By Brian Chitemba
Racism remains one of the most thorny issues in European countries; Britain and Sweden included.
The race fault line is dominant in British football, politics, society, and among the royal family. Black British soccer stars such as Marcus Rashford were subjected to racism after missing a penalty during the Euro2020 games; hostile social media trolls used monkey emojis.
Comparatively, England captain Harry Kane missed a penalty in a clash against France, at the just-ended World Cup in Qatar; as expected there was no backlash from mainstream and social media.
And recent weeks have been dramatic. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle made startling revelations about the behind-the-scenes intriguing race relations.
A former British counter-terrorism top cop Neil Basu said Meghan faced “real and very disgusting” threats.
Prince William’s godmother Lady Susan Hussey disgracefully resigned after cornering a black Briton Ngozi Fulani about “where she really came from”.
Top British journalist Jeremy Clarkson wrote a hate-filled column in The Sun attacking Meghan. Piers Morgan has been scathing against Harry and Meghan.
But despite the replete racism incidences, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week denied the UK had a race problem.
Sunak said: “I think for everyone in public life, language matters. You asked about racism. Now, I’ve seen some of the things that have been said.
“I absolutely don’t believe that Britain is a racist country. And I’d hope that as our nation’s first British Asian Prime Minister when I say that it carries some weight.
“You know, I’m really proud of our country, its culture, its resilience, its beauty.
“And actually, it’s an enormous privilege to champion Britain and indeed, its institutions like the monarchy when I’m out and about on the world stage as I am here today.”
Racism is an undeniable problem facing many EU countries with the bloc’s agency for fundamental rights (FRA) study saying people of African descent battle “widespread and entrenched prejudice and exclusion”.
The FRA study noted that race-related violence, discriminatory police profiling, and discrimination in the search for jobs and housing were commonplace.
Isil Gachet, the Executive Secretary to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), wrote on the official website that “today’s world, contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination are complex and disturbing. In Europe, these issues increasingly lie at the heart of political and social concerns”.
ECRI is mandated to combat racism and racial discrimination in Europe by protecting human rights, combats violence, discrimination, and prejudice faced by persons or groups on grounds of race, color, language, religion, nationality, or national or ethnic origin.
Sweden will early next year take over the EU presidency and about 55 million foreign-born nationals living in the continent are expecting Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to address pertinent racism concerns across the bloc. – dailysweden
