Afrophobic staged 'slave auction’ at a University student party with a ‘jungle’ theme.

Alert DateApril 18, 2011 Country: Sweden Address: Lund General Type: Racist discourse Racism and discrimination phenomena: Afrophobia
Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants, Ethnic minorities Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Education Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: Public Discourse, Printed Publication

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Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Victims Gender Female, Male
Victims Age 26-35
Victims Number N/A
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin Swedish
Perpetrator Gender Female, Male
Perpetrator Age 18-25, 26-35
Perpetrators Number N/A
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

A much debated case of Afrophobia debated and reported case in the media of hate crime, is what has become to known as the ‘slave auction’ staged at a student party with a ‘jungle’ theme, organised by Hallands Nation students association at Lund University is an Afrophobic hate crime case that received a lot of media attention in 2011. Some students, with faces coloured black acted as ‘slaves’ and they were with ropes around their necks escorted to the party by a white student acting as a ‘slave owner’ who later in staged a ‘slave auction’  selling ‘slaves’ to students at the party. Several organizations including the Centre against Racism, the Afro-Swedes Association and the Network of Afro-European Women Scientists (NAWES) wrote press releases and articles condemning the ‘slave auction’ and demanding that the Swedish politicians condemn this racist and degrading act as well. Although the politicians decided not to react, the incident was reported to the police by an African activist as incitement to racial hatred. The African activist however became the target of brutal racist attacks, because of reporting. A photomontage of his face depicting him as a ‘slave’ with chains around his neck were posted around the city of Lund and Malmö with a text reading: “Has anyone seen our runaway slave?.”  The incident received international attention with strong reactions from the European Network against Racism (ENAR). In an open letter to the Swedish Minister for EU Affairs Birgitta Ohlsson, ENAR condemned the ‘slave auction’ and demanded the politicians and Lund University take an active stand against such racial acts. The European-based organization RED Network with 17 member organizations in Europe similarly wrote an open letter to the Minister of Integration Erik Ullenhag and the Minister of Education Jan Björklund. The American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson also wrote an open letter to the Minister of Education and urged him to ensure that Swedes have a better understanding of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Afro-Swedish Association called on Sweden to designate October 9 as a national memorial day in remembrance of Sweden’s participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. On the 14 October, Reverend Jessie Jackson was invited as special guest og Honour to speak at a seminar about “Equality, Respect and Diversity”. The seminar was organised by several NGO’s, among those Centre Against Racism.

Source: Centrum mot rasism (Centre Againts Racism),   http://www.centrummotrasism.nu/