Moroccan nationalists launch racist campaign online to ‘protect Moroccans’ from sub-Saharan Africans

A young Moroccan girl has overnight become the target of Moroccan nationalists’ dormant racism and colourism on social media this weekend.

While attending a football game in Rabat, the young fan proudly cheering for her national team was caught by cameras, and caught the attention of extremist nationalist pages on Twitter, who used her as an exemplary reason to “fight sub Saharan migrants from settling in Morocco.”

The young girl’s nationality, although unknown, didn’t matter to the people behind the Moorish accounts, as they berated her for “obviously not being Moroccan,” as she’s “too dark-skinned with strong African features.”

“She will never be Moroccan despite wearing the shirt of the national team”, “Monkey”, “I am against flooding Morocco with illegal immigrants, against granting Moroccan nationality to foreigners, and against mixed marriage for many reasons”, Twitter users voiced their racist and biased opinions relentlessly.

This caused heated debate, prompting many to give history lessons in the comments on the different skin tones in Morocco, it being a North African country, and denouncing the racist attacks.

Additionally, black and light skin Moroccans swarmed Twitter with pictures quote tweeting the initial one, which was met with grave hate and tweets like “You are not Moroccan either.”

One Twitter user said, “ Imagine all the MOROCCAN children with dark complexion being subjected to this animosity every day, been stripped of their nationality because they do not conform to the color palette of society.”

The latest term used by the racists in the comments under the girl’s picture is “The negrophication of Morocco,” as they branded their replacement theory.

For an African country, Morocco does have a complex alarming amount of internalized racism, as colorism remains heavily present in the kingdom.

In comparison to Moroccans with deeper skin tones, lighter-skinned Moroccans frequently enjoy perks and preferential treatment.

This bias can be seen in a variety of settings, including the workplace, media representation, and interpersonal relationships.

The treatment of migrants and refugees from sub-Saharan Africa who pass through or live in the nation, as well as of Moroccans with dark skin, is the most pervasive manifestation of this colorism in Morocco.

Sub-Saharan Africans are the target of discrimination and prejudice that can be traced to a variety of social, cultural, and stereotype-influenced beliefs.