Racism in Europe still lives

Sometimes I have to snap back into the reality that America isn't the only place in the world with a "race" problem.

From The Associated Press:

Racist violence and discrimination persist across the European Union, and most members of the 27-nation bloc aren't taking advantage of tough legislation to crack down, the EU's rights agency warned.

Britain and France lead a list of nine countries credited with actively fighting racism and xenophobia, but most other EU members aren't making the most of a tough EU-wide "racial equality directive," the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights said.

Between 2006 and 2007, Britain punished 95 offenders, more than the other 26 members combined, the Vienna-based agency said. It also lauded Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Sweden.

By contrast, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia issued no sanctions during the same period.

While the report praises the UK for "fighting racism and xenophobia," how much progress has a place like London made if they elect resident lunatic Boris Johnson to be mayor?

During his mayoral campaign, Johnson came under fire for statements perceived to be racist by many in London's black community, including Labor MP Diane Abbot and Doreen Lawrence, mother of racially slained Stephen Lawrence.

Following an inquiry into Stephen's death, better known as the Macpherson Inquiry, Johnson, who was a journalist at the time, called the racial charges against the police to be plain "hysteria," and also said that the inquiry's "recommendation that the law might be changed so as to allow prosecution for racist language or behaviour 'other than in a public place'" was akin to "Ceausescu's Romania."

Johnson was also critized for a column he wrote in the Telegraph, mocking then Prime Minister Tony Blair's diplomatic trip to the Congo. Johnson said Blair would arrive as "the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief", just as "it is said the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."

While Johnson did apologize for the above at a January debate for his use of piccaninies, many of his colleagues then came out and said that the mayor uses the derogatory term all the time.

The saga continued this weekend when one of the mayor's aides, James McGarth, quit over statements made towards London black immigrants who didn't like that the Tory party now ran the city.

``Well, let them go if they don't like it here,'' McGrath said, according to the account on the-latest.com.

It just so happens that I am renting the full two season of the fabulous black britcom, Desmond's, which was about a Caribbean immigrant family dealing with London life during the Thatcher years. When I first watched the show a few years ago, I actually thought it was a bit dated, considering the amount of racial advancement London has made over the year. But with this Johnson in office now, advancement could be stalled for a while.