According to Wikipedia, racism is generally defined as actions, practices, or beliefs that reflect the racial worldview: the ideology that humans are divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called "races" but my modification of this 'plenty grammar' is that racism is simply hating other people whose 'body colour' is different from yours.
From the incidences relating to racism in the Euro 2012 hosted by Poland and Ukraine, we can draw conclusions that Martin Luther King's dream that "one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls” is still a work in progress.
On the 5th of November 2011, Olaolu Sunkanmi Femi, a Nigerian student studying in Ukraine and his yet to be identified Nigerian friend (also a student) were physically molested and attacked in front of their apartment by a gang of Ukrainian racists.
Eye witness accounts say Olaolu and his friend who were hurled to the ground and racially abused all this while, was able to get up and grab hold of a piece of glass from a broken bottle to use in self-defense and it was while he was defending himself that police arrived at the scene. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder of five people which makes me wonder how one man will attempt killing 5 people (who were probably armed) in his sane mind, only Jet Li does that. Anyway, Olaolu has since been remanded in detention by the Ukrainian police who refused to take the case to court citing unavailability of the police to get an interpreter for him.
As we all know the 'Aluta spirit', Nigerian students in the Ukraine are not taking it easy as they have been protesting his arrest and labeling it an act of racism. The Nigerian students’ community in Ukraine under the leadership of Osarumen David-Izevbokun, a Phd student in international relations has been working tirelessly to ensure justice for the Nigerian by organizing protests as well as drawing the attention of the human rights groups in Ukraine to the plight of Femi who has spent almost seven months in jail without trial.
David-Izevbokun told African Outlook that he alongside other Nigerian students in conjunctions with some members of the Ukrainian human right groups staged a protest on April, 9 outside the Leninsky District Court in Luhanski demanding the release of Olasunkanmi.
The actions, according to David-Izevbokun has put the Ukraine police on the spot as the case came up for hearing on May 3. “We had a lot of media coverage on the protest ” David-Izevbokun said, noting that he was sure the attention given the case may have prompted the May 3 court appearance of the suspect.
David-Izevbokun who was at the May 3, court hearing told African Outlook that Olasunkanmi appeared depressed when he showed up in court.
In almost typical fashion, the Nigerian embassy sent a representative to visit Olasunkanmi in jail once and thereafter, never returned.
Too many Nigerians are facing jail terms in various European countries over phantom allegations and even more disheartening is the role of the Nigerian government via its embassies in such countries. Nigerians are subjected to various forms of maltreatment, from the way we are searched at international airports, to bank transactions and literary in every aspect of our lives, the terrible thing about it being that, even our neighbouring countries don't spare us.
Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong ― Muhammad Ali. Let's come together and fight this deadly practice which poses a serious threat to all of us.
“The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colors in your mind" ― Maria Cristina Mena from "Spiders web”
Credit: Funto, Searchlight Magazine
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