Stories about Ethnicity & Race from October, 2008
Armenia: Fingernails
Elizabeth's Armenia Journal, a Peace Corps Blog, post photographs and comments on the obsession most local women have with having their fingernails painted.
Angola: On the sadness and happiness of being a returnee
Angola, 1975. The country had just become independent and the former Portuguese colonizers, as well as their families and many Angolan citizens, had to flee leaving everything they had behind. 30 years later, they blog the tale of being returnees and about the sadness and happiness this change in their fortunes brought them. See a video of the dramatic mass emigration.
Canada: Indigenous Femicide on the Spotlight
Canadian documentary which is bringing to public attention the disappearances and murders of more than 500 aboriginal women in Canada in the past 30 years. The film is called Finding Dawn, by Christine Welsh. The movie is named after Dawn Crey, who was the 23rd victim whose DNA was recognized in the largest serial murder investigation in Canada back in 2002-2004.
Thailand/Cambodia: Conflict over Preah Vihear Temple (Part 1)
Both Thailand and Cambodia are claiming the historic Preah Vihear temple and the four square kilometers of territory near the shrine. There was a border clash in the area last Wednesday. What are the reactions of bloggers?
Traditional Lao wedding
Laos Essential Artistry blogs about the traditional Lao wedding rituals and gowns.
Bahamas, Haiti: Eyes of a Child
Doing Theology from the Caribbean republishes an essay written by a Haitian-Bahamian tenth grader who, after watching The Diary of Anne Frank, notices parallels between the Jews and Haitians.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Kamenica Mass Grave
Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports that forensic experts have unearthed the remains of 362 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide from a mass grave in Kamenica: “Victims were hunted down while running through the woods in small groups and shot, or tricked into surrendering and them summarily executed and dumped into...
Serbia: Campaign Against Sonja Biserko
Greater Surbiton writes about smear campaign against the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and the organization's head, Sonja Biserko.
Ukraine: “Truth and Falsehoods” of Holodomor
The 8th Circle writes in detail about “truth and falsehoods” of Holodomor, “an artificially created famine by Joseph Stalin during 1932-33, which starved to death 3 – 3.5 million Ukrainians.”
Russia: Justification of Stalin's Deportations
Window on Eurasia writes about a new book that justifies ethnic deportations by Stalin.
Russia: Economic Crisis and Migrant Workers
Moscow Through Brown Eyes writes about the impact of the economic crisis on Russia's Central Asian migrant workers.
USA: Homeland Guantanamo
A new interactive online game by human rights organization Breakthrough uses video to illustrate the injustices many documented and undocumented immigrants face in detention centers across the United States. In "Homeland Guantanamo", players assume the role of a journalist trying to get more information on real life detainee who has died in custody.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Crossing the Racial Divide
Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp has been closely monitoring the US Presidential race and thinks that “there is a need for real patriotism on both sides and for the voices of rationality and impartiality to speak up. America used to have them–before she turned over her media to spin doctors,...
Bangladesh: Racism faced in Saudi Embassy
A Bangladeshi blogger Juboraj was refused visa from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Ghana and denied to perform Hajj in Saudi Arabia citing the reason that only citizens of selected countries (USA, EEU, Australia, UK etc.) are allowed to receive Saudi Visa from a third country. When he asked...
Israel: Yom Kippur Riots
‘Yesterday marked the beginning of Yom Kippur, or, the Day of Atonement in the Jewish faith. It is a pitiful irony then, that it should end in riots accompanied with chants of “death to the Arabs”, following an attack on an Israeli Arab man who merely tried to drive from...
Barbados, U.S.A.: Being Presidential
Barbadian diaspora blogger Jdid weighs in on the “town hall-style” US Presidential debate: “Obama has shown himself to be presidential material just by his cool manner…I'm speaking about his grace under fire, what seventeenth century Caribbean buccaneers referred to as being ‘pistol proof’.”
Japan: Verbal gaffs and Japanese politics
Blogger Ken writes about verbal gaffs in Japanese politics [ja]. Ken uses the example of a recent statement by Minister Nariaki Nakayama, which the blogger says became a gaff because Nakayama offended both the teachers union and citizen groups opposing expansion of Narita Airport. Ken argues that verbal gaffs are...
USA: “Obsession” Anti-Islam Film Angers Bloggers
Last week, many newspaper subscribers across the United States were surprised to discover a DVD inserted into their Sunday paper. The video, which can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube, is entitled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West" and portends to compare the threat of radical Islamism with that of Nazi Germany prior to World War II.
Jordan: On Madrassas
Jordanian MommaBean is in distress. Her daughter goes to a Madrassa – which translates to school in Arabic.
Syria: Selma Hayek – Lebanese or Lesbian?
Syrian Dubai Jazz links to news sources in which Mexican actress Salma Hayek's Lebanese descent is confused with being a lesbian.
Hungary: Views on Minorities and Immigrants
Central Europe Activ writes about a poll on Hungarians’ attitudes towards immigrants and ethnic minorities: “The least-prejudiced Hungarians live in Southern Hungary, or, interestingly, do not have a job.”
