Stories about Ethnicity & Race from March, 2008
Ukraine: “Imported Ideology” and Hate Crime
Ukrainiana blames “imported ideology” for hate crime in Ukraine.
March Madness in Kuwait
Just as there is March Madness in the US, the phenomena seems to have spread to Kuwait - not for basketball but elections. Abdullatif Al Omar brings us the Kuwaiti bloggers reactions to the resignation of their government, the dissolving of Parliament and the looming elections in June.
Taiwan: Racial Commercials Everywhere
On Taiwan's TV screens there is a commercial about drawing lots of cars. In this commercial, a woman with south-east Asia look is driving a car, and the subtitle says:”How can she own a car?” Is this a question? How cannot a south-east Asia woman own a car in Taiwan?...
Europe: Recognition of Kosovo
Balkan Baby and readers discuss Kosovo's independence.
Serbia, Kosovo: Milorad Cavic's Protest
Balkan Baby writes about Serbian swimming champion Milorad Cavic: “Many of us who firmly support Kosovo’s independence will have paradoxically supported Cavic’s protest though, seeing in it an expression of the democratic right of the individual to speak his mind. When so many athletes concern themselves solely with wearing branded...
The Balkans: John McCain
Greater Surbiton has “no doubt that the interests of South East Europe would be better served by John McCain as president than by either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Graffiti Street”
Bosnia Blog writes about a documentary on the “meeting of [Sarajevo] musicians after a separation caused by war.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sarajevo War Memorial
YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett comments on the plans to erect a memorial to Serbian war victims in Sarajevo: “Here is how I think the money should be spent instead of building the cross, why don't these people help Serbian war survivors? Why don't they help the injured people from their side?”
Latvia: Musings on Ethnic Homogeny
Among other things, Marginalia muses on the “basic bonds between peoples and their languages, lands, beliefs, cultures and even cuisines” and how it relates to Latvia.
China and Tibet: Statement from Intellectuals
Woeser posted a 12 points statement made by 29 prominent intellectuals on the Tibet issue [zh]. The English version can be found at savetibet.org.
Jamaica: Beauty and Race
“What beauty contests say about women is still an open and now tired debate, but what it says about race, particularly in a country like Jamaica is still up for grabs”: Marlon James explains.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, USA: Obama's Vision
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp thinks that Barack Obama “has a deep understanding of America and that he offers a transcendent vision of America that we haven't had in a long time”, while Notes from Port of Spain quotes Obama's “race speech”: “‘I am the son of a black man from Kenya...
China: Bloggers declare war on Western media's Tibet coverage
Once the news of Tibetans slicing children's ears off and burning people alive sunk in, Chinese netizens worldwide seized onto initial misreported details from the situation in Tibet and don't seem willing to let this one go. In fact, they've declared cyberwar on major western media outlets, and anti-CNN.com is campaign headquarters.
Russia: Two Dagestani Journalists Killed
Ilyas Shurpaev, a Dagestani TV journalist who worked for a state-owned federal channel, was found dead Friday in Moscow. Later that day, Gadzhi Abashilov, director of Dagestan's state-owned broadcasting company, was shot to death in Makhachkala, the republic's capital. Below are a few bloggers' reactions to the murders, as well as the translation of Shurpaev's last blog post.
Egypt: A Lebanese in Egypt – From Occupation to Liberation
One day, she felt humiliated, and the next, liberated. This is the story of Layal El Katib, a Lebanese Blogger who lived in Egypt for a while, brought to us by Tarek Amr.
Cuba, USA: Obama's Speech
Cuban blogger 26th Parallel has another take on US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama's speech on race.
Bermuda: Race Therapy
“Bonds grow through community, not through confrontation,” writes Vexed Bermoothes, as he administers some group therapy for Bermuda.
China: Civilians in violence and conflict
Thugs vs. Peacekeepers or Fighters vs. oppressors; Mob vs. Protectors or Martyrs vs. killers? Before I could judge, please allow me to present some recounts of the Tibet unrest from the commons there. (As most western media had sided with Tibetans, I basically pick quotes from common Hans for balance.)
Lebanon: Solidere demolishes synagogue
“The last witnesses to Beirut's architectural heritage and to the once-thriving Lebanese Jewish community in Wadi Abu-Jmil fall to the bulldozers of Saad Hariri's Solidere,” writes Hanibaal.
Croatia: Zagreb's New Synagogue
Balkan Baby writes about the opening of a new synagogue in Zagreb.
France: Malagasy nightclub in Marseille
harinjaka writes about a new Malagasy night club [Fr] in Marseille: “I know from personal experience that it's not easy to enter a club here (in France), especially if you are black or berber…It's not the Queen but it's a club where Malagasy people are VIP.”
