Tunisia
Tunisia, like its other Arabic neighbors in North Africa, has a significant Black population as well as migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, although their exact numbers are unknown. They are noticeably absent in up-and-coming neighborhoods, and are largely found living in cheap, overcrowded structures in run-down areas such as La Goulette.
In 2004, Tunisian journalist Affet Mosbah wrote for Jeune Afrique, describing the difficulties of being Black and Tunisian. She talked of the widespread custom of calling Black Arabs “oussif” or “abid,” Arabic terms that refer back to Black slaves common in the Middle East until the beginning of the 20th century.
Mosbah explained that this custom is so embedded in the culture that Tunisians call their Black friends by these offensive names, insensitive to how offensive they are.
