Racism has been an act that many regions around the world face. It has not begun this year or last year. For several years the black people especially the ones in the United States have suffered under white people. Recently, there were demonstrations all over the world after the death of George Floyd, an African-American in the US. A white police officer arrested Floyd and put him on the ground pressing his knee against him until he died.
Since his death, many people are criticizing any acts of racism around the globe and support black excellence. The most ironic story of racism is in Sudan. How can the land of Black people still have racism issues? Who is discriminating?
Racism in Sudan
Sudan has different ethnic groups that have different beliefs. Most of the ethnic groups are Muslim-Arab tribes. However, some tribes or groups are non-Arabized. These tribes undergo discrimination, oppression, and political exclusions. The British colonialism is a part of the reason for this hard situation that non-Arab tribes face. A bigger portion as to why this situation exists is concerning Sudan’s pre-colonial past.
During the 7th century, the state of Makuria had an agreement with Egypt’s Arab conquers. One of the conditions in the treaty included the movement of over 350 slaves each year to the Egyptian rulers. This made Sudan get a title as the source of slaves.
For many centuries later, the Arabs moved into the Sudanese soil and intermarried with the native people. Arabization bruised some parts of Sudan culturally. It also created a belief of Arabs being superior and the local non-Arab tribe being inferior. This past legacy continued to affect the country even after attaining its independence.
One of the things that showed the Arab tribe was superior was that political and economic power was meant only for Arabized groups. This inequality and oppression resulted in the 1st Sudanese civil war. Later on, a tyrant known as Al Bashir started ruling after a military coup occurred. This seems that Sudan may fall into a deeper pit and strengthening Muslim-Arabic superiority. Indeed, the issue became deeper than it was. The oppression, inequality, and discrimination against the non-Arabs got worse than it was before.
About The Recent Racism Episode
Earlier this month, General Shams was coming from a house in Omdurman. Demonstrators attacked him with anti-military songs. The General had a conference with the followers of Al-Bashir. Their anger was due to the previous military leadership refusing to destroy al-Bashir’s rule. Some of the protesters voiced out racial insults at the general who comes from the Nuba Mountains area.
The current racism issue occurrence came after the Sudanese social media users put a campaign of racial violation against Issam.
Thoughts on Racism in Sudan
The Sudanese people are trying to eliminate the issue of racial discrimination in the country. However, there is still a sad part in the progress of eliminating racial abuse in Sudan. Some people still use racial insults against non-Arab tribes. It seems like the country is taking a step ahead and 2 steps backward. Sudan still has quite a long way to eliminate the issue of racism in the country.
MORE:
