Stories about Ethnicity & Race from December, 2011
Arab World to Gingrich: “If Palestinians Are Invented People, Americans Are …”
Palestinians are “invented” people, who want to destroy Israel, says US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. His comments, in an interview with a Jewish television channel, have drawn the anger and ridicule of netizens across the Arab world.
Brazil: Constraining Identities Through “Aesthetic Standards”
Brazilian journalist and blogger André Forestieri writes [pt] about the rights of an employer to constrain a black employee if he or she does not fit the “aesthetic standards” imposed by society. He illustrates with the case of a student whose teacher in a school she worked wanted her to...
Bahamas: Postcolonialism Issues
A recent “one-day symposium in honour of Frantz Fanon, the Martinican psychiatrist whose field of study was the psyche of the colonized” gets Blogworld “thinking about the value of democracy, of statehood, of the wretchedness of postcolonialism.”
Jamaica: Feeling the “Vybz”
Under the Saltire Flag posts a must-read analysis about “the rise and fall” of dancehall artist Vybz Kartel.
Guyana: Police Versus Protesters
A new president has taken his place at the helm of Guyanese government following the country's recent general elections, but while the incumbent party got re-elected, it also lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in nearly twenty years. In the wake of the postponement of election results, the national mood was edgy, but the violence unexpectedly came after the new president was already sworn into office. A handful of bloggers discuss an incident in which police confronted opposition protesters.
Video Highlights: Identity, Refugees, Conflict and Open Technology
A selection of Global Voices' recent and interesting stories including video from East Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Central Asia - Caucasus and Latin America, selected by Juliana Rincón Parra.
Egypt: Trafficking of Refugee Organs in Sinai
Human rights groups have made serious allegations that African refugees are being held for ransom, tortured, and also fall victim to trafficking. Of particular concern are reports that an illegal trade in human organs is also flourishing.
Azerbaijan: Dos and Don'ts of local customs
Making Wool from Eggs, a Peace Corps Volunteer blog, puts together a list of random and funny local customs, noting which are approved or disapproved of in the provincial towns and villages of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan: Toy… Tying the Knot the Azeri Way
Toy is the Azerbaijani word for a wedding, one of the most important events for families everywhere. However, in Azerbaijan such importance is placed on marriage that it takes months of planning.
Madagascar: French Passenger Convicted of Racial Abuse Towards a Flight Attendant
A passenger on a flight from Mauritius to Paris was convicted of racial abuse by a Malagasy court after he told a Malagasy flight attendant that [fr] “his ancestors were slaves and so is he because he is black. He (the passenger) is white therefore the flight attendant should do...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Pomegranate Diplomacy
The Human Journalist posts a photograph of pomegranate juice from Azerbaijan sold at an Armenian market in Los Angeles. With the two countries still locked in bitter conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the blog calls the culinary find ‘Pomegranate Diplomacy.’
Armenia-Azerbaijan: The Nagorno Karabakh conflict on YouTube
The South Caucasus Diary takes a look at how the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is waged by Armenians and Azerbaijanis on YouTube. In particular, the blog notes how the conflict is mainly represented on the video sharing site… and how it could be.
