African Greeks

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"Black Greeks" redirects here. For African American fraternities and sororities, see National Pan-Hellenic Council.
African Greeks
Αφροέλληνες
Languages
Greek, Niger–Congo languages
Religion
predominantly Christianity; minority Islam, Atheism
Related ethnic groups
African people, Greeks

African Greeks (also referred to as Afro-Greeks (Greek: Αφροέλληνες, Afroéllines),[1] are an ethnic group of Greeks with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

Some families of African descent mainly from Sudan, who were brought to modern-day Greece by the Ottoman Turks as African slaves in the times of the Ottoman Empire, still live in the village of Avato and are Sunni Muslims. Some of them lived before the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey also on the island of Crete.[2][3]

Such a very small population came to Greece in 1950–1960.

A number of African immigrants arrived in Greece in 1997. However, most came during the 2000s. The majority of the immigrants migrated from Nigeria and Senegal. Some of them also come from Congo, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius and Angola. Most live in the Patissia and Kypseli area in Athens.[4] Some African immigrants and Greek citizens with ancestry from Africa report being the victim of racist harassment and assaults from suspected far-right Greek Golden Dawn party members.

The South African Embassy in Athens and the Consulate General of South Africa in Thessaloniki, maintains and develops relations between the South Africa and Greece.Embassy of Nigeria in Athens as well and Embassy of Greece in Abuja in Nigeria. Ugandan Consulate in Athens, Embassy of Sudan in Athens, Consulate of Ghana in Athens, Greek Embassy in Democratic republic of Congo, Consulate General of Ethiopia in Athens, Embassy of Angola in Athens, Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Kenya in the Hellenic Republic.

[5][6]

Racism and other forms of discrimination[]

A 2012 protest march by the Golden Dawn, a Greek political party accused by some of fueling racism in Greece against African immigrants.[7]

African immigrants to Greece have been subject to racism and other forms of discrimination, including being subjected to violent racial attacks. In 2012, members of the racist and neo-Nazi group, Golden Dawn, roamed Athens and other Greek cities, attacking (among other groups) African immigrants.[8] According to a 2020 article by sociologist Max Papadantonakis, African immigrants are marginalized as racialized others by Greek society with acts of discrimination ranging from being called “mavri”(black), a racial slur alluding to being dark-skinned and/or undocumented, to being "emasculated and ostracized" in multidimensional ways. Papadantonakis shows that racialization underlies perceptions of the immigrant “other,” especially in the case of Greece where race is often ignored as a crucial factor.[9] Many African immigrants in Greece, including those who are second or third-generation, report that they are still "seen as Africans" by Greeks. As some Afro-Greeks have pointed out, Greeks habitually blamed the United States for the way it discriminated against Black people, but rarely engaged in self-reflection as members of dominant racial groups and benefiters of white privilege.[10] Some African immigrants have responded to racial discrimination by educating their children in private, educational institutions to help them find better employment opportunities outside of Greece.[11] [12]

Notable African Greeks[]

Sport[]

Entertainment[]

  • Isaias Matiaba – singer
  • – singer, actor
  • – singer, actor
  • – singer
  • – actor
  • – singer
  • – actor
  • – singer, actress
  • – actress
  • – actress
  • Aurora Marion – actress
  • Courtney Parker - singer, dancer, choreographer, actress
  • Marina Satti - singer, actress, musician, song writer

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "9 ΑΦΡΟΕΛΛΗΝΕΣ ΣΥΖΗΤΟΥΝ: ΤΙ ΣΗΜΑΙΝΕΙ "ΔΕΝ ΜΠΟΡΩ ΝΑ ΑΝΑΠΝΕΥΣΩ" ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ;" [9 Afrogreeks discuss: what does "I can't breathe" mean in Greece?]. www.onassis.org. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  2. ^ Kenya-Crète-Istanbul: Biographie d'une famille d'esclaves, Paris, Librairie Özgül, 2006 ISBN 978-2-910901-02-8
  3. ^ Spyropoulos Yannis, Slaves and freedmen in 17th- and early 18th-century Ottoman Crete, Turcica, 46, 2015, p. 181, 182.
  4. ^ "Main ethnic groups of immigrants in Greece". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  5. ^ https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/12/greece-racist-attacks_n_2116302.html
  6. ^ "Black Panthers Will Fight Golden Dawn | GreekReporter.com". greece.greekreporter.com. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  7. ^ "African migrants face 'impossible' life in Greece". Kathimerini. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. ^ "African migrants face 'impossible' life in Greece". Kathimerini. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. ^ Papadantonakis, Max (2020), "Black Athenians: Making and Resisting Racialized Symbolic Boundaries in the Greek Street Market", Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 49 (3): 291–317, doi:10.1177/0891241619891229, S2CID 214017920
  10. ^ Chrysopoulos, Philip (28 July 2020). "What Does "I Can't Breathe" Mean to AfroGreeks?". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  11. ^ Campana, Fahrinisa (18 November 2020). "'They don't accept you': Afro-Greeks struggle to be seen". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  12. ^ Papadopoulos, Apostolos (21 October 2015). "African immigrants in Greece". Heinrich Böll Foundation. Retrieved 27 March 2021.

External links[]

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