Stories about Ethnicity & Race from May, 2006
France & Francophonia Commemorate Slavery Amidst Curriculum Controversy
Image courtesy of oliviermr2 A Day of Remembrance France commemorated slavery for the first time on May 10, reports Haiti's Alterpresse: Le président francais qualifie d’infamie, la traite négrière et invite les Français à « regarder tout notre passé en face », « sans concession ». Abdou Diouf, Secrétaire général...
Flying Over the Iraqi Blogodrome…
…almost literally. I am completing this post in an airplane somewhere over Turkey and Iran. If I look out of my window I can point to an area of the darkness outside that might be Iraq. Worth the delay just so that I can say this! This week I have...
Brazil, Ecuador: “Is There Racism in Latin America?”
Tanya Hernandez, focusing on Brazil, asks “is There Racism in Latin America and What Does That Mean for Race Relations in the United States?” One commenter responds, “If I must choose my poison (racism), I'll choose the American brand. Latin American racism is made more pernicious by the fact that...
Bangladesh: Family Trees For A Child
Mezba remembers an afternoon spent with her family tracing her family tree in a notebook when on a vacation in a village in Bangladesh.
China: Racism in education
The American Professor at OneManBandwith writes from the Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on what he and many in China see as entrenched racism in educational institutions who seek to hire non-Chinese English teachers: “These Chinese schools that reject non-whites are cheating their students of international influences [and] will negatively...
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Tribute to Bosnian War Victim and Hero
Finding Karadzic pays a heartbreaking tribute to “a dedicated reader and contributor to this blog” who died on March 3 “as a direct result of the illness she was given by her inhumane captors in Bosnia a decade ago.”
Russia: Government Encourages Intolerance
In his comment to Yuri Mamchur's post on Russia Blog, Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush argues that the Russian government encourages intolerance.
Africa: Trans Atlantic Slave Trade
Rethabile posts from Mzansi Afrika on the day France remembers its role in the Atlantic slave trade. ..“France was Europe's fourth largest slave trader after Portugal, England and Spain and transported about 1.25 million slaves. France abolished slavery in 1794, after a successful revolt by slaves in the island colony...
The week that was, in the Moroccan blogosphere
Once again, an Egyptian blogger is detained. I'll start today by urging the Egyptian Government to release Alaa and the other activists detained for having expressed their political opinion. I don't know yet why no one can access M.S Hjiouj‘s blog(Ar) since last week, and I sincerely hope it has...
Malaysian Bloggers Protest Banning of Documentary
Malaysians like Aidid were eagerly waiting for a documentary-movie titled “Lelaki Komunis Terakhir” (The Last Communist) made by a local filmmaker Amir Muhammad. The documentary is a travelogue that traces the early life of Chin Peng, exiled guerilla fighter and leader of banned Communist Party of Malaya. I want to...
Russia: Ethnic Subbotnik
Amid ethnic and racial tensions, Moscow experiences something different for a change: a group of “Africans from over twenty countries (Congo and Ethiopia included), Iranians, and Iraqis [were] all raking leaves as part of a subbotnik organized by Opora, a Moscow NGO run by Ethiopian Dr. Gezahgn Wordofa. This was...
Ukraine: Rock Sich Festival
Mat Savelli of Roma Roma writes about a rock festival taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine, that may inspire some U.S. musicians to refer to the Cossack history in their bands’ names.
Philippines: Overreaction in the schoolboy's table etiquette case
villageidiotsavant wonders if Filipinos and other Asians are overreacting over an incident where a Filipino-Canadian student was punished in his school for the way he used his spoon and fork while eating.
Taiwan: Solving taxing troubles
The Taipei Kid blogger mocks the Taiwanese government's decision to use foreign faces and exotic accents in an attempt to educate locals about Taiwan's tax policies.
African Diaspora: Hard times for Africans in France and Belgium
Several francophone blogs have tackled African immigrants’ latest tribulations in France and Belgium. Choosing Immigrants Le Pangolin criticizes French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s latest round of immigration policies. The blogger sees Sarkozy’s approach as a diversion from the real social issues raised by protestors of the CPE [Youth Employment Law]....
Armenia: Yezidis
Onnik Krikorian paid another visit to the Armenian Yezidi village of Alagyaz and has a report and pictures from the village school
Estonia: A Lesson On Parties For TASS
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa explains to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS that, due to the specifics of history, all Estonian parties are nationalist.
Pulse of the Saudi Blogoshpere
Let's start our roundup for this week with the coverage of international media on Saudi Arabia, which has drawn the attention of many bloggers. Mansur posts a comment on a story from the BBC website. He says: Now what kind of Deputy Minister would share this kind of information with...
Ukraine: Irene Zabytko's Stories
Greg of Reflections on Ukraine shares his impressions of a book of stories by a Ukrainian author Irene Zabytko: “All of the stories are narrated by the central character, Luba, a Ukrainian in her early twenties of the post-WWII displaced persons (DP) group of immigrants who lives with her parents...
South Korea: Korean studies congress
A call for papers has been sounded, blogs Hunjangûi Karûch’im‘s Antti Leppänen, for the third world congress of Korean studies set for October this year. “There doesn't seem to be any DPRK involvement this time,” he writes, “which I must tell is fortunate, considering the experiences from the 2nd ‘world’...
Croatia: Slobodan Praljak's New Film Idea
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes about the former commander of the forces that destroyed the famous Mostar bridge: Slobodan Praljak, an obscure film director now on trial in the Hague.
