Arabic newspaper uses N-word after #BlackLivesMatter protests
Despite condemning US treatment of African Americans, some Arabic media outlets have shown little sensitivity on race despite the fact that millions of Arabs are of African heritage.
2 min read
10 Jul, 2016
Black lives and feelings matter everywhere, including in the Arab world [Getty]
As the world decries the racism shown against African Americans by US authorities, which has triggered protests and violence this week, less attention is given to the racism against people of colour in the Arab world.
Arabic newspapers, for example, often use racist language, both out of ignorance or malice – and major newspapers with large circulation are no exception.
This week, following the anti-police brutality protests in the United States and the violence in Dallas and Colorado, one Egyptian newspaper used the Arabic equivalent of the N-word
On Saturday, al-Shuruq al-Jadid, a major Egyptian newspaper, used the word Zunuj, Arabic for "negroes", for its front-page story on the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States.
The full headline reads in translation: "America's negroes take up arms against police violations". This kind of blatant racism, however, is nothing new.
In August 2014, Egypt's al-Yawm al-Sabei ran with an investigation on alleged black gangs in Cairo, and used the English word "niggers" in the Arabic headline, which read, Niggers: The gangs of black terror in Cairo.
The article itself contained racist generalisations about black people, specifically those who are Sudanese nationals in Egypt.
The article was later edited, removing the extremely offensive term.
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