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• Pingback: …My heart’s in Accra » Two posts worth your time

  […] Sokari Ekine offers a roundup of posts around the African blogosphere reflecting on the persistence of racism and the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. She’s especially concerned that nations that have made some racial progress – Brazil, France, the US – now seem to believe they’re color-blind and immune to racial prejudice. Very much worth a read, and some serious time thinking about a response. An excerpt: I have been in the US for the past 3 weeks, in South Florida. When I arrived I started counting the number of vehicles with Confederate Flag bumper stickers – I have now given up as there are so many. As one African American said to me – if you fly the confederate flag you are telling me you are a racist. White Americans have created a myth and bought the line that this is a “colour blind” society but I don’t buy that and I do not believe the vast majority of African Americans buy it either. I have lived in the US (Georgia) for 5 years and visited a number of times and I am yet to meet an African American who has not experienced racism or who believes s/he is “judged, not by the colour of our skin, but by the content of our character” (MLK) Racism has been called the “fault line” of America which could explode at any time. The aftermath of the Katrina hurricane was both a warning and a reminder of this possibility. […]

  19 January 2006, 16:39 pm