Is Eleanor Burnham racist?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Labour are calling for the Lib Dems to kick out North Wales AM Eleanor Burnham after she used the word "Japs" in the chamber.Mrs Burnham said: "Why not invest in the Maglev train that the Japs use to whizz through the countryside at about 320mph, rather than piddling around at 60mph as we do?"
Burn her! Burn her!
In her defence, Mrs Burnham claimed that British people are sometimes referred to as "Brits".
The problem with "Japs", however, is that it was a derogatory term used to stir-up racial hatred during the second world war. Japanese people were also commonly referred to as "Nips" and monkeys.
But Mrs Burnham has already apologised and clearly intended no offence. What more can you expect from a 'foul-mouthed gog'?
Labels: Eleanor Burnham, Japs, Liberal Democrats, racist, Welsh Assembly
posted by Blamerbell @ 7:25 pm,
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Wales - land of benevolent nationalism
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Ever since I came across the xenophobic English messageboard on Action Against Anglophobia, I've been scouring the net for a Welsh equivalent.
I searched in Welsh and English and followed links to places that were as dead as a former Iraqi tyrant - all to no avail.
There were some inflammatory comments on maes-e.com - the Welsh language discussion board - but these were usually silenced by other, more moderate voices. Even Cymuned, the Welsh nationalist activists, appear to have shaken-off the cloak of extremism with which they are so often associated in the media.
In fact, Cymuned seem to have multiplied, if not grown recently, and now have a ream of websites for their ongoing campaigns. One of these, notenglish.com, is markedly tame.
So what's the deal? Is it that even the most hardcore Welsh nationalism is lacking the hateful bite of its English equivalent, or does it exist, but not yet openly on the web? Perhaps it'll all change when broadband reaches the furthest corners of West and North Wales? Or maybe Welsh nationalists are just nicer?
[This is by no means a water-tight study. If you know of any racist websites from either side of the border, please do let us know in the comments.]
Labels: Action against anglophobia, Cymuned, english nationalism, racism, racist, Welsh nationalism, xenophobia
posted by Blamerbell @ 10:37 am,
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English nationalists on the warpath
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Action Against Anglophobia is a filthy, narrow-minded website if ever I saw one.
"The sooner that England gets shot of those greedy whining celtic parasites the better,and as for us English being a mongrel people,well we mongrels came and took the land and made it our own and the fuckwitted inbred celts were too weak and stupid to stop us.Im proud to not be a celt," says Andy, a typical contributor.
It's yet another murky corner of the internet where those who are of the same intolerant and foul-mouthed ilk can gather to hurl primitive abuse at whatever they are against.
In this case, it's perceived Anglophobia.
I am no fan of nationalism, and sites like this make the debate about the crisis of identity within the UK ever more urgent.
Labels: Action against anglophobia, english nationalism, racist, racsim
posted by Blamerbell @ 1:22 pm,
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Is Bob Piper racist?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Labour councillor and blogger Bob Piper is in a pickle.
He's published this image on his blog:
Quite a few people, it seems, were upset by it, and right-wing bloggers in particular have been removing Piper from their blog rolls in protest. This is truly a tiff that could only happen online, and the comment thread on Piper's post is testament to all that is catty and crap about blogging.
But the question remains: Is Bob Piper racist?
He claims not. "If you think this image is designed to attack black people you need to study the art of satire, because it has clearly passed you by. [The image] is designed to show the way in which Cameron trys to adopt a chamelon-like approach to 'get with it' with young people, black people, wimmen, environmentalists in a totally false way." (Author's spelling errors preserved.)
Now, there's a chap called Mark Steven Greenfield, who has studied the racist overtones of minstrel pictures and tries to subvert them in his art.
"In my work I alter the context of the stereotype in order to buffer the viewer's visceral reaction to its grotesqueness. I challenge the viewer to suspend or embrace their emotional reaction long enough to analyze what they are looking at. I acknowledge the viewer's indignation by using text which is sometimes as counter culture as are the images," he says.
What you end up with is this:
Draw your own conclusions. I know which I prefer.
[Cheers to Praguetory for the spot.]
Labels: Bob Piper, Labour, Mark Steven Greenfield, Praguetory, racist
posted by Blamerbell @ 9:06 pm,
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