Some Racist Remarks In Europe Over Obama

Washington Post: Some Public Figures Display Open Scorn, While Others Make Unintentional Racial Blunders

(Washington Post)  This story was written by Craig Whitlock.

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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."

[rsmik]

Omigod, racism in Germany??

[clathrate]

I could personally care less what a bunch of Eurotrash pantywaists have to say about our President Elect.

[nursehope]

Racists are everywhere, Palin''s leading the pack.

[nursehope]

There are ignorant racist pigs all over the world...put PALIN at the top of the list!

[neo269]

He''s black? I though it was just my tv.

[barbaram99]

Ye pulled my post from here yet the above acticle should be pulled for its remarks..I took newspaper class in high school years ago.

[hwy1702]

I am white and I say to those in Europe. Fxxk-Off.

[barbaram99]

We voted for Sen. Obama and He will be President. I am appalled by the remarks of them that know better. I can''t speak for others. I am glad he won. I am white. Germany has killt jews,women,church folks,the handicapped, done far worse to the people in them camps,yet they have the gall to write about our next president. I don''t care what his skin colour is. It meanless to me. The hate in human kind is appalling.

[ikiplagat]

These old, xenophobic Europeans are just idiots..old communist era politicians....they do not want to buy the fact that civilization is here with us and all human race has to be part of it,.....if anyone doesn''t like Obama,they can get a Gillette blade and swallow it.

[sunbum33919]

What got us into this mess is GREED. What will get us out of this mess is sacrifice.
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absolutely agree......and if all the members of both parties (or all parties) would have read the book "The Law" by Bastiat none of this would ever have happened. The book was written some hundreds of years ago but it all applies today. I really don''t want to spend my last days here on earth living in a cardboard box or in nuclear winter.......

[sunbum33919]

What got us into this mess is GREED. What will get us out of this mess is sacrifice.
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absolutely agree......and if all the members of both parties (or all parties) would have read the book "The Law" by Bastiat none of this would ever have happened. The book was written some hundreds of years ago but it all applies today. I really don''t want to spend my last days here on earth living in a cardboard box or in nuclear winter.......

[tv78]

stupidity in every culture

[slim1h2o]

On Thursday, during a visit to Moscow, he praised Obama for being "young, handsome and even suntanned."
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Oh boy, that line is a classic!,,LOL

Then he tries to defend it, with this other classic....

," he told journalists the next day. Anyone who did not get the joke, he added, was an "imbecile."

LOL,,Sounds like some CBS poster calling other people names when they disagreed with him.

[sunbum33919]

Oh, I get it. When a Democrat screws up, you hypocritical,conservative morons are quick to condemn him. But, when one of you screws up, there is a mountain of excuses. Since Obama did not ask the government to bail out inept businesses---and since the executives of AIG were callous enough to accept the government''''s money on one hand but give their incompetent executives a $400,000 retreat at the same time---then I say Bush is not only a terrorist, a racist, an empty-headed buffoon, but also a socialist.
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I''m not making excuses for anybody.......Bush is republican; congress is democrats...... and apparently they don''t like each other. There is plenty of blame to go around. The disaster started years ago.....when Fannie then Freddie were born.....that was the beginning of the end regardless who started it. There were signs and signals all along the way that were ignored by everyone. I''m not disagreeing with you that Bush is a buffoon but it''s not all his fault. The point now is to fix it...... and that will be another debate. Let''s see who surrounds PEOb at his behest......

[booscilla59]

Emmerich is almost expired... who cares about him being racist. he will meet up witht he Judge who made all men soon enough. Talk it over with him Emmerich.

And as far as Gorski... Is it true or is it a myth about the people of Poland being lacking when it comes to smarts?

[sunbum33919]

I AM THE WINNER, MY FRIEND!
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I''m not sure what you have won. But I do see your point this time. Although I am not one to put money at the top of my list of "wants". Have been to both ends of that scene. Money is not a motivator to me but if $$$ is your purpose to be and you are successful, then I am happy for you. Hopefully you will not be one that PEOb has targeted for his "share the wealth" program..... take from you and give to someone else. I am in the middle of that rainbow so I stand to neither gain nor loose..... but we''ll see.

[msobamaishot]

This comes as no suprise seeing as how these countries'' economies flourished and prospered off of the creation of racism and the thought that a group of people are inferior because of their religion and color of their skin. Many "white" people are disgusted at Obamas election because they see it as the fall of their supremacy in this world. Racial supremacy is an idea that is as old as the dirt on this earth. The fact is that we now live in a global community, which is much more diverse and prosperous than we can ever imagine. We as humans need to evolve from this old way of thinking and begin to see one another as individuals who are judged by our character not on superficial things like the color of our skin.

If some white people have a problem with people of a darker sking tone, then they need to remember that they live in a world where they are truly the minority. There are more "colored" people in this world than "white" people. If they thought they could claim supremacy in a world where they are indeed the minority, then they are sadly mistaken.

[sunbum33919]

Pleasssse,I thought Hitler was dead.That nut thought white were supermen and everybody else were meant to be their servants,but look what it got him.A bullet to his own brains for being so narrow minded.Come on you educated europeans take your long noses out of your a----es.
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I was only trying to make a point that all people have dreams - all races all over the world. The U.S. has only been around for a few hundred years so we can''t take credit for everything. Or maybe thedarkman was talking about a "collective" dream....in that case perhaps the European Dream is to unite in diversity.... ??

I''m not sure if I''m "pink".... mottled would be a better description since I am freckled. Seems Satan has stuck his fangs into all races.....not just the "pinks".

[letsbefriend]

Pleasssse,I thought Hitler was dead.That nut thought white were supermen and everybody else were meant to be their servants,but look what it got him.A bullet to his own brains for being so narrow minded.Come on you educated europeans take your long noses out of your a----es.

[sunbum33919]

I don''''''''t mean to oversimplify but did you take a look at this year''''''''s Nobel Laureates?
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Also look at all the INVENTIONS that have come from Europeans..... guess these people had no foresight.... a bunch of non-dreamers; non-thinkers with no motivation......