Racism in Libya

Libya is a predominantly Arab-Berber and Arabized Berber country with many people of Berber descent identifying as Arabs despite being of Berber heritage, according to DNA tests. However, traditional Berber cultures in Libya have been eroded with time. Due to Gaddafis rise to power, and his justification and arguments that Libya is an Arab country, naturally, his regime suppressed Berber Tuareg minorities of mostly black skin color, giving rise to racial tensions and an assumption that Libya's population ought to be Arab and light skinned, despite historical evidence that Libyan population was a mix of both. The New York Times argues that Libya has a "long history of racist violence."[1] which can be attributed to its recent 500 year turmoil of colonial powers coming and going.