With nearly ten million inhabitants, the Czech Republic is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in Central Europe: Czechs make up 90 percent of its population. It was not always like that. When the country was part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, and then part of Czechoslovakia till 1993, it hosted large groups of other ethnic groups: Germans, Jews, Poles, Roma, Slovaks and others. Today, the country's largest cities, Prague and Brno, have opened to foreign migrant workers who make up significant parts of the urban population. Yet attitudes towards non-white co-residents or co-workers are far from harmonious. One community that has been present from the 60s is the Afroczechs, mostly the descendants of African and Afrocuban students invited by then socialist Czechoslovakia in the 1960s as part of international Communist solidarity with post-colonial countries. Global Voices spoke to one of its most prominent representatives, Czech Nigerian Obonete Ubam who credits himself with coining the term Afroczech. Ubam's latest book “Náš černobílý svět,” or “Our Black-and-White World,” came out in early October. He interviewed ten prominent Afroczechs who made it in Czech society, mostly in the areas of media, political science, business, sports and the arts. Here is how he describes the initial idea behind his latest book, as a person who grew up in a small provincial city: V mé generaci bylo málo Afročechů. Byli jsme asi tři v okrese. Prvního míšence jsem potkal, když mi bylo dvanáct. Pak dlouho nic. A jakmile jsem přijel v třiadvaceti letech do Prahy, najednou jsem začal poznávat lidi jako já. Potom jsem žil dlouho mimo Čechy, a když jsem se po patnácti letech zpět, tak mě fascinoval ten kontrast: když jsem předtím potkával tyto lidi, tak nás společenský handicap zasahoval. Nyní jsem však zjistil, že ti lidé jsou až tak úspěšní. Proto stojí za to ty příběhy popsat, i třeba pro lidi, kteří mají partnera z jiné kultury a mají podobné zkušenosti. There were very few Afroczechs in my generation; there were only three of us in our entire region. I met my first mixed-raced person when I was 12. Then no one for a long period of time, and, when I turned 23, I moved to Prague and started to get to know people like me. Afterwards I was away from the Czech Republic for a long time, so when I returned after 15 years, I was fascinated by this contrast: when I had met those people, we had all been affected by the same social barrier, but now I found out that those same people had become so successful. This is why it is worth telling those stories, as it can also speak to people whose partner is from another culture and who have similar experiences. The book covers rather intimate issues of pain and rejection in a challenging exploration of identity and positioning in a predominantly white society. Ubam explains why his idea of the book was overall well received by prominent members of the Afroczech community: Skoro všichni byli velmi vstřícní. Polovinu respondentů jsme znal osobně, vše bylo jednodušší, když jsme řekl, že píšu knihu, kterou by si přáli dostat do ruky, když jim bylo patnáct a bojovali sami se sebou, se svojí identitou v nějakém zapadákově. U nás je ten proces složitý: hledáte svoji identitu jako Čecha, a pak jako Afričana. Spousta lidí s tím bojovalo až do svých třeba pětatřiceti let. Já jsem asi jediný z té skupiny, který to vyřešil tak, že se odstěhoval do Afriky. Rád bych věřil tomu, že v tom věku a na tom levelu kariéry člověk ví, že to není jenom o něm, většina už má děti. Tam byla snaha sdílet příběh, a tak trochu ukázat cestu. Kniha se hodně dotýká rasismu ale zároveň je inspirativní. Almost all of them were very welcoming. I knew half of the interviewees personally, but everything became easier when I told them I was writing the book they all wished they had in their hands when they were 15, fighting with themselves over their identity in some backwater place in the Czech Republic. For us this process is difficult: you are searching for your identity as a Czech, then again as an African. Most people struggled around this till they were 35. I am the only one from this group of ten who moved to Africa to solve this. I think that at this point in life and moment in their career, people know this is no longer just about them, as many have children. Thus the aim was to share a story and thus partially show the way. This book is about racism but it is also a very inspiring one. Despite numerous reports showing a rather high incidence of racism, there is a denial dominates any discussion about it being an issue in Czech society. Ubam provides a nuanced view on this sensitive topic: Současná situace je horší, než byla v roce 2005, tenkrát to byl vrchol tolerance.