{"id":2524,"date":"2018-08-31T13:18:10","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T10:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colombani.gr\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2019-03-24T21:16:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T19:16:48","slug":"diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colombani.gr\/en\/2018\/08\/31\/diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"MULTICULTURALISM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wanted: More diverse candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n

MEPs and black politicians call on political groups to select candidates from diverse backgrounds of the next European elections.<\/p>\n

With the European elections less than year away, Italian S&D group deputy Cecile Kyenge says, \u201cIt is my hope to see more black politicians in the European institution.\u201d She adds, \u201cPolitical parties should support black Europeans than seek to become candidate MEPs, by encouraging minority communities to participate on political issues.\u201d\u00a0 Speaking after the first EU People of African Descent (PAD) week conference in the European Parliament in May, Kyenge said the purpose of the event was to honour and recognise the contributions of black Europeans.\u00a0 It was also, \u201can opportunity to raise issues concerning racial violence and Afrophobia, which is often overlooked by the European institutions.\u201d
\n
\nOver 400 people attended the conference, from across Europe and from the US. The aim of PAD week was to make people in the European institutions \u201ctake a look around and see the gross underrepresentation of black Europeans and people of African descent working and lobbying in the EU structurers.\u201d Attendees also discussed the wider discrimination faced by non-white Europeans and people of African descent.\u00a0\u00a0 According to the Italian deputy, \u201cIt was the first time that black community leaders, activists and young people all came together in Parilament for this matter.\u00a0 It showed that we are here, that we exist.\u201d\u00a0 For Kyenge this conference was just the beginning.\u00a0 Future events \u201cwill work on a real strategy built on the targeted actions that came out of PAD Week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claude Moraes, Chair of Parliament\u2019s civil liberties committee, said the gathering had \u201ccreated an open and frank space for important conversations regarding the structural inequalities and discrimination.\u201d\u00a0 The UK deputy believed the main conclusion of PAD week was \u201cthat visibility, unwavering visions for inclusion and a holistic response to tackling racism, discrimination and inequality is needed.\u201d He added, \u201cThis event was the first stepping stone to more concrete action to come on this journey in remedying historical imbalances and prejudice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK, which has the most non-white MEPs, will soon be withdrawing from the EU.\u00a0 As such, said Moraes, \u201cThere needs to be more representation of black politicians especially after Brexit.\u00a0 It is the UK delegations that are currently pushing back against racism and are openly having such discussions.\u00a0 Others will need to take the lead post-Brexit.\u201d\u00a0 But, he stressed, \u201cThis can only be achieved if political rhetoric changes from all political sides.\u201d\u00a0 Greens\/EFA group deputy Jean Lambert also wanted to see the Parliament reflect Europe\u2019s diverse population.\u00a0 \u201cThis is lacking in the European Parliament today.\u201d\u00a0 For Lambert, evens such as PAD week were crucial, \u201cas they highlight the lack of representation of people of African descent not just on a political level but on all levels, as well as the under-presentation of their experiences, contributions and ideas.\u201d\u00a0 To deal with racism across Europe, the UK deputy wanted to see more effective implementation for the existing equality legislation.\u00a0 She called on all political groups in the Parliament to encourage more people of African descent to stand as MEPs by having \u201cmore inclusive approaches when reaching out to potential candidates and actively engaging with different communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgian ALDE group deputy Hilde Vautmans was pleased that PAD week was taking place pointing out that, \u201cpeople of African descent are confronted daily with prejudice and discrimination.\u00a0 At school, at work and on the housing market, they encounter obstacles or even full-blown racism.\u201d\u00a0 For Vautmans, the answer was to \u201cinvest in education and the public debate, to make people aware of their history, contributions and presence in Europe.\u201d\u00a0 She stressed that the media and politicians had an important role to play.\u00a0 \u201cIt is high time that we, the community, as a whole raise, our voice and say no to racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mischa Thompson, a US policy advisor and speaker at the conference, pointed out that like the US, Europe\u2019s population was also becoming more diverse and needed to recognise this.\u00a0 She stressed that people from ethnic minorities wanted to play a role in the democratic process of their countries.<\/p>\n

In the US both the Republican and Democratic parties created different systems to recruit candidates form diverse backgrounds.\u00a0 \u201cIf you look at either party, you can see that there are people from diverse backgrounds holding key positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the current government under President Donald Trump, there are two cabinet members from an ethnic minority background, Elaine Chao and Ben Carson.\u00a0 The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haely, is from an Indian background.\u00a0 Thompson compared this to the EU, where, \u201cthere seems to be a lack of diversity in some of the senior positions.\u00a0 We have cabined officials that are either from a diverse background or have partners that from diverse migrant backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Killion Munyama, a person of African Heritage and a representative in the Polish Parliament, warned how right-wing populist politics was fuelling anti-immigration and Muslim sentiments in his country.\u00a0 \u201cPopulism is actually a problem in Poland today.\u00a0 Parties highlighting the terrorist attacks in UK, France and Belgium, used political slogans like, \u201cwe are here to protect Polish people\u201d, or \u201cwe are here to make sure there is no Islam\u201d, ro \u201cno Muslims welcome\u201d.\u00a0 The right feeds on the fear of the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Malcolm Momodou Jallow, Malmo city councillor, pointed to the constant death threats he and his family faced as a black politician in Sweden, despite being a country that is famous for its progressive acceptance of refugees.\u00a0 He said this had discouraged other non-white people running for office, giving examples of fake news stories where he had been accused of raping people, or had photoshopped images of him as slave.\u00a0 \u201cWhen people see this, they say \u201cI don\u2019t want a life like this, I cannot put my family and my safety at risk the same way you have done\u201d.\u00a0 Like Moraes he fears with the UK leaving the EU, the push for equality rights may lose momentum.\u00a0 \u201cI am hoping that even with Brexit, when it comes to political momentum and what we are doing here at PAD week, the work we are doing will continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wanted: More diverse candidates MEPs and black politicians call on political groups to select candidates from diverse backgrounds of the next European elections. With the European elections less than year away, Italian S&D group deputy Cecile Kyenge says, \u201cIt is my hope to see more black politicians in the European institution.\u201d She adds, \u201cPolitical parties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[106,121],"tags":[195],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-121","tag-195"],"yoast_head":"\nMULTICULTURALISM - Jean-Daniel Colombani : Official page, Expert on Migration Policy & Organized crime, News, Interviews, Opinions, Articles, Research, videos @Jdcolombani<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/colombani.gr\/en\/2018\/08\/31\/diversity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MULTICULTURALISM - Jean-Daniel Colombani : Official page, Expert on Migration Policy & Organized crime, News, Interviews, Opinions, Articles, Research, videos @Jdcolombani\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wanted: More diverse candidates MEPs and black politicians call on political groups to select candidates from diverse backgrounds of the next European elections. 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