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Approximately 12.5 million Africans were transported as cargo between 1500 and 1900. This objectification left a cognitive imprint on the cultures that benefited from the system— and, through colonial and media influence, on nearly all others.
Migration— Double Standards, One Criterion.
The 2022 situation in Ukraine was merely the most visible manifestation of a systemic reality. In Europe, African asylum seekers face rejection rates far higher than those of other groups in comparable situations of danger, according to UNHCR data. The difference cannot be explained by objective legal criteria; it is partly explained by what political scientist Katharine Donato calls the“ racial gradient of compassion.”
Flashmag! Issue 172 May 2026
In Latin America, Haitian migrants face double discrimination. The Colegio de la Frontera Norte( 2021) has documented degrading treatment specifically targeting Haitians compared to other nationalities with similar economic characteristics. In Israel, Ethiopian Jews— whose Jewish identity should theoretically leave no room for discrimination— have waited decades for full citizenship, endured disproportionate police checks, and faced housing discrimination documented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Blackness, even where religion is supposed to universalize belonging, remains a marker of suspicion.
Media— The Factory of the Invisible and the Monstrous
There is a simple test used in media research: count the number of times a group is portrayed as a passive victim, versus a dangerous actor, versus an agent of its own destiny. Apply this test to the portrayal of Africans and their diasporas in the global mainstream media: you get either misery( famines, epidemics, civil wars), or threat( illegal immigration, crime, terrorism), or, very rarely, positive agency. Researcher Nadia Denton, in her analysis of European media coverage of sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2022, showed that less than 12 % of articles focused on economic successes or positive innovations.
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