A French parliament session was thrown into turmoil Thursday after a far-right MP was accused of yelling “back to Africa” to a black colleague posing a question on migrant arrivals to the government.
The incident came as President Emmanuel Macron‘s government is promising a new crackdown on immigration amid accusations of failing to stem new arrivals or deport those whose residency requests are denied.
Carlos Martens Bilongo of the leftist France Unbowed party (LFI) was questioning the government on the request by the SOS Mediterranee NGO for Paris‘s help in finding a port for 234 migrants rescued at sea in recent days.
“They should go back to Africa!” interrupted Gregoire de Fournas, a newly elected member of the far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN).
The outburst sparked yells of condemnation, not least because in French the pronouns “he” and “they” are pronounced the same, suggesting that de Fournas might have been targeting Bilongo directly.
The RN is the party of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who challenged Macron in this year’s presidential vote and then led her party to its best-ever performance in subsequent legislative elections, with 89 MPs.
The party was founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen but his daughter claims to have overhauled the former National Front into a mainstream force, despite critics who say the changes are only cosmetic.
National Assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet suspended the session after demanding to know who had made the comment.
“Racism has no place in our democracy,” responded Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, urging the assembly to sanction the far-right MP.
De Fournas later defended his comment, telling BFM television that the National Rally wants a halt to all illegal immigration after a surge in the number of people trying to reach France from Africa in recent years.
He accused his France Unbowed opponents of a “manipulation” and his party also denied any personal attack against Bilongo, a teacher who was born in Paris.
Le Pen has yet to comment but Jordan Bardella, favourite to succeed her as party leader at a congress this weekend, insisted that the deputy had meant to evoke the return of boats to African ports and accused LFI and the government of “extreme dishonesty”.
But LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted that the comments were “beyond intolerable” and that the deputy should be kicked out of the National Assembly.
Al Jazeera reveals how the Labour party created a hierarchy of racism that discriminated against Black, Asian and Muslim members.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) reveals how a British political party that claims to embrace progressive values created a hierarchy of racism that discriminated against its Black, Asian and Muslim members. Interviews, internal documents and social media messages shared by the most senior staff in The United Kingdom’s Labour betrayed a racist culture where abuse was aimed at their own colleagues, councillors and political leaders.
The Labour Files, an I-Unit investigation based on 500 gigabytes of documents, emails, video and audio files from the Party dating from 1998 to 2021, exposes how the party’s campaign to present a tough image of anti-Semitism, while ignoring other forms of discrimination, drove many staff to resign.
The Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists, and trade unionists. The Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Official Opposition. There have been six Labour prime ministers and thirteen Labour ministries. The party holds the annual Party Conference, at which party policy is formulated.
The Party currently forms the Official Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, having won the second-largest number of seats in the 2019 general election. The leader of the party and leader of the opposition is Keir Starmer. Labour is the largest party in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), being the only party in the current Welsh government.
The party is the third-largest in the Scottish Parliament, behind the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Conservatives. Labour is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance, and holds observer status in the Socialist International. The party includes semi-autonomous London, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish branches, however it supports the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland, while still organising there. As of July 2022, Labour has around 415,000 registered members. one of the largest memberships of any party in Europe.
Following a spree of racist and homophobic graffiti near downtown St. Catharines, Niagara police have accused two teenage boys of mischief on 13 charges and charged them.
According to the police, the vandalism happened on June 11 at about 10:00 p.m.
According to reports, the two teenagers used racist and homophobic obscenities to deface the monument of Harriet Tubman, the school’s sign, and the school’s walls.
Tubman used the Underground Railroad, a covert system of safe houses and connections, to free himself from slavery and guide scores of people to freedom. Between 1851 to 1861, she resided in St. Catharines. Later, she moved back to the United States and enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War, becoming the first woman to command an armed attack.
According to police, vandalism occurred to six vehicles, three residences, a Caribbean restaurant, and two school buses.
The Caribbean Eatery’s owner, Michael Andrade, has expressed his pain to CBC Hamilton over the damage.
According to Niagara police, a 14-year-old kid was taken into custody on August 20, and a 15-year-old boy the following day. 13 charges of mischief under $5,000 are filed against each of them.
Despite not filing charges for hate crimes, the police labeled the occurrences as “hate-related vandalism.”
Const. Phil Gavin explained to CBC Hamilton that the legal requirements for a charge under the hate propaganda sections of the criminal code are “very specific in scope and done in consultation with the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Office” when asked why the teenagers weren’t charged with hate crimes.
On July 29, a white Italian man killed handicapped Nigerian street seller Alika Ogorchukwu in Civitanova Marche, Italy, put racism in spotlight as onlookers watched and only took pictures of the crime.
According to Italian authorities, Ogorchukwu repeatedly tried to sell goods to Filippo Claudio Giuseppe Ferlazzo and his girlfriend before the furious attack took place.
The recent murder of Ogorchukwu shows that the same dehumanization and criminalization of Black people that resulted in Emmett Till’s horrific death in the US more than fifty years ago, as well as the murder of countless other African Americans in contemporary America, is also taking lives thousands of miles away in Italy.
Ogorchukwu is, regrettably, only one of numerous African men and women who have been shot, injured, or murdered in racially motivated attacks in Italy. He is also undoubtedly not the last.
However, the violence is not only physical; it is frequently verbal as well and is deftly ingrained in nationalist ideologies and anti-immigration laws.
For example, a right-wing senator compared Cécile Kyenge, Italy’s first Black minister, to an ape, while professional player Mario Balotelli has frequently been the object of monkey chants at football stadiums.
America’s bigotry is so readily criticized and denounced in Europe. But when it comes to combating white supremacist ideology, attitudes, and conspiracies, it is difficult to conclude that it is doing much better than its younger twin over the Atlantic.
Ogorchukwu and several other refugees did not need to perish violently in Italy. None of the races—Black, White, or Brown—must. However, Black, Brown, and immigrant bodies will be in just as much risk in Europe until it confronts and addresses its racism issue.
On social media, a video showing an African-American racist woman abusing an Asian guy verbally and physically has gone viral.
A racist woman from Brooklyn who was physically occupying a parking space not only refused to do so when asked to do so, but also resorted to aggression before asking the man to “get back to China.”
First posted on Reddit, the 10-minute video was later reposted on Instagram.
Racist and entitled Karen assaults a man over parking dispute and tells him to “Go back to China “. from facepalm
The man, who appears to be Asian, is shown in the video trying to park his car as the black racist woman is seen standing on a parking space, prompting him to warn her not to block the area with her body.
Title 34 Chapter 4 Rules of the City of New York New York City Department of Transportation TRAFFIC RULES 4-08(n)(7) states: “It shall be unlawful for any person to reserve or attempt to reserve a parking space, or prevent any vehicle from parking on a public street through his/her presence in the roadway, the use of hand-signals, or by placing any box, can, crate, handcart, dolly or any other device, including unauthorized pavement, curb or street markings or signs in the roadway.”
The exact site of the parking disagreement is uncertain; however, it is said to have taken place in Brooklyn.
A Lyft driver has been branded a hero after kicking out a woman and her boyfriend for making racist remarks in a video that has gone viral on social media.
The Lyft driver, who identified himself as James W. Bode, posted the video taken from his dashcam on Facebook. The video, timestamped 10:37 p.m. on Friday night, shows a woman entering Bode’s car, with a man following behind her.
“You’re like a white guy,” she says when she enters.
“That’s inappropriate,” Bode says. “That’s completely inappropriate. If somebody was not white sitting in this seat, what would be the difference?”
Lyft driver cancels ride on racist bar owners. He gets called "n****r lover" and threatened with a punch in the face for it. (Zero tolerance for racist assholes.🏆) pic.twitter.com/Ngdait6NUE
— StrictlyChristo🇺🇦🌻 (@StrictlyChristo) May 15, 2022
In his post, Bode noted that the incident happened outside of Fossil’s Last Stand on Race Street in Catasauqua, which he said appears to be owned by the customers who requested the ride. The woman was later identified on social media as Jackie Russ Harford and her male companion as John Keglovics – a Support Department Manager at Innovative Control Systems, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In the wake of the viral video, Harford’s restaurant has been bombarded with negative reviews on Yelp, bringing down the establishment’s rating to one star.
“DO NOT VISIT THIS PLACE. Its values are lacking and the food isn’t made with love, in fact, BOTH the owner and his wife are racist and participate in bigotry,” wrote one user.
“This establishment is run by open racists who publicly use the n-word and make distasteful
comments about people of non-white ethnicities. Do not eat here,” commented another.
Lyft Says It’s ‘Looking into’ Riders, Offers Thanks to James
After the video was shared on Twitter, Lyft responded with a tweet that read, “We are incredibly grateful to Lyft driver @Jameswb333 for instantly shutting down this hate & upholding our no tolerance anti-discrimination policies. We’re looking into these riders & are in touch with James to show our thanks.”
A British teenager received a six-week prison sentence Wednesday after admitting to posting a racist tweet about soccer star Marcus Rashford.
Justin Lee Price, 19, sent the message after the European Championship final last year, Reuters reported.
“Price targeted a footballer based on the color of his skin, and his action was clearly racist and a hate crime,” Mark Johnson, a senior crown prosecutor for Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) West Midlands, said in a statement.
Rashford is one of several Black players on England’s soccer team who were targeted with racist messages on social media following their loss to Italy in the July championship match. He, along with Jadon Sanchi and Bukayo Saka, missed penalty kicks during the match, which was England’s first opportunity to score a major tournament victory in 55 years, The New York Times reported.
Price, who is from Worcester, admitted earlier this month to racially abusing Rashford, according to a CPS news release. The CPS said he posted a racist tweet in reference to Rashford on July 11, 2021, after England’s loss to Italy, but initially tried to distance himself from it to avoid detection.
Price changed his username after the tweet was reported, and then denied posting the tweet in his first police interview after being arrested, the release said. He admitted to the offense in his second police interview.
He pleaded guilty on March 17 in Worcester Magistrates’ Court to sending a grossly offensive message by public communication network, and received his sentence for six weeks of “immediate imprisonment” Wednesday at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court.
Johnson, the CPS West Midlands prosecutor, said in his statement that people who “racially abuse footballers ruin the game for all.”
“I hope this case sends out the message that we will not tolerate racism, and offenders will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he added.
Former Good Morning Britain presenter, Piers Morgan has come out in support of Prince William against ‘fake racism’ after the Duke of Cambridge faced backlash over his alleged racist remarks.
Sharing the opinion piece of author and activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, the former Good Morning Britain presenter criticized the British-Nigerian activist, saying, “Disgusting race-baiting crap from one of the nastiest, most toxic pundits in Britain.”
He further said, “The Voice should be ashamed of itself too for fuelling this fake racism nonsense about [Prince] William.”
In her piece, Dr Shola says, “It’s time to call out Prince William on racism”. Piers Morgan
Tweet By Piers Morgan
Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu writes that the Duke is dehumanising Africans, Asians and non-white ethnic groups with his comments.
Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince William drew sharp criticism after he said that it was “alien” to see war in Europe.
Few years back, Piers Morgan seems to believe that he’s the victim of “racist bullying” and being silenced after complaining at length about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah to his 7.7 million followers on Twitter, on the TV show he hosts every morning, and in his column for the Daily Mail.
The Good Morning Britain host railed against the former senior royals and the stories they recounted of the racism and hostility they faced at the hands of the palace and the British tabloids. Morgan complained on the morning TV show, “They’ve trashed [Harry’s] dad, they’ve trashed his brother, they’ve trashed his sister-in-law. They’ve trashed everything the Queen has worked so hard for and we’re supposed to believe they’re compassionate?” He went on to label the interview an “absolutely disgraceful betrayal” of the Queen on Twitter, adding that he expected this “vile destructive self-serving nonsense” from Meghan, but not Harry.
However, when Good Morning Britain invited Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu on the program to discuss the couple’s many revelations, including that unnamed members of the royal family were concerned about “how dark [Archie’s] skin might be when he was born,” Morgan was not exactly met with a favorable audience for his defense of the beleaguered monarchy.
Spotify is not canceling Joe Rogan. Two weeks into an evolving and far-reaching controversy over its star podcaster, who has been accused of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, and condemned for his past use of racial slurs, Spotify has faced growing pressure to take a stronger stance about the podcasts it hosts.
But in a memo to employees over the weekend, Daniel Ek, the company’s chief executive, discussed the recent removal of a number of episodes and made it clear that it would not drop Rogan’s show, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” That show has been exclusive to Spotify since 2020, when the company made a licensing deal with Rogan that has been reported to be worth $100 million or more.
“I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek wrote in the memo, which Spotify provided to The New York Times. “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.”
Ek also confirmed that Spotify recently removed dozens of episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” after a compilation video was shared online by the singer India.Arie showing Rogan repeatedly used racial slurs on his show. In a video over the weekend, Rogan apologized and called it “the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly,” though he also said that at the times he made those comments — over 12 years of his podcast, Rogan said — he had believed that they were acceptable in context. Many commentators found that apology insufficient.
In his memo, Ek said that Rogan made the decision to remove the episodes containing racial slurs, which appear to number about 70, after meetings with Spotify executives and after “his own reflections.”
In his letter, Ek alluded to growing employee discontent about that position, and said he was “wrestling with how this perception squares with our values.”
“I also want to be transparent,” he added, “in setting the expectation that in order to achieve our goal of becoming the global audio platform, these kinds of disputes will be inevitable.”
Military police and civilian law enforcement have investigated up to 70 cases of alleged hateful conduct and racist attitudes within the Canadian Army since a crackdown began in September last year, CBC News has learned.
A briefing prepared for the army’s acting commander last winter and obtained under access to information legislation shows 115 cases were catalogued up until that time, with 57 of them being investigated by military authorities.
Figures updated to the end of August — and released to CBC News — show an additional 28 allegations. Of those, 13 were deemed serious enough to warrant a police investigation.
The former top army commander and current acting chief of the defence staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, ordered a broad crackdown after a series of high-profile incidents and investigations.
Review looked at new and historic cases
He issued a 25-page directive that requires soldiers to report to their superiors when they witness or become aware of racism and hateful conduct. If they fail to do so, there could be serious consequences, with Eyre saying they intend to “hold our members accountable for their actions.”
The majority of the hateful conduct cases in the army assessment were reported early this year and in the latter half of 2020 after Eyre issued his order. The scope of the statistical review goes back to 2019. Some of the actual incidents, however, go back as far as 1997.
The general’s tough line came following the case of a now-former Canadian Ranger who was involved with two well-known hate groups and who referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “treasonous bastard.”
Just last week, another ex-reservist, Manitoban Patrik Mathews, was sentenced to nine years in a U.S. prison for his role in what investigators called a violent plot to trigger a “race war” in the United States through the right-wing extremist group The Base.
Source: CBC
