Swiss Review 5/2020

Swiss Review / September 2020 / No.5 22 Society Zambian-Malawian theatre artistMbeneMwambene, who lives in Berne, says that the racism he encounters in Swit- zerland is different to racism in America. He calls it “cov- ert” and based on contradictory stereotypes. On the one hand, people more or less expect him to be a good dancer because he is African. On the other, he regularly gets stopped and searched for drugs. The Swiss police reject the accusation of racial profil- ing. Police officers in Switzerland do two years of basic training before entering service, during which they ad- dress fundamental principles such as respect for human rights. The head of the St. Gallen cantonal police force, Fredy Fässler (SP), says that trainee police officers are con- sistently reminded of the perils of racial profiling. Black intellectuals who live in Switzerland have played a decisive role in reigniting the country’s debate on racism – personalities who together have brought the reality of the racism that they face in everyday life into the public domain. University academics such as the black Swiss anthropologist Serena Dankwa are regularly inter- viewed in the media. There is growing agreement with one of the key thrusts of what Dankwa is saying: that peo- ple should finally recognise there is a connection between the racist, colonial view of Africa that Switzerland also used to share and the systematic marginalisation that af- fects all black people today. JÜRG STEINER IS A JOURNALIST AND EDITOR FOR THE “BERNER ZEITUNG” David de Pury (1709-1786) Neuchâtel-born David de Pury earned his fortune in Portugal, where he was involved in the diamond trade with Brazil before turning significant attention to the slave trade. The shipping company Pernam- buco e Paraiba, of which he was a shareholder, deported more than 42,000 African prisoners between 1761 and 1786. De Pury was appointed to the court of the King of Portugal in 1762. He bequeathed his immense wealth to the city of Neuchâtel, helping to fund the construction of buildings that still dominate the city. Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, from the canton of Fribourg, studied glaciers and fish fos- sils at the beginning of his career. After emigrating to the USA in 1846, he became a renowned academic at Harvard University. The views on race which Agassiz developed and expounded in America are a problematic legacy. Agassiz wanted to scientifically validate his theory that black slaves were inferior to whites, calling them a “degraded and degenerate race”. He became a vehement and influen- tial supporter of racial segregation. Alfred Escher (1819-1882) Zurich-born business leader, railway entrepreneur, politician, and Credit Suisse founder Alfred Escher (pictured here as President of the National Council in 1849) was a driving force in Switzerland’s develop- ment as a nation during the 19th century. When Escher was still alive, his family were accused of benefiting from slavery. According to a historical study published in 2017, the Escher family owned a Cuban coffee plantation where dogs guarded slaves who were forced to work 14 hours a day.