Afrophobia

Afrophobia or Anti-African sentiment is a perceived fear and hatred of the cultures and peoples of Africa, as well as the African diaspora

Lexicology

Primarily a cultural phenomenon, it pertains to the various traditions and peoples of Africa, irrespective of racial origin. As such, Afrophobia is distinct from the historical racial phenomenon of negrophobia, which is specifically based on contempt for negro peoples. The opposite of Afrophobia is Afrophilia, which is a love for all things pertaining to Africa.

By location

It has been observed that writing and terminology about racism, including about Afrophobia, has been somewhat U.S.-centric. In 2016, Afrophobia has been used as a term for racism against darker-skinned persons in China. In such usage Afrophobia is an inexact term, because the racism is directed against darker-skinned persons from anywhere, without regard to any connection to Africa. Conversely, Chinese views for lighter-than-average skin are more positive, as reflected in advertising.

Activism

To overcome any perceived "Afrophobia", writer Langston Hughes suggested that European Americans must achieve peace of mind and accommodate the uninhibited emotionality of African Americans. Author James Baldwin similarly recommended that White Americans could quash any "Afrophobia" on their part by getting in touch with their repressed feelings, empathizing to overcome their "emotionally stunted" lives, and thereby overcome any dislike or fear of African Americans.

In 2016, Tess Asplund made a viral protest against Neo-Nazism as part of her activism against Afrophobia.

In academia

Some afrophobic sentiments are based on the belief that Africans are unsophisticated. Such perceptions include the belief that Africans lack a history of civilization, and visual imagery of such stereotypes perpetuate the notion that Africans still live in mudhuts and carry spears along with other notions which indicate their primitiveness. Afrophobia in academia may also occur through the practise of oversight with regards to lacking deconstruction in mediums such as African art forms, omittance of historical African polities within world cartography, or by promoting a eurocentric viewpoint by ignoring historic African contributions to world civilization.

See also

• Afrophilia
• Aporophobia
• Xenophobia
• Ethnocentrism
• Discrimination based on skin color
• White nationalism
• White supremacy
• Negro
• Nigger
• Antiziganism
• Anti-Mexican sentiment
• Hispanophobia
• Racial antisemitism
• Anti-Europeanism