Fight against racism: End segregation in schools and halt xenophobia in media

MEPs ask for public policies on culture, media, education and sports to be used to uproot structural racism and promote the EU values of tolerance and inclusion, Plenary session CULT.

In a resolution adopted on Tuesday (8 March) by 495 votes to 109 and 92 abstentions, MEPs call for media to stop spreading stigmatizing narratives that dehumanise members of particular ethnic or racial groups, for example by targeting migrants as the source of economic and social problems. They propose to stop EU and state funding for media outlets that are found by competent authorities to be promoting hate speech and xenophobia.

They also propose that all national audiovisual regulators should be provided with the powers to penalise programmes that promote racist content.

Revise school curricula, end segregation in schools and return cultural works

MEPs call for education curricula to be revised in order to combat bias and eradicate stereotypes that lead to discrimination today. The history of European minorities should be included in relevant studies. Authors, historians, scientists, artists and other figures from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds should be included in key educational materials, MEPs say.

MEPs demand the elimination of racial and ethnic segregation that still exists in the education systems of some EU countries. Teaching staff from racial and ethnic minority groups must have equal access to teaching jobs, they say.

Member states must also equip all teachers with the skills they need to promote inclusion and combat discrimination in the education system. Lifelong learning programmes should also be offered to civil servants and state security forces to eliminate racist and xenophobic behaviour.

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They also encourage EU countries to establish programmes to return cultural works to either their countries of origin or other appropriate cultural institutions and ask the European Commission to facilitate dialogue to this end.

Zero tolerance to hate in sports

MEPs insist on a “zero-tolerance approach” to racism, hate speech, violence in sport and urge the Commission and member states to adopt effective penalties and support victims, as well as to protect athletes that denounce racism or speak out for diversity from retaliation. They want the Commission to develop guidelines to combat racism in sport at local, national and European levels and foster inclusion and respect.

Salima Yenbou (Greens/EFA, FR), rapporteur, said: “We need to actively work against racism, so that our daughters and sons no longer have to ask themselves whether they have a place in our societies. To build a better future, we have to know and understand our history. That’s why it’s important for students to learn more about colonialism, slavery, genocide and all the ensuing phenomena.” She also called to “put an end to media that spread racist language about migrants and refugees, and contents that are intentionally or unintentionally racist”.

Background

According to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, 45% of people of North African descent, 41% of Roma and 39% of people of Sub-Saharan African descent in Europe face discrimination based on their ethnic or immigration background.

According to the 2019 Eurobarometer, over half of Europeans believe that racial discrimination is widespread in their country, with “Being Roma” (61% of respondents), “Ethnic origin” (59%) and “Skin colour” (59%) being the top three grounds for discrimination identified by citizens.

More information 

• Adopted text (8.03.2022) 
• Video recording of the debate (7.03.2022) 
• EP Research Service: At a glance: The role of culture, education, media and sport in the fight against racism (March 2022)  
• EU’s Anti-racism action plan 2020-2025 
• Eurobarometer 2019: Discrimination in the European Union 

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