Stories about Ethnicity & Race from August, 2007
Singapore: Hungry Ghost Festival
Culture Shiok writes about the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival “14th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is when the gates of hell open and the dead will again walk among the living.” The blogger describe how the relatives of the departed people try to appease the souls.
Beyond Borders: Bloggers Face off over Jordanian Treatment of Iraqi Travellers
The treatment of Iraqis at the Jordan's Queen Alia Airport has triggered a storm in the Middle Eastern blogosphere. What at first seemed to be a straight forward story of refugees being ill-treated by their neighbour's security guards has spawned into a Pan-Arab spat (the type of which is normally reserved for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict), writes Mohamed Nanabhay, who sifts through blogs to bring us what the uproar is all about.
Russia: More on the Violent Video
More on the video of the execution of two non-Russians – at The Accidental Russophile.
Jamaica: Rock and a Hard Place
Francis Wade examines the conundrum that many Jamaicans living abroad face: “They love their country, and miss it terribly. They are angry that they cannot return (for many good reasons.) They are unwilling to assimilate into the mainstream U.S. (which for most means becoming African Americans.) They are stuck.”
Armenia: Racist graffiti
Both Onnik Krikorian and Tirami Su find the recent surge of racist graffiti in Yerevan disgusting.
Russia: Hitler's Music Collection
Sean's Russia Blog writes about a Russian woman whose father owned 100 items from Hitler's private record collection.
Russia: Ethnic Hate Crime Video
Sean's Russia Blog writes about a video of the execution of two ethnic non-Russians by masked figures claiming to be members of a Russian neo-Nazi group. The violent video has been one of the most discussed topics in the Russian blogosphere lately; it's authenticity has not been confirmed yet.
Peru: Film Festival Poster Brings Cries of Racism
A poster advertising the 2007 Lima Film Festival featured an illustration of several lighter skinned Peruvians, typical of the crowd that the festival might attract. However, one additional attendee on the poster represented a darker skinned Peruvian, who had his back turned. Some bloggers wondered why he was the only one with his back turned and what this represented. This sparked a reaction from the Peruvian blogosphere about the state of racism in the country.
Lebanon: Analyzing the By–Election Results
Are you interested in finding out the different interpretations for the results of the by–elections held last week in Lebanon? Then you have to read this week’s round up of the Lebanese blogosphere.
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Humiliation at the hands of the Jordanian border police; belief restored in Iraq; a report from the Iraqi city of Arbil and a life in the week of one Iraqi blogger are some of the essential tales I bring you today. Also find out what is really happening in the world of Iraqi politics.
Baltic States: Refugees
Lituanica writes about refugees seeking shelter in the Baltic states: “Lithuania received 312, Latvia – 19 and Estonia 8 refugees this year so far.”
Estonia, Russia: Battling the “Kommisars of the Net”
Itching for Eestimaa shares the techniques of “battling Russian nationalists” on the Web: “…a tutorial on how to flip their arguments on their head, and move the discussion into territory so foreign to them, they will find themselves actually agreeing with you because they have no idea what you are...
Estonia: Scandinavian Influence
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Scandinavian influence in Estonia (and the two Swedes who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002 and 2006).
Raed Jarrar's Final Say
Iraqi Raed Jarrar will finally have his say in court after filing for a discrimination law suit against a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official and JetBlue Airways for illegally discriminating against him based solely on the Arabic message on his t-shirt and his ethnicity.
The Plight of Iraqis in Jordan
Last of the Iraqis recalls how humiliation and terror replaced a long deserved holiday in Jordan in a moving post which chronicles the inhumane treatment Iraqis receive at the Amman Airport.
Tunisia: Call to Ban the Quran in Holland
Subzero Blue from Tunisia reports that a Dutch Mp has called for banning the Quran in the Netherlands.
Ukraine: Tallest Man in the World
Eternal Remont writes about the tallest man in the world – who now happens to be a 37-year-old Ukrainian.
Afghanistan: Hazaras
Is the success of the Hazara community in Afghanistan due to the international community “building it up” or actually due to the group's adaptability to change? Ronin has some thoughts.
Trinidad & Tobago: Copping Out?
“Not only did he…utter this racial diatribe about people from Lavantille moving into Central Trinidad, people from the COP appear to be not too bothered by it.” Manicou shares his thoughts about Trinidad and Tobago's latest political faux pas.
Jamaica: Rastafari
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp credits the influence of Rastafari and Reggae in his development as a writer and is interested to see “how the temporal and geographical isolation of Rastafari as a memeplex will manifest itself in the upcoming years.”
Ukraine: “Seeking the Past”
Taras Kuzio writes about his father's recent trip to Germany: a Ukrainian, he was taken there “as a Nazi slave labourer in 1942 and never to return home again until exactly 50 years later in 1992.”