In a recent study called “Afro-phobic hate crimes,” the Swedish National Crime Prevention Council reports that 44% of the perpetrators of this type of crime have a non-white ethnicity. The study found only a marginal incidence of ‘white supremacy:’ motives of so-called right-wing extremism were identified in only 2% of all the incidents.
In its summary, the study concludes that victims of anti-black racism are reluctant to report the crimes, one reason being a “negative connotation” to accusations of racism. Only a minority of all incidents of anti-black racism are reported to the police. This includes one in three incidents including violence, and only 4% of those that were classified as harassment.
In a commentary on the report, Sofie Löwenmark, editorial writer with the daily newspaper Expressen, recalls a visit to a homeless shelter in the city of Gothenburg, part of which was used as a shelter for newly arrived migrants:
[There] was almost no socializing between people of different ethnicities in the common areas. But racism was the really big problem at the shelter.
According to Löwenmark, Arabs “simply refused to cook in the same kitchen” as African migrants. In order to cope with the situation, the shelter had therefore furnished the migrants with two kitchens, divided by ethnicity.
With reference to this experience, Löwenmark explains that through her work, she commonly encounters “stories that bear witness of widespread racism among immigrant and minority communities.”
The report from the National Crime Prevention Council does not propose any measures to counter incidents of racism between ethnic minorities.
