An interview with Spike Lee and BBC Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman on changing race relations in America since Lee made "Do The Right Thing". In the interview which aired a month ago, the two argue about the impact of Barack Obama’s election on modern day racism.
A very interesting interview, the idea that racism is something of the past seems to infuriate him.
President Obama says the Buchenwald concentration camp "is the ultimate rebuke" to those who deny the Holocaust.
Obama visited the Nazi camp where 56,000 people died. He toured the memorial with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel. They laid roses at a memorial. Obama said people today have a duty to confront those who deny such concentration camps existed.
Obama told reporters that his great-uncle helped liberate a nearby satellite camp, Ohrdruf, just days before other U.S. Army units overran Buchenwald. Obama says his great-uncle returned from war and was unable to speak of the horrible scene.
Obama says the victims and the perpetrators of the camp alike were humans and everyone must stand guard against a repeat.
"US President Obama is inexperienced and indecisive," said Sarkozy, according to a report in the newspaper Liberation. He went on by saying, “Obama has a subtle mind, is very clever and very charismatic, but when he was elected two months ago he had never run a ministry. There are a certain number of things on which he has no position. And he is not always up to standard on decision-making and efficiency.” Sarkozy was also lashing out to other leaders. According to the Times it's clear that Mr Sarkozy was apparently irked by media reports that Mr Obama had saved the day in London by persuading President Hu of China to reach a compromise with France over tax havens. Read: Sarkozy snipes at 'dim' Spanish PM and 'weak' Barack Obama
A Turkish reporter on Turkish TV wore blackface on while doing a report on United States President Barack Hussein Obama. The broadcast was on wednesday April 8th. But there are different translations and interpretations about what the reporter actually said and meant. I picked two of them.
The video
First translation
(Rough) Translation: Welcome, Mr. Obama. You took our hearts with your hospitality. We appreciate your kindness. We will do whatever America asks of us, as friends. Now, we ask the same of you.
The reason why the announcer is wearing black face paint is because he wants to show respect to President Obama. This is a real anchorman, and he is just trying to give a bit of a comedy act.
We inquire that you give us what we give to you. By all means, if someone translates this and I call you “black, Arab, or negro”, it does not mean I am disrespecting you. I mean no harm. We respect you.
The anchorman is also trying to show shame for what his country has done, so that is why his face is painted in black. The anchorman is saying that no politicians will directly tell the truth to President Obama while in Turkey. The anchorman says that Muslim terrorists attack inside Turkey, but the country does not renounce Islamic terrorism."
Second translation
Welcome Mr. Obama. You made us happy with your speech in Ankara with your open attitude and good will. However, we have some anxiety. Until now USA has always demanded and gotten what it wants [from Turkey] but now we have a request.
There is a proverb in Turkey which explains my current situation [with the black face]. “They who request something should have a black face, and they who do not give something should be black.” When they translate the word “black” from Turkish to English they might use words such as “Negro” or “Blackie.” Please do not be fooled with this translation. This word is not used to insult or belittle black people. In contrary, it is used in a sense that our face should be darker. Hence, I have painted my face black so that I can make a request to Mr. Obama.
Now to the point. We [Turkey] have had a problem for years with the terrorist organization PKK. You said that PKK is a common enemy to both our countries in your speech today. We are expecting serious and earnest cooperation from you [as opposed to Bush] in this subject. Give us actionable information [from northern Iraq] and we will do whatever is necessary if you do not want to do it. Instruct your allies in northern Iraq to cooperate with us in this subject. They are your “men” and they will obey you.
The second issue is about the “Armenian genocide.” In your speech today you said that your point of view in this subject has not changed. Please give us your support in this subject against the propaganda from the Armenian lobby.
Please continue with your support for Turkey's concession procedure to EU. Also, there is this subject of IMF. We do not want money from you, we want cooperation. You said in your speech that Turkey is an important allied to US. Give us what we want as allies and we will give you what you want.
Michelle Obama's visited a school in London and spoke emotionally to a group of students. All of them girls ages 11 to 17, two-thirds of whom speak English as a second language. "I am just very touched," Michelle told the girls, choking up with emotion as she spoke. "All of you are jewels." Read: Michelle Obama Finds Her Role on the World Stage
Lola Adesioye is a New York based Socio-Political Commentator who writes about race in the US and the UK. In a blogpost she makes some interesting comments about the story entitled “Blacks, Whites hear Obama differently.” She writes: "The basic premise of the article is that Obama’s speech and mannerisms are coded in such a way that he can do and say things that black people will recognize and feel familiar and comfortable with, but that will slip under the radar of most white people. He can therefore “be black” and appeal to black people without overtly talking about race." For instance whites didn't get the meaning of the ‘fist bump’ that Barack Obama and Michelle do, and the fact that Barack Obama plays basketball as opposed to golf.
The black French anti discrimination organisation CRAN launched a major campaign against Police checks which are based on skin colour. The campaign began on January 12 with visit of the Obama look alike Michael Lamar.
CRAN states that visible minorities in France are likely to be checked 2 times more than others. Sometimes the same person can be checked several time a day. The organisation states that the checks reinforce stereotypes and discrimination.
Does the role of Afro-Americans in ads change? The Superbowl offered some insight. Not the race for the finals of the American football, but the ads which frame the best viewed television event of the year - an estimated one hundred million viewers. Toyota shows it’s station car ‘Venza’ with a relaxed black man in a shiny apartment
Afro-Americans traditionally play a role in the media that confirms prejudices - criminals, firefighters, sports stars. That picture had already changed, but the ads during Superbowl showed that the election of Obama accelerated the development.
The Superbowl ads reminds of an interview with a marketing manager about why black people play stereotype rolls in TV ads. His answer: "I am hired to make money, not to change society."
Will Smith said that the circle has closed. From slavery, to the civil rights movement and now to something no one could have imagined, a black President.
As I was standing in front of my TV for hours, I thought of all the books and conversations my friends and I had about the civil rights movement, Malcom X, and about being black in a white society. I remembered the pictures of black people being beaten when they stood up for their rights in Birmingham.
Somehow being black is being in a constant state of protest. Although there is still a lot to fight for, I know it's time to say good bye to all my images of the African American struggle and perhaps about being black. Reinventing blackness and move on to a new circle. Because the old one has now closed.
David Lammy MP interviewed by Viv Ahmun, one of the Directors of Equanomics UK. This interview took place at the recent Barack Obama Ripple Effect Conference in London. Lammy talks about Obama, black men in Britain and the new black agenda. Read: Media organisation Globalfaction
Black UK opened the Obama Age with a civil right leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson toured the UK as key speaker for Equanomics UK. Equanomics UK is an organisation who want to achieve economic and racial equality by addressing and eradicating the structural inequalities and disproportionate socio-economic impacts of poverty experienced by BME communities across the country. Read: Operation black vote
In Germany black people are also celebrating “their” president-elect. But what does Obama’s triumph mean for Black Germans? A report from an Afro-Obama party. Read We are President!
In the CCN interview Newsweek correspondent Allison Samuels explains what Michelle Obama means to black woman. She also wrote a story on the subject. 'What Michelle Means to Us'. A story on how Michelle Obama will change the world's image of African-American women—and the way they see themselves. Read: What Michelle Means to Us
Looking for a Presidential career? Become a community organizer like Obama. Obama was a community organizer in Chicago from 1985 to 1988 before he became Senator. But what's a community organizer and what did Obama learned from the job? Community organizing is a process by which people living in proximity to each other are brought together by an organization to act in their common self-interest. In the poor Chicago South side Obama’s used techniques as demanding summer jobs, pushing for an after-school program. And try convincing the city to spend more on this or that. After loosing a fight over asbestos Obama gained a new perspective. A fellow community worker recalled: "The solution, Obama felt, was to find a way to political power of his own. He was constantly thinking about his path to significance and power." He rememberd him saying, "I need to go there [Harvard Law School] to find out more about power. How do powerful people think? What kind of networks do they have? How do they connect to each other?” Read: What Did Obama Do As A Community Organizer? Obama's Community Roots
The CBS News '60 Minutes' interview exclusive with the US President-elect Barack Obama and US First Lady Michelle Obama after the elections. November 16, 2008
After Obama's victory former Austrian US Correspondent Klaus Emmerich said in live broadcast on a Austrian TV channel, that he wouldn't take any orders from a black person in the western world. The U.S. ambassador filed a protest against the insult and demanded a clear apology from the responsible official TV channel. Read: U.S. protest against racist insult of Obama on Austrian TV
During a television show moderator Whoopi Goldberg talked about race and skin colour. She confessed that she was woken up during the night by a "strange thought" regarding Michelle Obama. "It was a thought that had never occurred to me," she began. "Barack Obama is one of the few men that we have seen who is a black man who has a very, very dark-skinned wife. She's very dark-skinned for normally what you see. And I wondered to myself, would he be electable if he had a white wife?" Read: Michelle Obama's Darker Shade Of Skin: Whoopi Weighs In (Video)
Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, claims Barack Obama could not become prime minister in Britain because of "institutional racism" in the British political system. Mr Phillips said that while there were just 15 ethnic-minority MPs in the House of Commons, it nonetheless demonstrates that "the problem is not the electorate, the problem is the machine."
An interview with Spike Lee and BBC Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman on changing race relations in America since Lee made "Do The Right Thing". In the interview which aired a month ago, the two argue about the impact of Barack Obama’s election on modern day racism.
A Turkish reporter on Turkish TV wore blackface on while doing a report on United States President Barack Hussein Obama. The broadcast was on wednesday April 8th. But there are different translations and interpretations about what the reporter actually said and meant. I picked two of them. 
Lola Adesioye is a New York based Socio-Political Commentator who writes about race in the US and the UK. In a blogpost she makes some interesting comments about the story entitled “Blacks, Whites hear Obama differently.” 
Black UK opened the Obama Age with a civil right leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson toured the UK as key speaker for Equanomics UK. Equanomics UK is an organisation who want to achieve economic and racial equality by addressing and eradicating the structural inequalities and disproportionate socio-economic impacts of poverty experienced by BME communities across the country.
In Europe you don't here very much about Afro-Brazilians. So if you want to know how a Brazilian-American feels about Obama,
Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, claims Barack Obama could not become prime minister in Britain because of "institutional racism" in the British political system.