Racism, in a world created in the image of Eurocentric white supremacy, is embedded in the very DNA of our collective consciousness.
Hence, no institution or group of people -- there are many black, brown, yellow and red white supremacist -- is immune to this cancer.
And all due respect to American conservatives, although they are the Picasso of racism, they do not have a monopoly. Case in point:
The Flemish daily De Morgen has offered apologies for the Obama cartoon that was shown in its satirical section "The Daily Herald" on Saturday. The digital collage compares the Obamas with monkeys and triggered numerous international reactions. De Morgen says they made an error of judgement.
De Morgen dedicated a whole section to Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Belgium in its weekend edition. The weekly satirical page "The Daily Herald" was completely devoted to the American president and was baptised "The Obama Herald" for the occasion.
The page contains fictitious tweets by Obama, some articles and also a cartoon. It shows a photo that the Russian president Vladimir Putin allegedly sent to De Morgen, showing Barack and Michelle with a monkey face (photo below).
The page contains fictitious tweets by Obama, some articles and also a cartoon. It shows a photo that the Russian president Vladimir Putin allegedly sent to De Morgen, showing Barack and Michelle with a monkey face (photo below).
"Guilty of bad taste"
Today, De Morgen openly apologises for this "tasteless joke". On page 2, the daily writes that "when you consider the fragment apart from its context, which is a properly worked out satirical section, then you don't see the joke but just a picture evoking sheer racism. That was a risk we didn't consider enough beforehand", the statement goes.
"We wrongly assumed that racism is no longer tolerated anywhere, and that as a result it could be the subject of a joke", De Morgen continues. The editors say that they overlooked the fact that in the United States, the comparison between blacks and monkeys is still something that pops up regularly today.
De Morgen therefore apologises to everyone who may feel insulted by the cartoon. "In this case, we plead guilty of bad taste. We continue to be on the side of those that are battling any form of racism. Don't hesitate to contact us if we would go too far on a different occasion." De Morgen enjoys a solid anti-racist reputation in Belgium as a left-wing daily. source
(In my mocking voice) Hardy har har har! I get it...they were attempting to make a jokey joke. Belgians got jokes -- not!
If this is a product of the so-called left-wing and Belgian progressives, I hate to see how much more vile and tasteless the Belgian conservatives could be. In all honesty, the following response is the biggest joke of all:
"We wrongly assumed that racism is no longer tolerated anywhere, and that as a result it could be the subject of a joke."
Bullshit!!!
But, all BS aside, the world is changing faster than the "old guard" can keep up with. We are here, large and in charge: get used to it, deal with it.
Today China is a global economic, military and political power.
And Africa:
MUCH has been written about the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the shift in economic power eastward as Asia outruns the rest of the world. But the surprising success story of the past decade lies elsewhere.
An analysis by The Economist finds that over the ten years to 2010, no fewer than six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa.
The only BRIC country to make the top ten was China, in second place behind Angola. The other five African sprinters were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda, all with annual growth rates of around 8% or more.
During the two decades to 2000 only one African economy (Uganda) made the top ten, against nine from Asia. On IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years (our ranking excludes countries with a population of less than 10m as well as Iraq and Afghanistan, which could both rebound strongly in the years ahead). source
In the end analysis, let's not get too bent out-of-shape by folks living in the past. Let's continue reshaping the our present in order to forge a more universal future.
"We wrongly assumed that racism is no longer tolerated anywhere, and that as a result it could be the subject of a joke", De Morgen continues. The editors say that they overlooked the fact that in the United States, the comparison between blacks and monkeys is still something that pops up regularly today.
De Morgen therefore apologises to everyone who may feel insulted by the cartoon. "In this case, we plead guilty of bad taste. We continue to be on the side of those that are battling any form of racism. Don't hesitate to contact us if we would go too far on a different occasion." De Morgen enjoys a solid anti-racist reputation in Belgium as a left-wing daily. source
(In my mocking voice) Hardy har har har! I get it...they were attempting to make a jokey joke. Belgians got jokes -- not!
If this is a product of the so-called left-wing and Belgian progressives, I hate to see how much more vile and tasteless the Belgian conservatives could be. In all honesty, the following response is the biggest joke of all:
"We wrongly assumed that racism is no longer tolerated anywhere, and that as a result it could be the subject of a joke."
Bullshit!!!
But, all BS aside, the world is changing faster than the "old guard" can keep up with. We are here, large and in charge: get used to it, deal with it.
Today China is a global economic, military and political power.
And Africa:
MUCH has been written about the rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the shift in economic power eastward as Asia outruns the rest of the world. But the surprising success story of the past decade lies elsewhere.
An analysis by The Economist finds that over the ten years to 2010, no fewer than six of the world's ten fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa.
The only BRIC country to make the top ten was China, in second place behind Angola. The other five African sprinters were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda, all with annual growth rates of around 8% or more.
During the two decades to 2000 only one African economy (Uganda) made the top ten, against nine from Asia. On IMF forecasts Africa will grab seven of the top ten places over the next five years (our ranking excludes countries with a population of less than 10m as well as Iraq and Afghanistan, which could both rebound strongly in the years ahead). source
In the end analysis, let's not get too bent out-of-shape by folks living in the past. Let's continue reshaping the our present in order to forge a more universal future.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete