She was attacked on the bus.. A black Algerian influencer raises controversy

In an incident that sparked widespread controversy, the Algerian model and content creator, Barka Marzieh, was subjected to “racist” abuse while she was on a public transport bus in the capital because of her skin color.

Baraka, who is from the city of Ain Saleh, located in the south of the country, published a video clip on her Instagram account, in which she complained to her followers about her exposure to a racist situation last Thursday, and she said, “I was on the tramway in the capital going to attend an event, so the ticket controller addressed me saying, You have come to the capital and you have developed.” believing that she was an African immigrant.

Nobody intervened

She added, crying, “If I weren’t Algerian and understood what they were saying,” she asked, “Is this how you treat foreigners?” And I was surprised that none of the travelers who were with her interfered.

She pointed out that it is not the first time that she has been exposed to a racist situation, as she has been calibrated several times as being black-skinned from some segments of society, whether the educated or the uneducated. She pointed out that she had repeatedly heard offensive phrases such as “black and white”, calling for an end to these practices because they cause great psychological harm to everyone who is exposed to them.

Controversy and sympathy

The video was widely spread on social media, and sparked great controversy and widespread sympathy for Baraka at the same time, among those who considered that this abuse reflects the exclusion and marginalization of black-skinned people sometimes in Algerian society.

While others considered this incident to be an isolated one, they denounced at the same time this offensive and unacceptable behavior.

For his part, activist Abdeljalil Belaid wrote an interactive comment on the incident, saying that it was “an isolated act of a group of people from the capital, and they do not represent the reality of Algerians.”

Meanwhile, activist Marawan Bugrari expressed his regret over what the girl had been subjected to. He said, “It is unacceptable for a government employee to utter racist expressions against a female citizen from southern Algeria.”

On the other hand, activist Aziz Salaboda was not surprised in his post about what happened, and wrote, “It is as if what Baraka Mirzaiyeh was subjected to is something new in society.”

Algerian law criminalizes racism, hate speech, and bullying of residents of any region of the country, and provides for a prison sentence of up to 3 years with execution against anyone found guilty of “insulting a person or group of persons, on the basis of gender, race, color, lineage, national and ethnic origin, language and geographical affiliation.” disability or health condition.