Uprising

So there was a bit of an uprising in my village a number of weeks ago. However, before I tell the story though I need to give some background on the racial tensions here. Mauritania is comprised of three major ethnic groups; white Moor, black Moor, and black African, although the groups are not strictly restricted to the color of their name. White Moors are of Arab descent, are typically the most hard core Muslim, have the strictest culture, speak Hassanyia, a variation of Arab, and live in the more northern parts of the country. Black Moors are of African descent but have adopted the culture of the Moors, they speak Hassanyia and are generally slightly more liberal Muslims. Black Africans here speak either Pulaar, Sonike, or Wolof, are generally the most liberal Muslims, and live predominantly in the south. Although most everyone here speaks a number of local languages as well as French and Arabic because those are the only languages taught in school.

There have been racial tensions between the white Moors and black Africans for a long time and that came to a head in 1989. The trouble actually started between some Pulaar Mauritanian herders and some Pulaar Senegalese farmers over a land dispute, keeping in mind that the border between Mauritania and Senegal, formed by the river, was a product of colonization and not actual cultural differences. A Mauritanian was shot leading to further violence between the Mauritanian herders and Senegalese farmers over tensions that had been building for years. Neither of the governments of the two countries took actions to end the violence. In fact, the white Moor controlled Mauritanian government used the violence as an opportunity to try to expel all of the black Africans from Mauritania under the pretense that they were damaging the country and that was when the real violence started. Not unlike McCarthyism, being suspected of being black African was enough to warrant discrimination; only in this case that discrimination took the form of murder and forced expulsion. Whole towns were forced to leave the country. The town where I had my training was one of those. For years the Mauritanian government did not recognize the Mauritanian black Africans living Senegal as refugees and denied their existence. However, in 2007 the president, the same one who was ousted by a coup earlier this year, started a program to bring them back that fortunately is still continuing with the military government. Relations have greatly improved between the ethnic groups since 1989, but it is safe to say that there are still some lingering tensions. Those tensions were very much a factor when a Moor from the village immediately next to mine erected a fence on a piece of land that was typically used by the mostly Pulaar speaking people of my town.

I need to emphasize here that my understanding of the history and actual events of the situation is incomplete and is inaccurate. I can say that it is inaccurate with confidence because I have talked to the officials in my town and the one thing that they agree on is that they don’t all agree with the details. However, the basics are that the official above the mayor but below the governor, a white Moor, was asked to order the fence removed. He chose not to do that, potentially for legitimate reasons I don’t know. The next night 400 youth from my town got together and tore down the fence and a small building that was there. Hugely out numbered the police chose not to take any action until the next morning when reinforcements arrived. Riot police came, rocks were and tear gas were exchanged and arrests were made. I hadn’t heard of any of this until a friend stopped by and told me not to go into the market because there was a confrontation. Of course, I immediately went to the market to see what was going on. By the time I got there all of the action was over but a good portion of the village was just milling around. I wish I could tell you how it all was resolved, but it hasn’t been yet. It was actually a fairly controlled and level headed uprising, no other property was damaged and no one was hurt. I should also mention that while race was a factor, this had more to do with a protest against the inaction of the government than race. Things quickly settled down and are resolving themselves in their own Mauritanian fashion. Lets just say it is reminding me how lucky I am to live in a country with a strong, independent, and transparent judicial system.