Check out this article on NPR. I was shocked to hear this today.
"For the past week or so, France has been deep in debate, wondering if there's a resurgence of an old colonial racism, or if people have just become more tolerant of bigots.
The questions stem from a series of race-based taunts against Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, who is black. Many of the statements seem to stem from Taubira's championing of the country's gay marriage legalization, which was signed into law in May.
But things took a nasty turn about a month ago: A politician from the far-right National Front party posted a photo of Taubira next to a monkey on a Facebook page.
Then a group gathered to protest the gay marriage law was caught yelling, "Monkey, go eat your banana!" The video circulated widely on YouTube."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/11/15/245295614/in-france-some-ask-if-racism-is-on-the-rise
Wow. I am aghast to see racism at its worst--those types of comments and treatment can leave long lasting scars on people, scars that will be extremely difficult to ever heal and overcome. Unfortunately, this story tells a narrative of the world at large: black people are continually being targeted based solely on the color of their skin. I think of president Barak Obama who is continually the target for racial jokes, slurs, and humiliation. Just to give you a taste:
ReplyDelete"Tonight President Obama and Mitt Romney debate foreign policy. Pundits say it will be close, but it will probably go to the candidate who wore the 'I killed Osama bin Laden' T-shirt." –Conan O'Brien
In addition to many of these quotes that can be found all throughout the media, there are numerous sites on the internet in place solely to make fun of people of black skin color. It infuriates me to see such bullying occur, and in every single way, I think it is unjust.
Do a quick google search of "obama racism quotes" and you will be stunned to find an array of awful pictures, drawing and statements. One last final thing to be caution not to overlook is the fact that many "claim" that these comments are a result of political different--of Obama backlash. A federal judge recently came under criticism for a "racist joke". He, however claimed that "The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan. I didn't send it as racist, although that's what it is. I sent it out because it's anti-Obama."
What do y'all think? Is this unjust? Should such racist comment/websites be tolerated? Is it solely political, or are some of these examples of racial profiling? Would love to hear some thoughts.
Here are the links:
Delete1 & 2= http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obamajokes.htm
3= http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/04/us/montana-judge- racist-message/