Black activist and former advisor to the Flemish Youth Council Sabrine Ingabire is facing backlash after an interview published in Belgian magazine De Morgen, in which she made some remarkable statements about “White people”. For example, she stated that “all White people” are racists, and that she never feels safe in spaces with only “White people” around.
The 24-year-old Sabrine Ingabire has previously written columns for De Morgen and is currently active in the Dutch NRC Handelsblad daily.
Statements she made in the latest interview published by De Morgen earned her a wave of criticism on social media.
“Look, all White people are racist. Don’t use that as a big headline above this article, though. That’s just how it is. You are part of the White system, and you benefit from it. You will never really fully understand what racism is because you have never been confronted by it yourself. But you have to keep trying your best to break this status quo,” she stated on the topic of racism.
Unsurprisingly, many politicians have been outraged by her statements.
“I rarely got so angry after reading an interview. ‘All White people are racists.‘ It sows as much hatred as the extreme right,” said CD&V MP Sammy Mahdi.
Senator from the Vlaams Belang party, Bob De Brabandere, then pointed out that the young woman makes such a statement about the so-called White system, which he says has given her all the possibilities she has available n Belgium.
‘I don’t date White men’
During the interview, Sabrine Ingabire also said that she would never date White men, as she considers all White people racist.
“As a Black woman, I don’t date White men,” she said, labeling her decision a fundamental choice.
“Yes, White men are very tiring,” she continued.
“It’s great that Sabrine Ingabire prefers non-White men. But think for a moment what a fuss such a statement cause if a White woman would say ‘I don’t date black men.’ Probably quite a lot of fuss,” pointed out Dutch reporter Kim Boon.
Prima hoor, dat Sabrine Ingabire een voorkeur heeft voor niet-blanke mannen. Maar denk even na hoeveel ophef er zou zijn ontstaan als hier een foto van een blanke vrouw had gestaan met de tekst: “ik date niet met zwarte mannen”. Heel veel ophef, waarschijnlijk. pic.twitter.com/vTWZueo681
— Kim Boon (@KimBoon94) July 24, 2020
The latest interview is not the first time Ingabire made some questionable remarks. Previously, she also claimed that she never feels safe in “White spaces”.
“I’m on guard. Just like on the train on the way here. Then I wonder: Why are there only White people around? And what if a violent racist attacks me, who will protect me? I’m never sure about that. Sometimes there are White people I thought I could trust, but they wouldn’t protect me if something racist happened,” she said.
She also made other comments during the interview, such as, “We are constantly confronted with images of black, suffering people, such as a dying George Floyd” and claimed that, “Research shows that people of African descent have the most diplomas.”
During the interview, Ingabire also related that she has struggled with an eating disorder and has suicidal tendencies.
New Flemish Alliance MP Tomas Roggeman responded indignantly to Ingabire, asking “in which universe is this statement different from pure xenophobia?”
In welk universum is dit iets anders dan pure xenofobie?@demorgen pic.twitter.com/epyobkiQuV
— Tomas Roggeman (@TRoggeman) July 25, 2020
Belgium recently experienced looting and riots in the capital city of Brussels during Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in the United States while being arrested by police officers. A number of individuals involved in the rioting have already been identified and arrested in recent weeks.
