Skip to main content

mastodon - Link to source

Saw an Austrian organisation talking about Black History Month, and I don't know how I feel about that. According to Google, Black people make up less than 1% of the population of Austria; Turkish people, at 2%, are the largest minority.

BHM is hugely important in America, especially now. And it's important in the UK, where we're 3% of the population, but 13% of the prison population.

I wonder if having it treated (in good faith) as a bandwagon by others might diminish it.

#blackmastodon

#BlackMastodon
in reply to David Njoku

Quinn Norton
mastodon - Link to source
Quinn Norton
• •

or might raise the profile, at a time when it's being suppressed by one of the world's historical enslavers?

I don't know, sometimes bandwagons help, sometimes they hurt, and I never know in advance. But I hope Europe keeps the faith while this white supremacism madness is going around.

This entry was edited (4 days ago)
in reply to Quinn Norton

David Njoku
mastodon - Link to source
David Njoku
• •
@quinn I don't know enough about Austria to say, but I'd imagine they might have more issues with their Turkish minority than their Black one. The same way that Black civil rights in America helped other minorities gain additional rights, wouldn't it be better for them to do something for the Turkish minority?
@Quinn Norton
in reply to David Njoku

Quinn Norton
mastodon - Link to source
Quinn Norton
• •

I would love to see a formalized time/holiday for Europeans to celebrate immigrant diversity in general. That's kind of what we used Columbus day for, because even when we mean well, we kinda fuck it up. But still, it's a good idea. I don't know about Austria and Turks, I think of that as more German. But in France we do have a lot of African population, which I would love to see celebrated more.

Finally a chance to have food with flavor 😂

in reply to David Njoku

cuan_knaggs
mastodon - Link to source
cuan_knaggs
• •
easier that talking about the history of Jewish and Roma folk I suppose
in reply to David Njoku

J.A. Pipes ✅
mastodon - Link to source
J.A. Pipes ✅
• •
Maybe I shouldn't comment (as a white person) and feel free to tell me to shut up, but I see value in having it celebrated in any country where Black people are a minority. Especially if History class in school means White History, like it was for me.
in reply to J.A. Pipes ✅

David Njoku
mastodon - Link to source
David Njoku
• •
@japipes Perhaps. If Black suppression is an issue in Austria then I agree that a month might be useful. But I would imagine that they have other issues more deserving of attention.
@J.A. Pipes ✅
in reply to David Njoku

onipa
mastodon - Link to source
onipa
• •

I’m a Black person living in Austria: the Black Austrian Angelo Soliman was a was a friend of Mozart and acquaintance of the Kaiser. Nonetheless, his skin was put in a museum after he died against the will of his wife and daughter.

In 1999 Austria police suffocated Marcus Omofuma (Nigerian Asylum seeker) and started "Operation Spring" where they terrorized and raided Africans without real evidence and convicted them with dubious evidence.

in reply to onipa

David Njoku
mastodon - Link to source
David Njoku
• •

@onipa What's it like being Black in Austria? I enjoy visiting your country, but I can't claim to know anything about it.

And I apologise if what I said seemed to dismiss your existence.

@onipa

This website uses cookies. If you continue browsing this website, you agree to the usage of cookies.

⇧