Stories about Ethnicity & Race from August, 2009
Armenia: Newspaper promotes homophobia and hate crimes
In an extended post, Unzipped: Gay Armenia reacts in horror to an article published by one local newspaper which not only displays its own homophobia, but also appears to advocate hate crimes — including murder — against gays in the country.
Poland, Ukraine: Łemkowszczyzna/Lemkivshchyna
Raf Uzar writes about “Lemko Land, better known as Łemkowszczyzna or Lemkivshchyna” and its people.
Azerbaijan: Eurovision voting scandal
Although held in May, some media outlets in Azerbaijan last week reported that 43 people who voted for the Armenian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest have been identified by police and one has even been called in for questioning. Bloggers react.
Jamaica: Garvey's Birthday
Repeating Islands notes that “today marks the anniversary of the birth of Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr…the first person to be declared a national hero of an independent Jamaica.”
Kyrgyzstan: Crackdown on Uighur Protests
Joshua Foust tells that the Kyrgyzstan’s police detained two Uighur community leaders after they accused China of “state terrorism” at a rally.
India: Shahrukh Khan Detained At An US Airport
Aaman Lamba at Desicritics reacts on the detention of the Bollywood celebrity Shahrukh Khan at Newark Airport by the US Immigration Dept.: “There is a natural query on whether this may have any relationship to traveling while brown, or while Muslim, for that matter. Were Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt...
Azerbaijan: Another Eurovision controversy
A Fistful of Euros comments on news that the telephone numbers of Azeris who voted for the Armenian entry during this year's Eurovision Song Contest have been obtained by police and one person has already been called in for questioning. The blog compares the situation in both Armenia and Azerbaijan...
Palestine: In Jail For Being Palestinian
In the West Bank, Samuel Nichols writes: “A man came to our house, asking, ‘Where is Nasser?’ I didn't quite know how to respond, because Nasser is in jail. He's not in jail because he did anything wrong. He's in jail because he's Palestinian.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Raisin in the Sun
Diligently studying the contents of his breakfast cereal, Trinidadian B.C.Pires notices some similarities between raisin bran and politicians: “It strikes me we could be talking about governments as easily as cereals here.”
Ukraine, Russia: More on Medvedev's Statements
Foreign Notes comments on president Medvedev's Ukraine address: “Maybe fearing that his boss may have overstepped the mark, deputy head of the Kremlin's administration Aleksey Gromov says today that Dmitriy Medvedev's statement on the bad blood between Moscow and Kyiv was not directed against the Ukrainian people, but only against...
Bermuda: Educate, Don't Leglislate
Bermuda Jewel thinks that the proposed anti-gang legislation “is not a well thought out plan.” Instead, he believes that “education is the answer.”
Puerto Rico: The Battle Over Public Lands
The Puerto Rican government has issued an order to remove 200 families from the Villas del Sol community, under the premise that they illegally occupied lands that are prone to flooding. As the families continue to resist the eviction order, bloggers weigh in.
Sri Lanka: Perils Of Communal Schools
Nazeeya Faarooq at Groundviews starts the discussion describing why Sri Lankan Muslims celebrated the recent Pakistani win against the Sri Lankan cricket team and states that the ethnic segregation is perpetuated and perpetrated by having communal schools in Sri Lanka and the absence of comparative religion as a subject.
The Balkans: “Greek Journalist Sued for Writings on Bosnia”
A Fistful of Euros and Greater Surbiton report on the case of Greek journalist Takis Michas: “A few years back, Michas wrote a book about the links between Greece and the Bosnian war — Greek support for Milosevic and Karadzic, Greek volunteers going to fight for the Serb side in...
Mauritania Experiences First-Ever Suicide Bombing
Mauritania suffered its first-ever suicide bombing attack on Saturday, wounding one Mauritanian and two French citizens. Bloggers and Twitter users react to the incident.
Bermuda: Choosing a Path
“Another day, another shooting”: 21 Square says that “some of the largest issues we face in Bermuda today are the inability for disadvantaged youth to see nor understand a path out of poverty via traditional routes.”
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Peace
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the prospects for peace in the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and says that the same approach needs to be applied to the long-running dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway territory of Nagorno Karabakh. However, the blog notes, a genuine desire to find...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: An interview with Elizabeth Métraux
DOTCOM is an online initiative using blogs and video to bring American, Armenian and Azerbaijani teenagers together to work on creating socially conscious media. Global Voices Online speaks to Program Director Elizabeth Métraux.
Greece: Armenian singer passes away
Unknown to most Armenians, but loved by many Kurds for his songs sung in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, Aram Tigran has passed away in Athens, Greece. Born in 1934 in Syria, Tigran's death has affected many, and not least those recognizing the important contribution he made as a cultural bridge between Armenians and Kurds.
Guyana, Barbados: Barbadians First
Repeating Islands reports that The Council for Hemispheric Affairs has weighed in “on the heated dialogue that has ensued after the compulsory deportation of Guyanese nationals from Barbados…”
Bermuda: Addressing Inequality
Catch a fire is interested in “what the Government has done, or should do, to address the continuing racial inequalities in Bermuda.”
