Stories about Ethnicity & Race from May, 2011
Jamaica: Garvey's Good Name
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp has begun an online movement to clear Marcus Garvey's name – his aim is “to get 10,000 signatures and to deliver the petition to President Barack Obama.”
Abkhazia: Sergei Bagapsh Dies
In Moscow's Shadows and Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog write about the implications of the death of Sergei Bagapsh, the president of the Republic of Abkhazia, on May 29.
Africa, France: Who is Nafissatou Diallo? Victim or Conspirator?
In the debate over the alleged sexual assault by French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a Guinean hotel chambermaid in New York, attentions from France to Africa have now shifted to the identity of the alleged victim, Nafisatou Diallo.
China: A Murder and Protests in Inner Mongolia
C. Custer from China Geeks has written a very informative post about the recent protest sparkled off by a murder in Inner Mongolia.
Ukraine: Proposal to Declare Crimean Tatar Deportation “Genocide”
Window on Eurasia reports on the Ukrainian Peoples Party's proposal to declare the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin “an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.”
Russia: Peaceful Religious Co-Existence in Tatarstan
At OpenDemocracy.net, Oleg Pavlov writes about Jadidism, “an Islamic movement common among the Muslims in the Volga and Urals region,” and peaceful religious co-existence in Tatarstan.
Serbia: More Reactions to the Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia and Borut Peterlin react to the news of the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, including the Srebrenica massacre. Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics and Viktor Marković (@Belgrade) report [en, sr] on small-scale protests in...
Trinidad & Tobago: Indian Arrival Day Food
TriniGourmet.com shares what's on her menu to commemorate this year's anniversary of Indian Arrival.
Serbia: Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military leader was arrested today by police in Serbia, the country's president, Boris Tadic, confirmed on national television. General Mladic has been on the run since 1995 facing charges of genocide for his role as Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Cote d'Ivoire: Amnesty International Report on Post-Electoral Conflict
Amnesty International published a report about Cote d'Ivoire [fr, PDF] on May 25 in conclusion of a field survey: Looking back on 6 months of post-electoral violence. In this document [fr] the organisation warns that, “The conclusions of this report clearly show that all of the conflicting parties have committed...
Greece: A Lukewarm Reaction to Attacks on Immigrants
Greek blogger To Vytio (The Jerrycan) writes an elegiac post [el] on his return to Athens from a weekend trip, finding the city gripped in violence, fear, apathy and scary rhetoric. “Our mortal leap was the reaction to what happened in Athens against the immigrants. Lukewarm, blasé. With [right-wing extremists],...
Hungary: Orbán Government and Romania's Hungarian Minority
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the relationship between the Orbán government and the Hungarian minority in Romania.
Russia: EU’s Roma to Move to Russia?
Window on Eurasia wrote in early May that “rising tensions between the Roma and the titular nationalities of the European Union have sparked reports in Moscow that some of this often-despised community are about to be moved to the Russian Federation, either on their own or from a deal between...
Greece: No Peace without Justice
“I cannot remember, in living memory, any instance where I felt a distinct similarity between the events happening in Greece to the Nazi Germany pogroms against Jews and communists of the 1930s.” Technology blogger Cosmix breaks with his usual subjects to dissect the causes of recent rampant violence against immigrants in Athens,...
South Africa: What's next for Judge Aikona Motata?
Pierre comments on the news that the Judicial Conduct Committee (JCC) in South Africa has found that race remarks made by judge Nkola Motata constituted a prima facie case of gross misconduct: “Among other things, Motata seemed to have channelled his inner Julius Malema [the controversial president of the ANC...
Trinidad & Tobago: Race & Stereotyes
Anje Woodruffe writes at Outlish about how she was programmed to stereotype black men; CODE RED for Caribbean freedom! responds.
Azerbaijan: Eurovision winner Nigar Camal's visa criticism
Dissident blogger and journalist Elnur Majidli, now living in France and facing arrest in Azerbaijan for his Facebook activity, has uploaded a screenshot of a status line apparently written last year by Nigar Camal, one of the two singers who won this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Germany, on the...
Bulgaria: People Bring Flowers to Sofia's Mosque
Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad) writes that people were bringing flowers on Saturday to the mosque in Sofia where clashes between a right-wing group and local Muslims took place the day before.
Azerbaijan: National Identity
Following a heated discussion on the issue of ethnic identity in the comments section on an entry written about Azerbaijan's recent Eurovision win, Scary Azeri responds in an extensive post to criticism from one reader in particular that she is not Azeri enough.
Bulgaria: Right-Wing Group and Muslims Clash in Sofia
Ruslan Trad reports on the violent clashes that erupted in Sofia during today's nationalist rally against a mosque's loudspeakers, between sympathizers of the nationalist Ataka party and local Muslims.
Russia: “Work and Shelter in Migrant Moscow”
Madeleine Reeves writes at OpenDemocracy.net about migrant workers in Moscow and their “daily struggle […] to stay ‘legal’, and survive.”