Libya is a predominantly

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

country that has traditionally held extremely racist views towards black-skinned, sub-Saharan Africans. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' argues that Libya has a "long history of racist violence being reported." Black Africans were victims of chattel slavery in Libya until the 20th century. In the 21st century, a significant number of sub-Saharan Africans came to Libya, primarily to work as unskilled laborers. In recent years, a number of racist incidents targeting

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

migrants have been reported. According to Peter Bouckaert of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, the incidents targeting migrants and refugees reflect "a deep-seated racism and anti-African sentiment in Libyan society." During the

Battle of Tawergha The Battle of Tawergha was a military engagement of the Libyan Civil War that began on 11 August 2011 when anti-Gaddafi forces based in Misrata advanced southeast along the road to Sirte in the early morning and attacked Libyan Army position ...

, rebel slogans like "the brigade for purging slaves, black skin" were scrawled on the road between

Misrata Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...

and

Tawergha Tawergha (Berber: ⵜⴰⵡⴻⵔⵖⴰ, ), also transliterated ''Tawargha'', ''Tawarga'', ''Tauorga'', ''Taworgha'', ''Tawurgha'' or ''Torghae'', is, as of May 2021,Murray, Rebecca"One Year Later, Still Suffering for Loyalty to Gaddafi" ''Inter ...

References

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Arab supremacy {{Libya-stub

See also

References