Europe Day 2024
This Europe Day, members of our Network reflect on the Whiteness of Europe.
“I am a second generation Cypriot living in the UK, the country which colonised my community, and divided my island. I view “Europe” as a whitewashing of my Cypriot heritage. Mainstream unification plans for Cyprus involve continued EU membership, which worries me, since it will bring about further Europeanisation of our Western Asian culture and heritage. If you asked the average person, they would think Cyprus is in Europe. This erasure scares me.
Europeanisation also serves to colonise our mindsets, and as we Europeanise further, we adopt increasingly White supremacist border policies. As former members of the Non Aligned movement, we cannot forget our solidarity with African and Asian communities”.
Sergül Halil, Graphic Designer
“Europe is a concept stemming from the presumption of Whiteness as the norm. While the EU’s founding values of “equality”, “freedom”, “rule of law”, “human rights”, “dignity” and “democracy” are a reality for White Europeans, for us, they are mirages. Every day, Europe tells us that we are united in diversity and that we are all equal, but what we see is an institution united in White diversity that keeps us away.
The systemic challenges we face every day are evidence that the colonial mindset in the EU is still alive. How can I call for celebration when the scars I carry today, resulting from the pain inflicted on my forefathers yesterday, will continue to be a burden for our EU children to carry tomorrow because racism keeps the wounds wide open?
This Europe Day, I see no cause for celebration or exuberance when my people’s call for deliverance and an end to indifference are neglected. I heed my people’s call for liberation from the rules that deprive us of the fundamental rights White Europeans enjoy, and I remain hopeful that meaningful change will continue, so that equity of treatment will be achieved for all”.
Aké Achi, Founder of Black Europeans and Migrants At Work
“As an Italian citizen born in the Dominican Republic, freedom of movement was essential for me to be able to study in Ireland, and to move to London and create a better life for myself.
However, as a person of African descent, I have always known the concept of Europe to be an exclusionary one, built on racial hierarchies. We need to build a narrative of solidarity to tackle the hateful White-supremacist foundations of Europe”.
Angelo Boccato, Journalist and Member of Black Europeans