Racism in Action

If one wanted to see the perfect illustration of racism in action, this week’s news coverage provided it.


Two maritime disasters happened this week. On Sunday, a submersible boat with 5 people on board lost contact with its mother ship in the Atlantic. A search is under way. Then on Wednesday, a boat with 59 people sank in the same ocean. 35 people drowned. 

You would think that a shipwreck with 35 deaths would be at least as big a news story as the lost contact to a submarine with 5 people. But not so in the western news media. The submarine has been front page news since Monday, with live updates, media conferences and expert opinions all over the place. Not a single news bulletin in 4 days without an update of the situation. The other shipwreck was mentioned briefly and the news disappeared as quickly as the boat sank. 

The explanation is simple – the people in the missing submarine are wealthy European and North American citizens (three British, one French, one American) on an adventure holiday, whereas the people who drowned were Africans trying to reach the Canary Islands to escape war and famine. When the submarine lost contact, there was immediate coverage of every aspect of the story and a massive international search operation started. With the other boat, there was very little official information, most of it was provided by volunteer organisations Alarm Phone and Walking Borders. Alarm Phone tweeted that they alerted the Moroccan coast guard but could not get a reply. No specialised search vessels, no media conference, no background information. It is unlikely that any of the 35 names will ever be published. 

Of course the media will argue that public interest in the submarine is just higher and it’s a more interesting, evolving story. But that is precisely what racism looks like.

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