racism

Spot the difference

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:52:46 +0100

On the left, the US poster for Hollywood comedy romance "Couples Retreat". On the left, the same ad, but redesigned for a UK audience.

Black actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk have been removed from the scene, along with their names. Filmmakers Universal said the decision was made "To simplify the poster to actors who are most recognisable in international markets".

ANC using Caster Semenya for political gains?

Sophie Team Observers — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:25:09 +0200

Winner of this year's 800m Olympic race, record-breaking 18-year-old Caster Semenya has been crowned a hero back in her home country, despite - and moreover because of - allegations over her gender. But is her case being used for political means? Two South African media scholars weigh in.

Give your opinion on the affair.

Sean Jacobs and Herman Wasserman were born and grew up in South Africa. Sean now lives in Brooklyn and teaches at the New School college in New York City. Herman lives in the UK, teaching at the University of Sheffield.

It may be true that race-obsessed, populist elements in South Africa's ruling ANC are exploiting the controversy around world-beating athlete Caster Semenya for political gain. The rallying of support by the ANC has been roundly criticized in media reports both internationally and in South Africa, as well as by the ANC's political opposition. It might also be that the ANC is charging up emotions to divert people's attention away from their dismal social conditions instead of working harder to change them. This is, however, more a case of politicians trying to keep up with public opinion than the other way round. Denying this would be giving politicians too much credit, and disregard South Africans' ability to form their own opinions about a controversy that, for many, reflect their own struggles for recognition, respect and equal treatment.

And as with so much else in post-apartheid South African society, the mass support for Semenya (5000 people turned up at the airport to welcome her back, she has received encouragement in newspaper editorials, cartoons and the blogosphere, and even met with Nelson Mandela) is a paradoxical one that tells the story of a country deeply divided yet at certain moments strangely united around a common cause.

What can we learn from this response?

South Africans are sports mad. They measure their emotional state by the fortunes of their national teams and fiercely loyal to their athletes. When the former minister of finance, Trevor Manuel declared that he supported New Zealand's All Black rugby team (as did many black South Africans in defiance of the white-controlled game which barred them from the national team) he was criticized by supporters of the team which reminded him that Mandela was now the Springboks' number one fan.

Sporting codes remain largely racially segregated, a legacy of early twentieth century attempts to racially police sports: football for blacks and rugby and cricket for whites. But increasingly black and ‘coloured' (in apartheid parlance) sports heroes like Bryan Habana (rugby) and Wayne Parnell (cricket) are adored by all South Africans alike.

In this light, a decision by an international body to doubt the success of one of "us" was likely to be met with a nationalistic response, which could easily be reframed as an anti-imperialist one.

The clumsy and callous way in which the IAAF handled the inquiry into Semenya's gender seemed for South Africans to smack of a patronising attitude towards their country as a backward, "underdeveloped" place from which it was unlikely that an athlete of Semenya's extraordinary talent could emerge overnight.

Here the ANC might have a point in asking whether a white athlete -- -

read: European or North American --- would have been similarly publicly humiliated before a ‘gender' test was carried out. If there is something you should not tell South Africans, who are relishing their re-entry into the global arenas of commerce, sports and the arts, it is that they cannot compete at the same international level as others or that they are inferior or backward.

And by rejecting statements by Semenya''s parents (and her birth certificate), her trainer, school teachers and classmates who all testified that she grew up as a girl, the IAAF was seen to say: ‘Who are you to tell us you're a woman, we don't trust your birth certificate and- we will tell you if you are a woman.' To some South Africans the IAAF was implying that her parent's -- hardly cosmopolitans or members of South Africa's black political class or emerging economic elite -- were in on a massive conspiracy.

The response at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg also reflects ordinary South Africans' experiences of marginalization. People want to believe in a dream, thus coping with their precarious and struggling existence in a country marred by poverty, violence and inequality.

The public response to Semenya''s gender testing also shows up how some in the West, for all its pretence, lives by outdated constructions of what are male or female ideal body types or behaviours. South Africans, only recently emerged from colonialism and Apartheid that was underpinned by pencil tests and ethnic shibboleths, are for all their faults very wary of essentialised categories.

What is more, by rejecting the prescriptions and impositions of international athletic tsars in white laboratory jackets, South Africans--generally socially conservative--are discovering for themselves the arbitrary and constructed nature of gender. In a country with high levels of gender-based violence (including violence against lesbians, perceived as women acting like men by their attackers), this is a positive sign. Interviewed by a Kenyan TV station, one of Caster's classmates said, ‘I am proud of her gender.' The t-shirts of some of Caster's young female supporters at the airport said it all: ‘If Caster is a boy, I am a boy too.'"

Raw video proves that “angry black woman” had every reason to be

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:25:15 +0200

The debate over President Barack Obama's universal health-care bill turned nasty this week when town meetings became chaotic. One in particular sparked an online debate after footage aired by news networks showed an African American woman being escorted out by police apparently disrupting the event. Images filmed from another angle and posted online by a blogger, however, proved that the story was not what it seemed.

Obama's controversial health bill is facing both public outcry and impassioned enthusiasm from respective opponents and supporters. Supposed to allow the public to air their views, town hall meetings set up across the country over the past week seem to have only worsened the situation after various senators were faced with furious outbursts and religious threats from angry opponents. One man turned up with a rifle strapped to his leg and a poster which read "It's time to water the tree of liberty" — a Thomas Jefferson phrase which is often used by white supremacists. Hoards of people tried to get into the meetings, but in most cases there was not enough room for everybody, leaving angry crowds outside waving the popular Obama "joker" poster and threatening that they'd rather die than see the "Marxist Jihad" scheme come into effect.

Elsewhere, tearful backers told stories of victims of the current system in an attempt to convince their senators to push on with the bill. One of these supporters is the now highly debated "angry black woman" who is featured in the following video, filmed at a town meeting in Missouri held by Senator Claire McCaskill and aired by various news networks on Monday.

Separation wall - not a laughing matter

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:44:26 +0200

Light-hearted it may seem, but the latest ad from Israeli telecommunications company Cellcom is plain offensive for many in the region. The scene shows IDF soldiers playing football with (unseen) Palestinians, across the separation wall. A concept which, according to its critics, ridicules the Palestinians' situation.

"Go die elsewhere, I've got a train to catch"

Julien — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:05:54 +0200

He was 33, he was a Roma gypsy, and he played the organ in Naples's metro. He was shot dead on May 27, caught in mafia crossfire. The scene, caught on several security cameras, shocked many Italians: while one man died at their feet, onlookers continued to pass the metro turnstiles.

Our Observer Alberto Celani alerted us on this story.

Petru Birladenu was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. That day, eight members of the Sarno di Ponticelli clan, one of Naples's Camorra families, drove down a street in the Spanish quarter, the city's most dangerous neighbourhood, riding motorcycles and armed with machine guns. They opened fire as they drove past the Monsanto metro station, shooting wildly.

Some believe that the Sarno clan's intention was to mark its territory after Mariano, the boss of a rival Camorra clan, began trying to regain control of the Spanish quarter when he was released from prison.

Other Italian media explained, after studying the video in detail, that Mariano himself was probably in the area and may have been the target of the attack. The roma musician and his wife were heading towards the metro when the shots erupted. Shot in the arm, Petru tried to take cover in the metro before collapsing in front of the turnstiles. Onlookers hurried past him without a second glance. Italian Web users discuss the incident on this website: some believe that no one reacted because the victim was a gypsy. Others are irritated what they see as unfair finger-pointing:

I don't know if all the people who blame the onlookers have any idea what it means to find oneself in the middle of eight people who suddenly open fire. How brave would they be then, would they rush to help an unknown person who for all they know may have been the target of the attack, and may be targeted again? It has nothing to do with racist reactions. Who could have know he was just a poor Roma and not a dangerous gang member like the killers themselves? Do you have any idea of the terror those who live in mafia-controlled neighbourhoods live with? Then get off your high horses!!

Neo-fascists want to patrol Italy’s streets

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:55:39 +0200

A neo-fascist group has been disqualified from patrolling the Italian streets after showcasing their uniform — strikingly similar to that of Benito Mussolini's Black Shirts — at a press conference on Saturday.

The Italian National Guards was one of the groups which planned to take up the Italian authorities' offer of patrolling the streets in order to lessen crime. The proposed legislation, which is currently in its final stages of parliament, would allow local authorities to authorise civilian groups to patrol the streets. The volunteers would not be armed and could do little more than alert the police to suspected activity. But since the Italian National Guards turned up belted and booted with eagle-emblazoned headgear and Red Sun arm bands, the initiative has come under fire, both in Italy and abroad.

Our Observer Alberto Celani alerted us to this story.

Jewish Americans bash Obama in Jerusalem beer fest

Julien — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:44:52 +0200

The night before Obama's historic speech to the Muslim world, a shocking video from Jerusalem captures a group of drunken American Jews bashing President Obama with racial slurs and physical threats. Not surprisingly, the video, entitled "Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem on the Eve of Obama's Cairo Address", has caused quite a stir. In just a few days it has garnered over 360,000 hits and thousands of passionate comments on YouTube - it has even gotten the attention of rapper 50 Cent.

Many have slammed the video for what they perceive is a gross misrepresentation: the suggestion that a small group of inebriated youths significantly represent Israeli and or Jewish American views on President Obama. Others argue - following the Latin proverb that what the sober man has in his heart, the drunkard has on his lips - that these youths represent (albeit crudely) the opinions of a growing minority of Israelis and Jews around the world. One of the video producers, and a critic, share their perspective with us.

“Avoid the locals, stay in your hotel room!”

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:04:29 +0200

That's the message Hong Kong residents got when they saw this advertising campaign for Langham Hotels.

The videos, created by SO-U.TV have caused such a furore on the HK web that they've been removed by the British hotel chain, which apologised for any offence caused. Two of the three videos however, are still available on YouTube (for the time being). The debate goes on... Here's episode one:

The video was posted on The Dark Side HK blog.

"Curry bashing": Indians the new scapegoats in Oz?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:47:57 +0200

The following CCTV footage has outraged Australia's Indian community, which in the past few years has fallen victim to a record number of brutal attacks.

Melbourne, 9 May 2009. The victim: 21-year-old Sourabh Sharma.

According to the police, just under 1,500 Indians were attacked in Victoria State alone in the twelve months to July 2008. On Saturday yet another student was assaulted, this one stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver. It was an attack that drove the Indian community to take action, with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets of Melbourne on Sunday. Tensions were further aggravated after a police intervention was lambasted by the Indian press.

This footage, broadcast by several Indian channels and websites, sparked protests in the country, where demonstrators insist that the attacks are racially motivated. The authorities in Australia however deny the charges, saying that most attackers target Indians because they often travel alone late at night due to unusual shifts and are known to carry expensive electrical equipment with them.

Another violent attack on Tuesday, however, has added weight to the demonstrator's argument, and increased worries for the authorities, who are well aware that the country's 93,000 Indian students bring in an enormous amount of revenue each year.

Durban II racism conference: Elie Wiesel branded a 'Zio-Nazi'

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:19:21 +0200

The Durban II anti-racism conference was far from smooth running. The latest incident came on Tuesday, when Elie Wiesel, an Israeli Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor, found himself surrounded by members of the Iranian delegation, who chanted "Zio-Nazi" at him.

Despite boycotting the conference, Israel found itself at the centre of controversy after a fiery speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday. The Iranian leader described Israel's government as "totally racist", prompting several delegations to walk out. The day after, members of the Iranian delegation in attendance took to Elie Wiesel, who had reacted strongly to the "hateful" speech. This video was shot by a member of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, an organisation that works to tackle anti-Semitism and teach future generations about the Holocaust.