Stories about Ethnicity & Race from May, 2008
Brazil: Visible and Invisible Indians and Scoops
Brazilian Indians were in the spotlight of world media this week. From the images of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon, to the enraged protest caught on camera against the building of dams along the Xingu River in the Amazon basin where an official of Brazil’s national electric company got slashed by traditional machetes and clubs.
South Africa: Bloggers need to do more than just write
A few South African bloggers are thinking about positive steps to take with regard to the current xenophobia crisis in South Africa. Stii asks, “What can we as bloggers do about the Xenophobia crisis?” and Mike Stopforth calls on South African bloggers to do something. Meanwhile, Afrigator has launched a special Xenophobia Crisis Page.
On the return of the victims of xenophobia
“Ultimately, we have not yet reached the time when the South African government will acknowledged, unequivocally, its responsibility for this whole issue. With empty thoughts and a huge incapacity for self-criticism (as a first step), the South African regime, apparently, carries on burying their head in the sand.” Agry [pt]...
Armenia: Diaspora Fatigue
Life in Armenia, a blog run by ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora resident in the country, says that the number of tourists and volunteers visiting Armenia might be dropping following the recent post-election unrest as well as for other reasons. However, the blog says that Armenia is still worth visiting...
Trinidad & Tobago: Indian Arrival Day
Today is Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago and Coffeewallah reminisces on her former mother-in-law's legacy and the first time she taught her to wrap a sari: “It is an elegant garment…every woman looks beautiful in a sari.”
Armenia: Bigoted Journalism
Blogian comments on the misrepresentation of the words of a journalist partly of Turkish descent speaking in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, by the local pro-opposition A1 Plus news agency. The blog says that a combination of factors such as anti-Turkish sentiment and sexism might have something to do with what...
Guyana: Identity Crisis?
Signifying Guyana blogs about her “personal struggle with a hyphenated identity”.
Europe: More on Eurovision
Belatedly, a link to a Eurovision report by BBC's Mark Mardell – and over 150 comments to his post.
Hungary: Ferenc Szálasi
Hungarian Spectrum writes about Ferenc Szálasi and Hungarian nationalist politics – here and here: “Perhaps no one will be surprised to discover that the man who came up with “Hungarism” wasn’t an ethnic Hungarian. His original name was Szalosján. His fraternal ancestors came from Armenia and settled in Transylvania […]....
Bahrain: Ban on Bangladeshis
Following a tragic incident a few days ago, when a Bahraini was killed after he refused to pay a Bangladeshi mechanic the 500 fils (1.3 USD) extra he was demanding for a job, Bahrain has now stopped issuing work permits to Bangladeshi nationals. A group of MPs are planning to submit a proposal to parliament to expel all Bangladeshi workers, who might be as many as 90,000, from the country because allegedly they commit more ‘shocking and gruesome crimes‘ than any other community.
Bahamas: Heterogeneous World
Bahamian Nicolette Bethel says: “Bahamians appear to imagine that the world is monocultural. More specifically, we tend to associate specific nations with specific ‘races’. But the world is a multicultural world, and, colonial mythology aside, it is not divided into clumps of people who fit specific moulds.”
Barbados, U.S.A.: Taking It Back
On the heels of Hillary Clinton's comment about Bobby Kennedy, Barbadian blogger Jdid comments: “You're just playing the spoiler now. It almost looks like you are trying to muddy the waters for your fellow democrat. All I can say is both you and Bill showed a wicked and dirty side...
Australia: Ethnic Macedonian Protest
S.M. of Macedonia: Cradle of Culture, Land of Nature posted photos and videos from the recent protest of over 30,000 ethnic Macedonians in Australia, who demanded that their government stop using derogatory prefixes when referring to the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Macedonians.
China: International Anthopology Congress Called-off
Angry Chinese Blogger reports on the calling off of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences Congress at Yunnan University, Kunming City, from 15 July to 23 July.
Voices that consent to xenophobia
“The prominent South African political folk who have enjoyed the protection of the Mozambican people and are today entrepreneurs or leaders, why don't they raise their voices strongly to protect the Mozambican against xenophobia and stop their patricians?”, asks Bosse Hammarström [pt].
Stuff Egyptian People Like
There are sites like “Stuff White People Like“, “Stuff Educated Black People Like“, and even “Stuff Jewish Young Adults Like“. So a group of Egyptian bloggers decided to create the “Stuff Egyptian People Like” blog.
Brazil: Images of the ‘Invisible Indians’ in the Amazon
Altino Machado presents pictures [PT] of what could be the last isolated ethnic group in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, the so called ‘Invisible Indians’. The pictures were taken from a plane by José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Jr., coordinator of FUNAI's [Brazilian National Indian Foundation] Ethno-environmental Protection Front, in the...
Europe: Eurovision Semi-Finals
Pestiside.hu, Megan Case, and Lex Libertas – on the Eurovision semi-finals results.
Romania: Local Election
Csíkszereda Musings writes about the upcoming local election in Romania.
Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria: Zorba the Greek
Greater Surbiton quotes from Nikos Kazantzakis‘ “Zorba the Greek”: “Given current Greek policy toward Macedonia, it is illuminating to read the words that Kazantzakis placed in the mouth of this most popular of Greek fictional heroes when the latter described his role in the Greek struggle to colonise Macedonia […].”
Poland: Irena Sendler Obituary
Edward Lucas reposts the obituary of Irena Sendler, saviour of children in the Warsaw ghetto.
