccer players are regularly insulted by fans and players of the other team. A couple of them said fukk it and walked off in the middle of the game and some high ranking officials had the nerve to call them unprofessional instead of blaming the racist crowds..

I'll go one further, some of the players get monkey chants from supporters of the team they play for .

 

[Mickey Kane]

Just to clarify, the racist chants that take place at football stadiums are done by a minority of the fans.

It isn't like you got the Staples Centre in L.A. & everybody in the area is throwing bananas at Kobe.

 

[DirtyDee]

At least there, they do it in person.
Over here, it's done on YouTube comment sections and on Internet forums.

Still fukked up, tho.

 

[Lewis Black]

At least there, they do it in person.
Over here, it's done on YouTube comment sections and on Internet forums.

Still fukked up, tho.

 

[DirtyDee]

Say what you will, but I gotta respect people who wear their beliefs on their sleeve, as opposed to the sniveling little bytch-boy-type who hides behind an online handle.
I'm not confining their behavior, but I'd rather know who hates me instead of being paranoid about the "smile to your face" type of racist.

Face it, breh, racism ain't going anywhere any time soon.
Better to confront it head on, than to pretend the shyt ain't real....

 

[McPiff]

Black people born in Europe are the least black in their mannerisms

It's not so blatantly divided in UK (including Ireland) but black people in Europe act more white than any other niqqas, south America, north America, Carib islands etc... Not to mention Africa

It's changing though with the influx of Africans and at least they get to understand the real nature of the beast

Neg PENDING.

it's so blatant because they think it's perfectly normal. i asked them if they noticed that out of all the blond and blue eyed people on the train they could have controlled they chose me. they said "yes". then i asked "am i really looking that dangerous to you guys?" and they said "yes!".

it happened to me a few times too. They asked me my ID one day when i just came out the office.

Hahaa shyt is GOAT bruh. I've been eating all my life off of that shyt. I go to the States and play off of speaking that "Oui Oui ma chérie" shyt, have them hoes like

Come back to Paris, do the opposite, on some pretty nikka fresh outta the Chi steeze ,have em like

All my 'muricans nikkas, y'all need to come through at least once in your life, we eating out here :smugdraper

There are roughly two types of black people in France :
- West Indians (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Réunion)
- Sub-saharian africans (Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde etc...)

The first ones are christian for 99%, the second one are either muslim or christians.

West Indian blacks were always more integrated than African blacks. Mostly because there is that tropical/créole folklore of the french west indies where they drink rum, dance all day, it's all sunny, the life is slow (unlike the metropole where everybody's in a hurry), and obviously, that "sexualized" carribean lifestyle. That's where you go to vacations and that's where you have fun.

Many west indian bands/artists are famous in the french metropole (ie France in the Europe area) : Kassav', La Compagnie Créole, Francky Vincent, Zoul Machine, St Eloi etc... because the main music ("zouk") is positive, easily danceable and always brings a tropical touch to a party (and "zouk love" is basically french R'n'B). And even if you don't speak it, french créole can easily be understandable and the creole accent is kinda funny to the metropolitan french people. The creole "pa ni pwoblem" phrase ("il n'y a pas de problème" in French, "there's no problem" in English) is the phrase that symbolizes the west indian lifestyle and is known by every metropolitan french (non west-indian I mean).

On the opposite, African blacks always symbolized the immigration. West Indians and Africans are both migrants really, the first coming from "central america" and the second coming from Africa, but considering that Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane and La Réunion are overseas french departments (therefore are a part of France, like Hawai being a part of the US), they were always welcome. Not necessarely with open arms but as they share the same culture (mostly), the same religion (mostly), the same money, the same historical references, there is a bond.

The most important shared trait is religion IMO and that's why there is no real fear from metropolitan frenchies. West Indians are like black people in the US, extremely christian (I remember my grandma forcing us to pray each night before bed as youngins when we were on vacations... I escaped that by telling her to give me a bible so I could pray alone... Bible that I never read !). It's crazy when you think about it : both former enslaved people taking the religion of their ex-masters and endorsing it even better than them.

And if you consider that Joséphine de Beauxharnais, Napoleon's wife was a martinican (well, she was the daughter of a rich white martinican family of sugar plantations owners and not really representative of Martinique but still, she was a martinican), you'd understand that French West-Indies are historically part of France and therefore (black) frenchies from west indian descent have a way more positive reputation than (black) frenchies from african descent.

What I mean is simple : yes, there is some kind of fear of black people (France like Europe is mostly white) but mostly for those from african descent. And, yes, that fear is higher if you're also muslim unfortunately. But that fear is not by everyone and most people don't care that much about complexions... There may be a suspicion at first maybe but it's cleared when people try to know each other (the key point to clear racism really). I've been victim of racism only a few times in my life and that was from old white women (I remember well that woman with her german shepherd always releasing it to bite our balls when we were playing football as youngins...).

But you black americans (men or women) ain't got to worry about anything. And I say anything.
A good "Bonjour" with an american accent will melt every hearts. Remember, if you want to be good with the french, always try to talk the language even if it's disgustingly bad. And if it's that bad, just say "Banjoor" and you'll be good. Americans always assume that France hate the US. Well, that's kinda true, but it's not the people who are hated, it's the state. And the conservatives.

And I gotta agree with @LLMR : I'm french and I can differentiate west indian from african descent black people at 99%. You hear them talk you know, it's that simple. Obviously you may make a mistake from time to time but still, there are cultural references that can't be mistaken.

didnt know u were french!

u from the west indies ?

 

[Liu Kang]

[...]
didnt know u were french!

u from the west indies ?

Not born there but yeah that's my descent.