· February, 2008

Stories about Ethnicity & Race from February, 2008

Armenia: LGBT Blog

  29 February 2008

Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts details of a new blog established by the Armenian Gay & Lesbian Association of New York. The blog, AGLA NY, is at http://aglany.wordpress.com.

South Africa: Racist Black Journalists?

  28 February 2008

"The media was instrumental is getting this country to where it is today. There were white journalists who risked their lives and even paid the ultimate price to give this country its democracy. What were these black journalists discussing, closeted together with Zuma, that they didn’t want white journalists to hear???," writes ONC Today following the decision by the Forum of Black Journalists (FBJ) to exclude White journalists from covering an off-the-record briefing by Jacob Zuma.

Russia: Ethnically-Motivated Violence

  27 February 2008

Moscow Through Brown Eyes reviews the coverage of a recent surge in ethnically-motivated violence in Moscow: “A month ago in my relatively sleepy bedroom community, a young Tadzhik citizen was stabbed thirty-six times. He died in the courtyard that my bedroom window looks out onto. I read about his attack...

Taiwan: Land Right

  27 February 2008

A Taiwanese aboriginal group, hunter motion, calls for an action on 28 of February to defend their right to preserve their hunting life style in their own land. The group has an advocacy blog for recording their activities.

Serbia: Ambassadorial Discontent

  26 February 2008

While some of the foreign embassies were being set on fire in Belgrade in protest to the unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo, Serbian embassies in Belgium and Russia were having diplomatic activities of a different kind - and Serbian bloggers took interest in them. Sinisa Boljanovic translates.

South Africa: Is this anti-democracy?

  26 February 2008

Was it right to bar white South African journalist from the forum of black journalists: “This forum of black journalists is so anti democracy and transparency. I listened to all their excuses for barring white journalists and they did not make any sense. The truth is they are making us...

South Africa: Where are black bloggers hiding?

  26 February 2008

Inside Candy wonders where South African black bloggers are: “I realise that this is a potentially loaded question, but where the hell are all the black bloggers hiding? To date, I’ve only met one (I repeat, one) black South African blogger – Obakeng, “The Chief” of ONC Today.”

Russia, Ukraine: February 23

  25 February 2008

Scraps of Moscow, Ukrainiana, and Windows to Russia! write about the Defender of the Fatherland Day (formerly known as the Soviet Army Day). Feb. 23 also happens to be president Victor Yushchenko's birthday, and, as Window on Eurasia points out, it is also the day on which Stalin’s deportation of...

Jamaica, U.S.A.: The Obama Question

  25 February 2008

“It's not that Obama threatens to be another MLK. It far worse than that. It's that he threatens to be another JFK”: Jamaican Marlon James asks “the one question about Obama that dares not speak its name in polite public discourse.”

Angola: Racism is unavoidable

  23 February 2008

(R)evolução em Angola [pt] publishes the first of a series of posts by Mukuolua Kinamatos about racism in Angola. “White or mixed races? Asked me the lady who was filling my identity card form. White, black and mixed races are the 3 races that can be provided on the Angolan...

Serbia: Bloggers Discuss Rally and Rioting in Belgrade

  22 February 2008

Yesterday, Kosovo is Serbia rally was held in Belgrade. According to unofficial sources, 150,000-200,000 people attended it to protest against unilateral proclamation of independence of Kosovo. The rally went peacefully but was followed by rioting. Buildings of the American, Croatian and Turkish embassies were set on fire. Many people were injured, at least one person was killed. Sinisa Boljanovic translates reactions by several Serbian bloggers who blog at B92's blog portal.

Kosovo: Views from the Russophone Blogosphere

  20 February 2008

According to the Yandex Blogs portal, over 3,700 posts on Kosovo independence have appeared in the Russian-language blogosphere in the past three days. Some of these posts have received dozens, if not hundreds, of comments. Below are a few snippets of this lively discussion, all translated from Russian.

French immigration minister: ‘France isn't racist’

  20 February 2008

Forum Realisance summarizes French immigration minister Brice Hortefeux's recent interview [Fr] with Jeune Afrique in which he discussed DNA testing for immigrants, immigration quotas, expulsion and other controversial issues, finally stating, “No, France is not racist.”

Spanish reactions to Kosovo's independence

  20 February 2008

Two days after Kosovo's declaration of independence in spite of Serbia's opposition, the debate about the merits of recognising it as a state is still raging. Within the European Union, countries such as France, UK, Germany or Italy have recognized it, while others such as Slovakia and Spain have strongly opposed it as they consider that the declaration does not respect international law.