IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 389 
Recognizing persons of African descent in Europe during the International 
Year for People of African Descent. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 5, 2011 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing persons of African descent in Europe during 
the International Year for People of African Descent. 
Whereas the 109th Congress passed H. Con. Res. 60 and S. 
Con. Res. 90, recognizing African descendants in Latin 
America and the Caribbean, raising awareness of the rac-
ism and discrimination faced by those communities, and 
leading to numerous public and private sector initiatives 
between the United States and Latin American and Car-
ibbean countries to improve the situation of African de-
scendants; 
Whereas the persistence of racism and discrimination in Eu-
rope similarly necessitates congressional action to raise 
awareness and promote public and private sector initia-
tives to stem this trend; 
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Whereas the terms ‘‘Afro-European’’, ‘‘African European’’, 
or ‘‘Black European’’ refer to people of African ancestry 
or descent born in, citizens of, or living in Europe; 
Whereas more than an estimated 7,000,000 individuals of Af-
rican descent currently live in and have long had a pres-
ence in Europe, forming an influential part of the Afri-
can diaspora; 
Whereas this year the United Nations designated 2011 as the 
International Year for People of African Descent whereby 
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton remarked, 
‘‘In the 21st century, diversity, openness, and tolerance, 
are vital national assets’’; 
Whereas the recognition of this year seeks to strengthen na-
tional actions to ensure that people of African descent 
enjoy economic, cultural, social, civil, and political rights, 
as well as promote a greater knowledge of and respect for 
their diverse heritage and culture; 
Whereas the story of Black Europeans remains untold, ren-
dering many of their past and present contributions to 
the political and social life of Europe invisible or forgot-
ten; 
Whereas unlike more contemporary figures, largely unknown 
Blacks have made significant contributions to European 
history and culture, including Spanish poet Juan Latino, 
Italian 
Duke 
Alessandro 
Medici, 
French 
novelist 
Alexandre Dumas, German scholar Anthony William 
Amo, French Composer Le Chevalier de St. George, Brit-
ish abolitionist Oladuah Equiano, and Russian General 
and Governor Abram Hannibal, great-grandfather of 
Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin; 
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Whereas the largest estimated populations of Black Euro-
peans can be found in France (approximately 2,500,000), 
the United Kingdom (approximately 1,500,000), and the 
Netherlands (approximately 500,000), in addition to size-
able populations in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, 
Norway, Ireland, Russia, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, 
Denmark, and Austria; 
Whereas the presence of Blacks in Europe can be traced to 
voluntary and forced migration resulting from the geo-
graphical proximity of Europe to Africa and the Middle 
East, including the transatlantic slave trade, the coloniza-
tion of Africa and the Caribbean, African and African- 
American military deployments, the movement of refu-
gees and asylum seekers, and educational and other pro-
fessional exchanges; 
Whereas, although Black Europeans have made significant 
achievements in and contributions to European society, 
large numbers have and continue to be more likely than 
the general population to experience discrimination and 
be underrepresented in leadership roles in the public and 
private sector as a result of the color of their skin and 
ancestry; 
Whereas, on April 29, 2008, before the Commission on Secu-
rity and Cooperation in Europe, at a hearing entitled 
‘‘The State of (In)visible Black Europe: Race, Rights, 
and Politics’’, Dr. Philomena Essed stated, ‘‘Probably the 
only common European experience among many, if not 
all, Afro-descendants is their exposure to [. . .] racism 
and systemic discrimination, regardless of country, socio- 
economic conditions, gender, age, or level of education’’; 
Whereas racism has long been, and continues to be, a prob-
lem in Europe; 
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Whereas the 1997 European Commission opinion poll entitled 
‘‘Racism and Xenophobia in Europe’’ reported a ‘‘wor-
rying level of racism and xenophobia in [European 
Union] Member States, with nearly 33% of those inter-
viewed openly describing themselves as ‘quite racist’ or 
‘very racist’ ’’; 
Whereas the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency 
(EUFRA), formerly the European Monitoring Center on 
Racism and Xenophobia, has found in its annual report 
that racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately 
experiencing discrimination in housing, education, health 
care, employment, the criminal justice system, and access 
to political participation; 
Whereas the 2009 European Union Minorities and Discrimi-
nation Survey (EU–MIDIS), the first European Union- 
wide survey of ethnic minority and immigrant groups’ ex-
periences of discrimination and victimization in everyday 
life in the 27 member states of the European Union 
found that persons of African descent experienced higher 
incidents than most other minority groups of discrimina-
tory treatment, racist crime, and victimization, and 
lacked an awareness of their rights; 
Whereas the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and 
Human Rights Annual Hate Crimes report has found 
that persons of African descent are often targets of racist 
violence, especially in eastern Europe, yet in many coun-
tries legal assistance and financial support for victims 
while recovering from violent attacks does not exist; 
Whereas EU–MIDIS reports experiences of discrimination, 
criminal victimization, and discriminatory policing are 
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grossly underreported due to a lack of rights awareness 
and incidents may be higher; 
Whereas prejudice and discrimination towards Black Euro-
peans has also been linked to changes in immigration and 
asylum laws as a result of antiterrorism initiatives and 
the growth and mainstreaming of nationalist and anti-im-
migrant political parties and groups, including neo-Nazis 
and skinheads, who believe Europe should be a 
monoracial society or that other races are inferior; 
Whereas the Open Society Justice Initiative 2009 report, en-
titled ‘‘Ethnic Profiling in the European Union’’, found 
that police officers in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, 
Germany, and the Netherlands routinely used racial 
profiling, including targeting Blacks, when deciding 
whom to target for stops, searches, raids, and surveil-
lance; 
Whereas Black Europeans encounter everyday racism, includ-
ing denials that racism exists despite the blatant use of 
stereotypes and derogatory terms to refer to Blacks in 
everyday language, the media, and textbooks; 
Whereas there have been numerous efforts by the public and 
private sector to address racial discrimination and in-
equality in Europe, including the introduction of anti-
discrimination and equality laws that include the legal 
support for special measures or positive (affirmative) ac-
tion, creation of equality bodies, media campaigns, and 
efforts to increase minority political participation; 
Whereas these efforts also include the September 9, 2008, of-
ficial launching of the Black European Women’s Council 
at the European Union headquarters and the September 
27, 2007, to September 29, 2007, Vienna Declaration of 
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the Black European Women’s Congress, which calls for 
Members of the European Union to enforce and imple-
ment laws to eradicate all forms of discrimination, pro-
vide anti-racist education and training for personnel 
working in educational institutions and the civil service, 
increase political representation, participation, and em-
ployment opportunities for Blacks, and address racial 
health disparities, including by providing cultural com-
petency training to health professionals; 
Whereas these efforts also include transatlantic meetings of 
Black and minority legislators held at the European Par-
liament in Brussels, Belgium, including the March 24, 
2011, and June 1, 2010, through June 2, 2010, Trans-
atlantic Minority Political Leadership Conferences and 
April 15, 2009, through April 16, 2009, ‘‘Black Euro-
pean Summit: Transatlantic Dialogue on Political Par-
ticipation’’ and the adoption of the Brussels Declaration 
calling for increased minority political inclusion; 
Whereas, as part of the March 24, 2011, Transatlantic Mi-
nority Political Leadership Conference legislators and mi-
nority leaders from North America and Europe held a 
Parliamentary Forum at the European Parliament in 
Brussels, Belgium, to discuss a ‘‘Joint Action Plan on 
Racial and Ethnic Equality and Inclusion’’ between the 
European Union and United States; 
Whereas these efforts also include the OSCE Parliamentary 
Assembly (PA) adoption of a Resolution on ‘‘Strength-
ening Efforts to Combat Racism and Xenophobia and 
Foster Inclusion’’ at the 2011 Annual Session recog-
nizing the international year for people of African descent 
and calling for the OSCE to implement several strategic 
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initiatives to address racial and ethnic discrimination in 
the OSCE region; 
Whereas these efforts also include the creation of the Euro-
pean Network Against Racism (ENAR) Foundation, the 
first antiracist foundation in Europe; 
Whereas these efforts also include the August 18, 2011, to 
August 21, 2011, World Summit of African Descendents 
which will include a focus on Europe; 
Whereas despite these efforts, international entities, such as 
the OSCE Personal Representative on Combating Rac-
ism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, EUFRA, the Euro-
pean Commission against Racism and Intolerance, and 
the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Ra-
cial Discrimination, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary 
Forms of Racism, Independent Expert on minority 
issues, and Experts Working Group on People of African 
Descent, have documented ongoing racism and xeno-
phobia, and racial and ethnic discrimination, and called 
for an increase in initiatives to combat racism and in-
equality; and 
Whereas throughout the history of the United States, mem-
bers of both the public and private sectors have ex-
changed information on best practices for antidiscrimina-
tion measures and racial equality with committed parties 
in other countries, including initiatives such as the 2008 
‘‘Joint Action Plan Between the Government of the Fed-
erative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the 
United States of America to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic 
Discrimination and Promote Equality’’, also known as 
the United States-Brazil Joint Action Plan Against Ra-
cial Discrimination and the more recent United States- 
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