Stories about Ethnicity & Race from February, 2007
Rigoberta Menchu as Candidate?
Rigoberta Menchu 1992 Nobel Laureate by “ladyloneranger“ In the early 20th century, the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo quit wearing her Western clothes to adopt a more indigenous appearance, showing her heritage with pride, not in the genetic sense, since she was not indigenous at all, but with the pride of...
Bangladesh: Painted with my brother's blood
Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on the song of freedom, love and loss. “There is a song that every Bangladeshi knows. It is a song that defines us as a people. It is a song about love and loss. The song in Bengali is called Amar Bhaier Rokte...
Tanzania: Tanzanian blogger in Europe
Tanzanian blogger in France, Aulelia, writes about race issues in Europe, “Europe is a cauldron of racial problems. Chuck in the kerosene of the 2001 race riots in Bradford in the UK and mix in the ether of the French race riots in the banlieues (suburbs), and you will get...
The Balkans: “Trading Genocide for Independence”
Bosnia Vault reports that “the EU has become much more lax over demands that Mladic be sent to the Hague; in exchange for Serbia not blocking Kosovo's ‘independence’.”
Croatia: Hitler Sugar
Neretva River posts a photo of “Hitler sugar” produced in Croatia.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Raffi Gregorian Interview
Finding Karadzic posts an excerpt from an interview with Raffi Gregorian, the current Deputy High Representatives in Bosnia.
Indonesia: Fair Deal for Jakarta's Chinese
Indonesia Matters writes about Jakarta's governor wanting his city to end discrimination by making it easier for the Chinese to get official papers.
Latvia: The Roma Community
Marginalia writes about the Latvian Roma – some of whom are his neighbors: “they’ve been taking advantage of things like free computer courses and small business loans, and they’re thrilled. They are active in one of the NGOs. The sad fact is that despite their abilities (including knowing Latvian better...
Soviet Union: History Syllabus
J. Otto Pohl posts his third “imaginary” syllabus: “Introduction to the History of Kazakhstan and Central Asia Under Russian and Soviet Rule.”
Malaysia: Sub-Contracting Woes
Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin ridicules Malaysian government's plans to strictly enforce its affirmative action policies in infrastructure projects. Malaysia awards a lot of its official contracts to Bumiputra (ethnic Malay) contractors. These contractor in turn used to sub-contract it to local or foreign sub-contractors who may not necessarily be bumiputras....
The Arabist: Israel Sullying Middle Easterners’ Image in US
The Arabist highlights what it describes as the “latest Israel Lobby initiative to sully the image of Middle Easterners” in the US here.
Omar Al Sharif a Bully?
Egyptian-born actor Omar Al Sharif, 74, is a bully, writes Issandr El Amrani following news reports that Sharif, who starred in Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, punched a Guatemalan immigrant and called him a “stupid Mexican” in Beverly Hills.
Sri Lanka: Obama and Identity
Indi.ca has a post on identity in politics, now at centre-stage because of Obama in the US. “Obama is in many ways like myself, a product of the modern age of communications and international travel. By a different shuffle he could be Kenyan, Indonesian or any number of things, but...
Nepal: Madheshi vs. Madhise
The politics of terminology and the other way round explained at Madhesh Blog. “From historical point of view, the identity “Madheshi” connects people living in Madhesh with their thousands years of history of living in Madhesh, whereas identity “Nepali” refers to their 200 years of history since the conquest of...
Japan: foreign crime book editor's comment
Debito posts GAIJIN HANZAI editor Saka's comment in his blog and reply to him point by point. In his conclusion, he said: Again, I thank Mr Saka for making his ideology so plain. He comes off as a crybaby who sees other people going about their business, gets angry because...
The Balkans: On the Way to EU
Neretva River writes about the EU's enlargement prospects: “Serbia in the fast lane, Croatia more of the same, and road blocks for Macedonia and Bosnia.”
Eastern Europe: The Islamic Peoples
J. Otto Pohl posts the second “imaginary” syllabus – “Mehmet’s Grandchildren: The Islamic Peoples of Eastern Europe and their Ottoman Roots.”
Israel: Apartheid Promoter Jimmy Carter
Israeli blogger Sultan Knish trashes Jimmy Carter for visiting Sudan here. “Jimmy Carter, freelance moral ambassador to the world, vociferous critic of any free country trying to protect itself from the menace of terrorism, particularly the United States and Israel… is taking a little trip to Africa,” he writes.
Caught On Camera: Human Rights Video on GV
It has been a bumper few weeks on GV for human rights video, so let's get straight into it… Bandh of brothers… [via Neha] This footage, filmed by Dinesh Wagle, of United We Blog!, shows motorcycle riders being turned backed by members of the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs...
Africa: reading Chinua Achebe
Enanga's Pov on reading Chinua Achebe, “One of them was Chinua Achebe’s essay, An image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Never have I, on reading something, agreed with someone so strongly that it brought the tears to my eyes. Never have I admired a writer more.”
Martinique: The Dangers of Nationalism
Le Blog de [Moi], deploring the emergence of a movement led by novelist Raphaël Confiant in Martinique, cites the words of Guadeloupean Professor Jacky Dahomey (Fr): “Nationalism, a political ideology of social linkage invented in Europe, especially in its excessive form, is what we should not copy here. But be...
