Poland swears in first black Member of Parliament

[IronEastBloc]

I bet the users at stormfront are So fucking mad and probably having the biggest fit of impotent rage known to man :laugh:

even if he is a bourgeois politician, I still see this as a victory against fascism, as nothing drives the fascists mad with rage more than things like this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11990869


John Abraham Godson, a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, has been sworn in as the first black member of Poland's parliament.

Mr Godson had served as a councillor in the city of Lodz before taking up a parliamentary seat, vacated by a party colleague after local elections.

His entry into parliament has created a media stir in the mainly white country.

He came to Poland in the 1990s, opening an English-language school and working as a pastor in a Protestant church.

He has since married a Polish woman and the couple have four children.
Beaten up twice

A member of the centre-right Civic Platform party, he was appointed to the seat vacated by party colleague Hanna Zdanowskaafter after she became mayor of Lodz.

It is still quite rare to see black people even in the Polish capital Warsaw, Poland's most cosmopolitan city, the BBC's Adam Easton reports.

Racism is still a problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to make racist jokes, our correspondent says.

Mr Godson was beaten up twice in the early 1990s but he says attitudes to black people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the country joined the EU six years ago.

Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr Godson said: "I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here and I want to be buried here."

[bailey_187]

two of my friends who went Poland to play for England under 18s basketball said people were shouting the N word out the windows at them when they walked past but not in an agressive way :confused:

[IronEastBloc]

two of my friends who went Poland to play for England under 18s basketball said people were shouting the N word out the windows at them when they walked past but not in an agressive way :confused:

You got to remember, in Eastern Europe, they watch al ot of American TV and listen to American rap, and most of them have no clue about the connotations of the N-word, since most of them don't speak english, so for them, they seriously think that's just a greeting amongst american blacks.

more cultural misunderstanding than racism.

[PassTheBeer]

Ah.. globalism

[IronEastBloc]

Ah.. globalism

you think this is globalism? how you bigot?

[Sam_b]

You got to remember, in Eastern Europe, they watch al ot of American TV and listen to American rap, and most of them have no clue about the connotations of the N-word, since most of them don't speak english, so for them, they seriously think that's just a greeting amongst american blacks.

more cultural misunderstanding than racism.

People in 'Eastern Europe' (that's disputable as well, there's a strong case of argument that Poland is Central European) are not stupid. You make it sound like these people live in a lesser, underdeveloped country and have little idea of outside culture. It's pretty rediculous to be honest, and you're treading a very fine line here.

[Milk Sheikh]

People in 'Eastern Europe' (that's disputable as well, there's a strong case of argument that Poland is Central European) are not stupid. You make it sound like these people live in a lesser, underdeveloped country and have little idea of outside culture. It's pretty rediculous to be honest, and you're treading a very fine line here.

People in EE may not be stupid, but they aren't as progressive as those in Western Europe. Most of them are racist to the core; for them, it is normal. At least in WE, there is PC politics to keep people in check. Racism in EE can be blatant and explicit, which is so very rare in WE.

[Reznov]

This says it all,

"A member of the centre-right Civic Platform party"

I could care less what skin pigmentation the guy has to be honest.

Honestly, getting all excited when someone darker than a white person gets elected because it gets a couple of idiots mad at stormfront is not a victory.

The emancipation of the working class is a victory. Getting our Socalist parties and members known is the real victory.

[Sam_b]

People in EE may not be stupid, but they aren't as progressive as those in Western Europe. Most of them are racist to the core; for them, it is normal. At least in WE, there is PC politics to keep people in check. Racism in EE can be blatant and explicit, which is so very rare in WE.

Nonsense.

[gorillafuck]

You got to remember, in Eastern Europe, they watch al ot of American TV and listen to American rap, and most of them have no clue about the connotations of the N-word, since most of them don't speak english, so for them, they seriously think that's just a greeting amongst american blacks.
People don't shout greetings to people out windows in general. Let alone racial slurs as greetings.

[IronEastBloc]

People in 'Eastern Europe' (that's disputable as well, there's a strong case of argument that Poland is Central European) are not stupid. You make it sound like these people live in a lesser, underdeveloped country and have little idea of outside culture. It's pretty rediculous to be honest, and you're treading a very fine line here.

I'm from Eastern Europe and of Eastern European heritage, and I can tell you that, since the end of communism, that part of the world for lack of a a better term, has been a lesser, underdeveloped area.

[Sam_b]

I'm from Eastern Europe and of Eastern European heritage

This doesn't quantify anything.


since the end of communism, that part of the world for lack of a a better term, has been a lesser, underdeveloped area.

Are you trying to hit a record number of generalisations or something?

[IronEastBloc]

This doesn't quantify anything.



Are you trying to hit a record number of generalisations or something?


nothing you say is exactly scientifically quantifying either. I'm not politically correct. I'm being realistic. the former soviet states have hit rock bottom since the fall of the USSR. they're backwards now whereas they were once cultured and wealthy. why? because capitalism took them backwards. this is not a reflection on the slavic or people of eastern europe...it's a reflection on how capitalism has downgraded their nations whereas once Eastern Europe was a proud example of the world.

Personally, I am guessing you're just a closet racist who is angered that a black person is elected to a federal high office in a nearly all white part of Europe?

wouldn't surprise me though. most Trots (as I'm guessing you probably are) turn out to be closeted racists. Just remember Trotsky's words on "Asiatics".

[IronEastBloc]

Eastern Europe as well as East Germany has been a shithole since communism has fallen there. anyone want to disagree with me? anyone want to tell me how that's racist or generalizing? it's the truth. capitalism has destroyed the order in society that was once in eastern europe:

and it looks like quite a few agree with me, rather:

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20060828/53212492.html

ignore the bourgeois subtext, but the information is accurate:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,634122,00.html

http://www.politics.hu/20080521/poll-shows-majority-of-hungarians-feel-life-was-better-under-communism

In fact, talk to any honest hard worker if they miss the soviet union or the socialist republics, and good money is (if they weren't enriched by the criminally corrupt 90's) that they miss communism quite a bit.

so you really don't know what you're talking about here and I suggest you best just pretend like you never started any responses in this thread.

[Sam_b]

nothing you say is exactly scientifically quantifying either. I'm not politically correct. I'm being realistic. the former soviet states have hit rock bottom since the fall of the USSR. they're backwards now whereas they were once cultured and wealthy. why? because capitalism took them backwards. this is not a reflection on the slavic or people of eastern europe...it's a reflection on how capitalism has downgraded their nations whereas once Eastern Europe was a proud example of the world.

Personally, I am guessing you're just a closet racist who is angered that a black person is elected to a federal high office in a nearly all white part of Europe?

wouldn't surprise me though. most Trots (as I'm guessing you probably are) turn out to be closeted racists. Just remember Trotsky's words on "Asiatics".

This is hilarious. What you are doing, and continue to do, is band around buzz-words without quantifying, and mix up the socio-political with economic. Please explain why these former Soviet states are 'backwards' please. It's probably also worth noting that I never actually once mentioned former Soviet states, and neither did you - FWIW this discussion was at one time based around Central European states such as Poland.

I'm not for one second denying the economic effects of neo-Schumpeterianism which hit several former bloc and satellite states, but 'backwards'? Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the 1920s could perhaps be described as 'backwards', but Poland? Really?

But, of course, in true troll-and-strawman fashion I am a racist. Why, do you ask? Did I express anger at this individual getting elected in this thread? No, no I have not. Perhaps a stronger inclination is the perjorative of '"them" when referring to the Polish people, and conveying the idea that these people 'do not know better' than to say racial slurs is more telling here. The fact that a Civic Platform member got elected does not do anything to challenge the social and political reasons behind prejudice, as i'm sure you'll agree. Though of course it is welcoming to see a minority elected into a position of power, it doesn't change much at all.

You could, however, prove that I am this big ol' racist. I doubt you will though. I also doubt you'll actually give me anything substantive to suggest that Central European satellite states are 'backward' as well.


---

Aah, the second post as well then.

As I said, I don't deny the affects of the changes post-bloc that were made more often than not had negative effects. However, you are still confusing economical with social-political. The Hungarian source is a pretty standard response: I could point out similar polls that have been made in Slovakia, the Czech Republic with high KSCM support, the Romanian poll...but none of this proves any 'backwardness' of the sort. All you are saying is your assertion that the Soviet Union and satellite states were better than now in every way. Now, this is debatable, but it's not the debate here as it's not what we are talking about.

You seem confused and have problems with distinguishing factors here.

[synthesis]

Another thing to remember is that even in the U.S., the word wasn't always considered "pejorative," even when used in racist ways. I have elderly relatives who still use it in casual conversation.

[Tatarin]

It should also not be forgotten that Jews lived in Germany for a long time before nazism ever came on, both rich and poor and in all institutions of society. What will happen when an "economic downturn" hits Poland next time? Most likely what will happen in any country, and what is happening now all over the EU with the Roma. Besides, I know there has been (or still is?) some kind of conflict between Hungary and Slovakia, yet they are neighboring countries - i.e., how much different can they be?

The same can be said of muslims, who one day had to take the blame for everything now in this new world, despite them being around for quite some time. To paraphrase Michael Parenti, in his talk about Yugoslavia, that when economic conditions for the people are stable (or "good") they tend to go along quite well. But when these turn sour, there will always be someone to point the finger to.

[Sam_b]

Has IronEastBloc run away from this thread as he can't answer for himself?