Daring to have a role in the film industry is a difficult thing for a minority to do.
The internet is riddled with self-proclaimed historians ready to throw the term “historically accurate” at anything and anyone claiming that history, or even fantasy novels set throughout history, has not been exclusively white.
In genres such as sci-fi and fantasy, the presence of people of color still has to be justified because people yet to fully understand the concept that “it’s in space! Why wouldn’t there be minorities!”
And yes, of course, there is no reason for people of color not to be in your favorite space film but it’s important to remember that we have a role in history too.
I know this comment means well, and I am glad that minorities in film are being defended, but it is just as important, or even perhaps more, to defend the idea that people who aren’t white have existed and flourished throughout history. And yes, that means even in Europe.
It is difficult to have a debate about representation in film without going to the point of “historical accuracy”.
Too often is the lack of spotlight on people of color in history interpreted as a lack of contribution and significance.
It still happens to this day – though white women in science are being gratefully addressed for their contributions, the same cannot be said for people of color (find me someone who has heard of Mae Jemison, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Rosalind Franklin).
People of color have been documented in Europe throughout history. In 2010, the skeleton of a Tunisian man was discovered in Suffolk, UK, dating back to the 13th Century. It is believed he was brought to England after the 9th Crusade.
Far too often, African people were taken from their land and sold and/or given as “gifts” to nobility in Europe. This happened in the case of Abram Petrovich Gannibal, who was kidnapped as a gift for the Peter the Great as a child and had a very complex life of abduction and exile, but was ultimately a member of the Russian nobility, fluent in several languages, and a military captain and engineer.
His great-grandson, Alexander Pushkin, went on to be one of the greatest Russian poets in history.
In his book, Black Star: The African Presence In Early Europe, Runoko Rashidi describes the movement of dark-skinned people around Europe. After their expulsion from Spain under King Phillip II in the 1600’s, of the 3.5 million expelled, an estimated 1 million settled in France.
1600 also marks the century in which a large number of Indian traders moved into Russia. Special trading posts were set up in Astrakhan for Indian, Persian and Armenian merchants. By the 1700’s, Indian merchants had also begun living in Moscow.
The Romani people, who can be traced back to India, have been recorded in Europe as early as the 1100’s.
Of course, it is important to understand that the movement of populations of people of color in Europe has huge ties to colonialism and slavery. Just because Europe has not treated its people of color well hasn’t stopped them from existing.
This article would be novel-length if I went into detail about the movement and roles of all people of color in Europe, but the take-home message is that we must address and respect the idea that Europe cannot be treated as a homogenously white continent now, nor during its history.
This means that you cannot use your lack of understanding of European history to validate your claims of “historical inaccuracy” when casting people of color in historical films.
Don’t use a lack of information as confirmation that people of color weren’t relevant in European history. Even in films set today, roles for people of color are dismissed as unimportant unless they are present in that area in large quantities.
In science, data is often judged for its “statistical significance”. But we’re not data points. We are the people of color of Europe, we have history here and we belong here.
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Read more about Black Africans in Renaissance Europe here, and here for more about black nobility and influential people in Europe.
