Recent waves of immigration seem to be challenging European identities; the darker the skin tone of the immigrant, the more her presence threatens a sense of Europe as a region defined by whiteness. But there is a long history of people defined as black living in Europe and contributing to European nation-states. If we focus our attention on their stories, we can see the fragility of the white identity in Europe. The goal of this course is to explore a deeper history of black lives in modern Europe than we see presented in the news. Through a combination of primary sources, history books, fiction, and movies, we will discover what it has meant to be black in various countries since the late eighteenth century. In the process, we will question the historical basis of a white identity in the European region.