Libya is a predominantly

Arab-Berber Arab-Berbers ( ar, العرب والبربر ''al-ʿarab wa-l-barbar'') are a population of the Maghreb, a vast region of North Africa in the western part of the Arab world along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Arab-Berbers are ...

country with many people of descent identifying as Arabs and Berbers. The Arab and Berber population has traditionally held racist views towards black-skinned, sub-Saharan Africans (although Libya does have indigenous Black populations including the Black Arabs and Black Berbers) although it's not all of them it's still prevalent among the country. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' argues that Libya has a "long history of racist violence." In the 21st century, significant numbers of sub-Saharan Africans came to Libya, primarily to work as unskilled labor. In recent years, a number of racist incidents targeting

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

migrants Migrant may refer to: Human migration *Human migration *Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere *Immigration, movement into a country with the intent to settle * Economic migrant, someone who emigrates from o ...

have been reported. According to

Peter Bouckaert Peter Bouckaert is a human rights activist who served as emergency director for Human Rights Watch from 1997 until 2017. He has investigated Human Rights abuses in Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and the Central African Republic ...

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

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

Misrata Misrata ( ; also spelled Misurata or Misratah; ar, مصراتة, Miṣrāta ) is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated to the east of Tripoli and west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With a ...

and the black-majority town of

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

had some racist overtones, present before the start of the civil war. Rebel slogans like "the brigade for purging slaves, black skin" were scrawled on the road between Misrata and Tawregha.

References

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

Anti-black racism in Africa {{Libya-stub

See also

References