Stories about Ethnicity & Race from October, 2007
Russia: Indigenous Peoples’ Land Problems
Window on Eurasia reports that some indigenous peoples of Russia have been “reduced to the status of poachers” on their own land.
Language death: evolution, natural selection or cultural genocide?
We live in a world of just 194 countries, give or take, but speak between 7,000 and 8,000 languages. That linguistic diversity is fast disappearing, often thanks to the privileged position given to colonial languages, as well as the globalization of media and technology. But is this really cause for alarm?
Russia: Luzhkov and Xenophobia
Window on Eurasia writes about Moscow mayor's attempts to shift responsibility for the growing xenophobia in the capital to the federal authorities.
Russia: Nikolai Slichenko
TOL's Romantic writes about a renowned Soviet Roma actor, Nikolai Slichenko.
Iran:”I Hate all Iranian”
Iranian Truth reports that last week, Debra Cagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defence Secretary Robert Gates,states “in any case, I hate all Iranians.”The blogger asks people to sign a petition and ask President Bush to dismiss Cagan from office.
UK, Caribbean: Cuisine questions
Why isn't Caribbean food more popular in the UK, wonders Can Cook, Must Cook. She responds to online commentary.
Philippines: “Desperate Housewives” Apologizes Over Racist Slur
Tonyo Cruz rounds up opinions from Filipino bloggers who are protesting against American television series Desperate Housewives. In a recent episode, one of the characters made a comment ridiculing Filipino medical professionals. ABC-TV has since said sorry but the bloggers are not happy with it and are demanding a more sincere apology.
Dominica: Creole time
October is the month for celebrating Dominica's Creole heritage. Living Dominica gives a run-down of key upcoming events.
Arabeyes: What's Your Religion?
Bureaucracy is a way of life in some Arab countries. Egyptian blogger Nora Younis shows us what happens when bureaucracy mixes with religious profiling, in this post I am translating from Arabic.
Lebanon: You Are What You Sound
“During the (un)civil war, people got killed because they had the ‘wrong’ pronunciation of tomato at the ‘wrong’ road block,” writes Lebanese blogger Moussa Bashir.
Syria: Reflections from the Blogosphere
Ramadan is a period not only of fasting and restraint, but also of reflection, judging by posts from many Muslim bloggers. Syrians (whether Muslim or not) are no exception, taking this period to reflect upon philosophy, patriotism, and Ramadan itself, among other things, writes Jillian York.
Bahrain: Dialect Barriers
Silly Bahraini Girl points out the sectarian differences in Bahrain, where people's religious sects can be detected from their accents.
Japan: Pregnant Foreign Woman Rejected By Hospital
Debito blogs a local news about a pregnant foreign woman rejected by 5 hospitals 7 times. There are some good discussions in the comment session.
