· July, 2011

Stories about Ethnicity & Race from July, 2011

Puerto Rico: Libraries and Reading

  28 July 2011

Gil the Jenius puts forward a theory about why “there are no decent libraries on the island”, adding that with the current levels of Internet penetration, “We don't have any excuses anymore.”

Cuba: Call for Justice in Death of Teen

  28 July 2011

Laritza's Laws posts an update about the shooting death of a teen by a retired police officer: “Relatives and neighbors of the victim suspect the police are looking for excuses not to prosecute him, and they are demanding justice for the death of Angel Izquierdo Medina, that it not go...

Estonia: Tower of Babel

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa discusses how Estonia – contrary to preconceptions – is very much of a multilingual country, not least because of tourism but also in daily practicalities.

Armenia: Nationalist links alleged after Utøya attacks

Unzipped comments on claims that Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian responsible for the 22 July terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya which killed at least 76 people, had online connections with extreme nationalists and neo-Nazis in many countries including Armenia. The blog says that the local security services should investigate...

Jamaica: Public Outbursts from Diasporan Women

  27 July 2011

“How can we not say to ourselves – was any enterprise ever so doomed to failure? Was anything ever so sad?”: An eye-opening post from Under the Saltine Flag about the underlying issues that could possibly have sparked public tirades by two Jamaican women.

Argentina's Chinese-Argentines

  26 July 2011

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) Blog launched a series “that will cover immigration throughout the hemisphere from a variety of different perspectives.” COHA Research Associate PoLin So kicks off the series with a post on Chinese-Argentines and their struggle to fit into Argentine society.

Trinidad & Tobago: Celebrating Emancipation

  26 July 2011

“Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to commemorate the abolition of slavery with a national observance, and since that time several other countries (mostly in the Caribbean) have followed suit”: TriniGourmet.com has the lowdown on this year's Emancipation Day celebrations.

Norway: Courtroom Doors Will be Closed

  25 July 2011

More than 70,000 people joined a Facebook event over the weekend advocating for the first court hearing of mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik on Monday, July 25, 2011 to be held behind closed doors. Today it was confirmed [no] that no press or members of the public will attend. Breivik does...

Inside the Mind of the Norwegian Terrorist

  25 July 2011

Thoma Roche of Techyum blog posted an analysis entitled ‘Inside the Mind of the Norwegian Terrorist’. The fact that the terrorist pinpointed Japan and South Korea as clear examples of countries that consistently and directly dismissed multiculturalism has drawn various responses in South Korea.

Georgia: Diversity in motion

Unable to visit each other's country because of the still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, Reader in Baku comments on meeting with Armenians on neutral ground in the Georgian capital and suggests others from both sides do the same.

Guatemalan Women Misrepresented by Guatemala's Tourism Board

  21 July 2011

“Please help me comprehend what’s wrong with our indigenous women that Guatemala’s Tourism Board hires light-skin ladinas and white women to represent our women? I need help understanding what’s wrong with the other 45% of the population? Don’t mestizos, ladinos, blacks and whites fit the ‘Guatemalan profile'?” asks Rudy Girón...

U.S.V.I., St. Kitts: On Belonging

  21 July 2011

A Nation or Nobody “wonder[s] about the place of writers like Phillips within the Caribbean literary community, and what they might be able to tell us about belonging and diaspora.”

Grenada: Justice Isaac Dies in Canada

  21 July 2011

The Caribbean Camera acknowledges the passing of “the honorable Julius A. Isaac, Canada’s first black Chief Justice”, who “ironically…died on the eve of one of the festivals he helped formulate – Caribana.”