Stockholm, 20 February 2014 – Across Europe everyday racism is a widespread social problem. And politicians are doing little to combat it. In addition, xenophobic politics are on the rise and are more often mainstreamed in the political arena. It is time for political action to break the disabling patterns of everyday racism. A world-wide campaign will be launched tomorrow. Fight Racism Now: Action Speaks Louder than Words calls politicians and governments to put anti-racism on the political agenda.
Everyday racism has become the elephant in the room. Most affected are groups that usually aren’t perceived as white Europeans such as Roma, Afro-Europeans and people with a background in Asia, the Middle East or Latin America. For example, in Sweden people of a non-European origin in general and people from Africa in particular (including “second generation”) have the nation’s lowest education returns and the country’s highest unemployment rates. The unemployment rate for ethnic Swedes today is at a few percent while the corresponding figure is almost 25 % for those with a background outside the Western world.
As elsewhere in Europe, people of a non-European origin in Sweden are likely to live in low-income “ethnic neighborhoods” whereas residents from other European countries are likely to live in neighborhoods dominated by majority Swedes. Romas and black Africans are particularly vulnerable to housing discrimination in Sweden and the likelihood of being invited to a viewing on a sublet apartment is five times greater if your name is Maria Svensson than if your name is Ali Mohammad.
Similar patterns are also found in other areas such as education, the cultural sector, health services, social services, the judiciary system and vulnerability to hate crimes.
And it is not only Europe that is plagued by such patterns of everyday racism, but also European settler states in North America, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. For example, if the most vulnerable populations in Europe tend to be Roma and People of African Descent, across the Americas they tend to be Indigenous People and People of African Descent.
“Fight racism now!” is a global campaign that seeks to raise everyday racism as a political issue among politicians and the general public. Beginning tomorrow on 21 February on the campaign website at www.fightracismnow.org the public is invited to sign two kinds of petitions: an anti-racist declaration and a list of political demands. On the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 21 March 2014 the campaign will culminate with worldwide demonstrations and actions for its demands. 20 countries from Europe, North America, Latin America and South Africa have joined the campaign.
This campaign is organized by the Swedish civil society organization Fight Racism Now (FRN) and is supported by the Open Society Foundations.
