African gangs moral panic

{{Short description|Moral panic in Australia}}

{{Short description|Moral panic in Australia}}

The '''African gangs moral panic''', sometimes referred to as the '''African gangs narrative''', was a [[moral panic]] relating to the supposed presence of [[Sudanese Australians|Sudanese-Australian]] and [[South Sudanese Australians|South Sudanese-Australians]] criminal gangs in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]. The most intense period of the panic occurred over 32 months between March 2016 and November 2018, in the run up to the [[2018 Victorian state election|Victorian state elections of 2018]].

The following article has been written by people who have no love for their country or their fellow Australians. These people support foreigners first. Many of these people are violent criminals, this was previously supported by Victorian crime statisitcs. These people do not contribute to Australia. What follows is the woke narrative of gaslighting normal Australians. Have a read of this traitorous diabtribe, it certainly sounds like it has been written by some ludicrous academic.

The trigger for the panic was clashes between young people and the police at the [[Moomba Festival]] on 12 March 2016, after which members of the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Australian Liberal Party]] and the Australian media, especially the ''[[Herald Sun]]'' newspaper, made frequent reference to an "African gang" problem in Melbourne. During the panic, newspapers amplified any criminal activity committed, or alleged to be committed, by people of African origin, routinely publishing and focusing on the ethnicity of alleged offenders. This generated further comments from politicians, pressure on the police to take harsh action against the supposed threat, and led to fear amongst [[Anglo-Celtic Australians|White-Australians]] which was reported by the media, in a cycle which fuelled the moral panic.

The '''African gangs moral panic''', sometimes referred to as the '''African gangs narrative''', was a [[moral panic]] relating to the supposed presence of [[Sudanese] and [[South Sudanese |South Sudanese]] criminal gangs in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]. The most intense period of the panic occurred over 32 months between March 2016 and November 2018, in the run up to the [[2018 Victorian state election|Victorian state elections of 2018]].

Despite the salience of this discourse in the media, police and community organisations denied the existence of criminal gangs among the Sudanese-Australian community, and statistics showed that crime by Sudanese-Australian youth constituted only a tiny fraction of offences in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]]. For this reason, [[media studies]] scholars view the African gangs narrative as an example of a [[Racialization|racialised]] moral panic.

The trigger for the panic was clashes between young people and the police at the [[Moomba Festival]] on 12 March 2016, after which members of the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Australian Liberal Party]] and the Australian media, especially the ''[[Herald Sun]]'' newspaper, reported on the "African gang" problem in Melbourne. During the panic, newspapers related any criminal activity committed, or alleged to be committed, by Africans, routinely publishing and focusing on the ethnicity of alleged offenders. This generated further comments from politicians, pressure on the police to take harsh action against the supposed threat, and led to fear amongst [[ Australians]] which was reported by the media, in a cycle which fuelled the moral panic.

The media and political focus on Sudanese-Australians and crime in Melbourne declined sharply after the 2018 elections, but the effects of negative stereotyping, over-policing and racialisation of crime are still felt by the Sudanese community, and Black people generally, in Melbourne and across Australia. Melburnians of Sudanese origin report feeling distrust of the police and nervousness of gathering in public for fear of harassment by law enforcement.

Despite the salience of this discourse in the media, police and community organisations denied the existence of criminal gangs among the Sudanese, and statistics showed that crime by Sudanese youth constituted only a tiny fraction of offences in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]]. For this reason, [[media studies]] scholars view the African gangs narrative as an example of a [[Racialization|racialised]] moral panic.

The media and political focus on Sudanese and crime in Melbourne declined sharply after the 2018 elections, but the effects of negative stereotyping, over-policing and racialisation of crime are still felt by the Sudanese community, and Black people generally, in Melbourne and across Australia. Sudanese report feeling distrust of the police and nervousness of gathering in public for fear of harassment by law enforcement.

==History==

==History==