In Poland, Artur Gsrski,
a legislator from the Law and Justice party. Gsrski 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."
In Austria, well-known journalist, Klaus Emmerich.on TV ORF
"I think the Americans are still racists and they must be very badly off
to so spectacularly -- send a black man to the White House,"
He "wouldn't want the Western
world to be directed by a black man," : "If you say that is a racist
comment, you're right."
. 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."
One of the milder gaffes came from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.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," . Anyone who
did not get the joke, he added, was an "imbecile."
Racism Rears Its Head in European Remarks on Obama
Some
Public Figures Display Open Scorn
Washington Post
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 11, 2008;
BERLIN, Nov. 10 -- 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, J|rgen 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 Gsrski, a legislator from the Law and
Justice party.
In a speech Wednesday, Gsrski 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 Gsrski's party later apologized for the outburst. Gsrski did, too, but said his remarks were not racist, just
"political."