Black women in contemporary European and African societies: challenging colonial representations

Over the past ten years, three successive presidents of the French Republic have used their official speeches and media coverage to point to the allegedly excessive fertility of African women as being responsible for poverty on the African continent, global warming and the fact that they are lagging behind in their entry into modernity.

Rights reserved: Image Credit: Hashtag Melvin -  https://www.pexels.com/photo/portrait-of-woman-standing-in-doorway-with-warm-light-31285132/

While these remarks immediately outraged a section of public opinion in Europe and Africa, they are part of a set of stereotyped representations of the sexuality, maternity and submissiveness of black women that have a long history. These representations have their origins in the era of colonisation, and even slavery, and continue to shape the way the public and public policies view black women in many societies to this day. Worse still, these racial representations are at the root of the forms of violence, injustice and discrimination that these women experience in their daily lives today. For example, a report published in 2018 showed that black women in the UK and US were 84% more likely to experience online harassment than white women.

The aim of this initiative is therefore to raise awareness of the persistence of these racial prejudices against black women in our societies in Europe and Africa and to tackle the injustices and suffering that result for the people concerned. (external link)

A key component of this initiative is a research project documenting the continuity of stereotypes and injustices persisting against black women from colonization to the present day in 4 former colonial powers (France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany) and in their former colonies (Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Kenya and Namibia).

This research project is conducted by two research consultants Daphné Budasz, PhD a historian specialized in the history of colonialism, gender and race and Gavaza Maluleke, PhD, a lecturer at the University of Cape Town.