BERLIN, Nov. 11, 2008
Some Racist Remarks In Europe Over Obama
Washington Post: Some Public Figures Display Open Scorn, While Others Make Unintentional Racial Blunders
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Europe erupted in cheers to celebrate Barack Obama's election as president, but the continent is seeing its share of insensitive racial blunders, too.
Over the past week, a number of European lawmakers and journalists have made foot-in-mouth comments regarding America's black president-elect, suggesting that some otherwise respected public figures in Europe are far from enlightened on racial matters.
The day after Obama's victory, a leading Austrian television journalist said on camera that he "wouldn't want the Western world to be directed by a black man." A Polish lawmaker stood up in Parliament and called the election result "the end of the white man's civilization."
One of the milder gaffes came from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. On Thursday, during a visit to Moscow, he praised Obama for being "young, handsome and even suntanned."
Berlusconi's remark caused a stir in Italy, as critics chided him for sounding like a fool. But the prime minister was unrepentant. "What's the problem? It was a compliment," he told journalists the next day. Anyone who did not get the joke, he added, was an "imbecile."
Some racist comments have come from people who have expressed such views before. "Africa Conquers the White House," read a headline on the Web site of the National Democratic Party of Germany, a political party that sympathizes with neo-Nazi groups. In an accompanying article, Jürgen Gansel, a party leader and an elected lawmaker in the German state of Saxony, blamed Obama's victory on "the American alliance of Jews and Negroes."
Offensive opinions have also originated from the other end of the political spectrum. Die Tageszeitung, a Berlin newspaper that supports socialist and leftist causes, predicted Obama's election in June when it published a large front-page photo of the White House under the headline, "Uncle Barack's Cabin."
The reference was to "Uncle Tom's Cabin," an anti-slavery book written by 19th-century author Harriet Beecher Stowe. But editors of the paper insisted they did not mean to imply that Obama would be an Uncle Tom, or a submissive slave. Rainer Metzger, a deputy editor, said the headline was satirical.
"I'm sure 99 percent of our readers would understand it correctly," he told the German magazine Der Spiegel. "As for the rest, well, tough luck. You can't please everybody."
Yonis Ayeh, a board member with the Initiative of Black People in Germany, a group that criticized the Die Tageszeitung article when it was published, said racial prejudices are common, if not always blatantly expressed.
"Sometimes you have people or groups who say, 'We are the left wing, we are the good ones, we are not racist,' " he said. "But it doesn't matter if you are right wing or left wing. It's not just the neo-Nazis and the skinheads."
In Austria, Obama's win prompted a harsh, on-air reaction from a well-known journalist, Klaus Emmerich. "I think the Americans are still racists and they must be very badly off to so spectacularly -- and that has to be said, no doubt -- send a black man with a black, very good-looking and clever woman to the White House," he said Wednesday during a show on public television network ORF.
After saying that he "wouldn't want the Western world to be directed by a black man," he added: "If you say that is a racist comment, you're right. Without a doubt."
Emmerich, 80, was once based in Washington and has also reported for German television and newspapers over a long career. Given a chance to retract his remarks, he declined. In a later interview with the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, he said that "blacks are not as politically civilized." He also called Obama dangerous and implicitly compared him to Hitler, citing his "rhetorical brilliance" and his ability to "appeal charismatically to people."
Emmerich did not return a phone call seeking comment. Rainer Scheuer, a spokesman for ORF, said that the comments were "not acceptable" and that Emmerich was unlikely to be invited back to appear on the network anytime soon.
In Poland, the lower house of Parliament heard a similar interpretation of Obama's election from Artur Górski, a legislator from the Law and Justice party.
In a speech Wednesday, Górski called Obama "the black messiah of the new Left" and a "crypto-communist" who would undoubtedly prove a "disaster." He added: "Al-Qaeda is rubbing their hands with glee that the new president wants peace, not war."
"This marks the end of the white man's civilization," he said. "America will soon pay a high price for this quirk of democracy."
The Polish government and Górski's party later apologized for the outburst. Górski did, too, but said his remarks were not racist, just "political."
By Craig Whitlock
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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See all 209 CommentsPosted by Obama_Dkhed at 03:12 PM
Kuess mich, Liebchen! Niemals sollst Du Freunde finden, und deine Freude moege vergehen!
Just one more racist term in the American lexicon that needs to be reviewed in the new order.
Posted by likeitis5050 at 03:45 PM
Well said. Emmerich is just an 80 year old left over nazi piece of slime. The Osterreich Rundfunk needs to fire his rear end, but they have refused to. I have always said that Germany shouldn''t have been the only one to pay for the Holocaust. Austria got off scott free despite their tacit approval of Hitler.
So who cares what other say it is only what you feel about yourself.
Good luck Mr. President Elect!
One of the great things about having Obama elected is that I think it''s a step towards divesting ourselves of this "we''re better than you" cowboy attitude -- but apparently you don''t feel the same way. Why do you think these people are inferior to us? Better still, why do you think you''re superior to them? As for the holocaust, if you don''t think the same thing could happen in this country, you''re a fool. Under the right circumstances it can happen anywhere at any time.
We could take a few lessons.
Their pitiful "democracies" cannot envision the election of a man or woman who comes from an ethnic minority in their own countries. For most Europeans are stuck in their racial and class structures, unable to understand or appreciate what the meritocracy of America really means.
Posted by sincity_q at 04:21 PM : Nov 11, 2008
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So where are the examples of heads of state in Europe who come from their racial minorities?
RIGHT. There aren''t any. Even the French have been forced to admit, after Obama was elected, that they have a HUGE problem with discrimination against their minorities in politics.
We have to pat ourseleves on the back.
Posted by hangelle
***************
Racism, hatred, political division and religious intolerance of the "Daddy loves me more than you" school of fundamental belief -- these things exist worldwide.
An intolerant white German is just as noxious as a black African leader with genocide as his governing tool.
An ayatollah in Iran playing on the disillusionment and desperation of poverty stricken youth in order to turn them to terrorism is no different than an American preacher that riles his congregation up with political tinged rhetoric designed to fuel their hatred of anyone different than him or by association, them.
You can''t say "I''m a [fill in the blank]" and automatically be [choose -- good, right, holy, honorable...].
It will always be the heart that bears judgment. Wisdom takes a deeper look and hopes against presumption; asks and keeps on asking.
Their pitiful "democracies" cannot envision the election of a man or woman who comes from an ethnic minority in their own countries. For most Europeans are stuck in their racial and class structures, unable to understand or appreciate what the meritocracy of America really means.
Posted by dburfears
Don''t be so ignorant as to judge Europeans by the actions of noisy right-wing minorities. In the same way that Americans shouldn''t all be judged by the excesses of some of its soldiers in the illegal war, nor by the idiotic comments from Sarah Palin, don''t be so fast to judge Europe by the handful of right wingers mentioned in the story.
And as for them being "democracies", you don''t have to be a multi-millionaire to run for office in any of those countries - unlike the "democracy" that is the US. Also, in order to hold powerful positions like the equivalent of Secretary of State, you have be to ELECTED - not some crony appointee that gets foisted on the public.
Again with the stupid comments. Iraq has never done a thing to the US. YOUR friends the Saudis attacked on 9/11.
Bad News for the Racists--She''s Black!
Posted by msgtsteve at 05:00 PM : Nov 11, 2008
Uh Huh? OUR own Intelligence tells us that Bin Laden and the Taliban used Iraq to rebuild their forces and we still have people in our midst who believe THIS stuff! It''s one thing to get your clock cleaned but when people CONTINUE to drink the Snake Oil AFTER all the Failure?? Well you just can''t figure these people out!
Posted by msgtsteve at 05:00 PM : Nov 11, 2008
Uh Huh? OUR own Intelligence tells us that Bin Laden and the Taliban used Iraq to rebuild their forces and we still have people in our midst who believe THIS stuff! It''s one thing to get your clock cleaned but when people CONTINUE to drink the Snake Oil AFTER all the Failure?? Well you just can''t figure these people out!
They won''t like the messages!
Posted by msgtsteve at 05:00 PM : Nov 11, 2008
They said the same thing about communism. We were told back in the fifties and sixties, if we don''t fight them in Korea / Vietnam / wherever, we''ll be fighting them on the beaches in California. Different idiots, same kind of thinking.
If you don''t think American troops did any wrong in "Eye-Rack", in terms of torturing people and murdering innocent civilians, I feel sorry for you.
And, yes it was and still is an "illegal" war, totally unjustifiable under international law - laws that the US was instrumental in building and supporting, until moron Bush and his cronies showed up. If you think none of this is worth anything, then what exactly are American troops fighting for???
Posted by B0ludo
So by your reasoning, intelligent / educated people cannot hate.
Hmmmm, can you hate?
In reality hate based on race is indeed racism, and it''s an irrational learned behavior. People are often taught racism at a young age (more impressionable) and it takes a significant effort to overcome this baseless emotional reaction to differences.
Yes, even intelligent people can behave irrationally, especially when raised to fear differences and when fed lies.
There is one basic truth they forget:
People are people.
It''s also not just over color, it''s over beliefs, religion, you name it, any excuse.
In the end, we all lose.
That isn''t as newsworthy as controversy, even if it is the lunatic fringe who are the topic.
I WOULD ASK GOD TO HELP US BUT HE HAS TURNED HIS BACK ON AMERICA. THIS WAS A TEST ,AMERICA FAILED.
Berlusconi''s remark caused a stir in Italy, as critics chided him for sounding like a fool. But the prime minister was unrepentant. "What''s the problem? It was a compliment," he told journalists the next day. Anyone who did not get the joke, he added, was an "imbecile."
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I don''t think that was a "gaffe" at all. I am hoping that the election of Obama will end this super-sensitivity to the mention of skin color. Obama is all of the things above, young, handsome, and "tan." We love him as he is. :o)
Before you become in love with the racist slime of Europe, just remember than an overwhelming majority wanted Obama as President. In Germany alone 76 percent would have voted for Obama.
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