In 2019, Khadija Benhamou from the southern region of Adrar was crowned Miss Algeria. Almost immediately, she became the target of social media abuse. Critics claimed she could not represent Algerian beauty because of her dark skin. Others mocked the shape of her nose and lips, and some even sneered that she looked like a man.

As in much of North Africa, beauty in Algeria is often measured by the fairness of one’s skin. A 2009 estimate suggested that about 10 percent of the population are Black Africans, most of them living in the south. Yet because of Arabization and Islamization policies, Algeria releases no official statistics on ethnicity.

From the seventh to the twentieth century, the trans-Saharan slave trade lasted for some 1,300 years. Black Africans—such as the Tuareg—have long lived in southern Algeria, but they are often viewed as descendants of slaves. Their darker skin makes them especially vulnerable to discrimination. At checkpoints and airports, they are often subjected to extra questioning or taunts, with slurs like kahlouche (“blackie”) or abd (“slave”) hurled at them despite presenting national identification.

Compared with their northern counterparts, Black Algerians in the south feel excluded from society. Their region produces 95 percent of the country’s revenue through oil and natural gas, yet it remains poor and underdeveloped. Many feel that the wealth is siphoned away while they are left behind and treated as second-class citizens.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, You know the anguish of being despised, for Your only Son was scorned and suffered on the cross. Today we lift before You the Black Algerians, who are looked down upon and burdened with the shame of ancestors taken as slaves—still living under the weight of that stigma across generations. May they come to know You, the God who does not judge by outward appearance. May they receive the beauty You bestow, so they no longer despise themselves but find freedom from the wounds of bondage. And Lord, may You open the eyes of Algerians to remember that they too endured oppression under colonial rule, and grant them love from You, so that with compassion and mercy they may embrace people of every background. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.