It is safe to conclude that the impact of racist and extreme right-wing parties on the ability of mainstream Western European political parties and politicians to integrate people of African descent in political life and in decision-making processes is negative. An interesting observation however is that participation and representation have a rather limited scope. Minority representatives plainly have the potential to enter the mainstream but so far, they have generally not done so. Chairperson, It is often within the extreme right-wing spectrum that we see racism manifest itself in political platforms, and yet, it is within the mainstream parliamentary parties that we need to focus our attention in combating racism. We know that right-wing extremism is dangerous, but we should not focus only on that. It exists alongside other, more subtle but still acutely harmful, expressions of intolerance. In a study of black political participation Lawrence Bobo and Franklin D. Gillian, Jr., found that “where blacks hold positions of political power, they are more active and participate at higher rates than whites of comparable socioeconomic status” and that “black empowerment is a contextual cue of likely policy responsiveness and encourages blacks to feel that participation has intrusive value. . . Empowerment leads to higher levels of political knowledge and . . . it leads to a more engaged [i.e., trusting and efficacious] orientation to politics.” This is why we must fight those superficial and simplistic ideas with a focus on real participation and representation rather than lip service and tokenism. This is why we must fight that evil ideology wherever it rears its ugly head. The challenge of organising and mobilising people of African descent in Western Europe is obvious. The need to engage in dialogue and to network with the Diaspora of people of African descent globally to exchange experiences and ideas and to share strategies and to support each other is clear.