Kofi Annan a "cheeky darkie"

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
1

Way past time for this moronic idiot to resign immediately.

‘Sorry not enough’ in NZ race row](BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | 'Sorry not enough' in NZ race row), BBC, 30 September 2003

New Zealand’s race relations commissioner Joris de Bres has branded as “insufficient” apologies from a broadcaster who racially abused the head of the United Nations.

Paul Holmes repeatedly called Kofi Annan a “cheeky darkie” on his radio programme last week.

A major sponsor of a television programme Holmes also hosts said it was pulling out of its contract to back the show. Mr de Bres admitted that some New Zealanders held racist views. “There are people in New Zealand who have welcomed what he said.”

“They are not a majority but there is here - as there are in most countries - a group of people who undoubtedly hold such views,” he told the BBC on Tuesday. “It is a problem, and it is particularly important to me that the media play a role that is intolerant of racism, and that actively promotes tolerance,” he said.

He dismissed Holmes’s two public apologies as inadequate.

“I felt that the apologies themselves were insufficient to reassure the public,” he said. Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand said on Monday that it would withdraw sponsorship of Holmes’s television programme.

Managing director John Leighton called the Annan comments “completely unacceptable”, the Associated Press reported.

On Tuesday, a group of 54 academics called on Holmes to resign.

He was forced to evacuate his studio 15 minutes before the end of his show the day after his anti-UN tirade because of a bomb threat. A caller had phoned the NewstalkZB station warning a bomb would go off if Holmes was not taken off the air, according to local media.

Holmes’ remarks about Mr Annan have been roundly condemned by listeners, the country’s prime minister and race relations groups. Holmes told his morning show audience: “That Kofi Annan, I’ve got to say to you, has been a very cheeky darkie overnight.”

Later he apologised and insisted he was not a racist.

“I should not have said what I did. It was tongue-in-cheek. It was the shock end of the spectrum; it was a bit mad probably,” he said.

Holmes is one of New Zealand’s highest-profile and highest paid broadcasters.

2

whoa hoa!!!!!!!!!! d.a.n.g!!!!!

3

:mad: i know ! What an IDIOT.

4

waisay yaar Nadia come to think of it, how many people prolly actually think that but never say it innit :halo: theres more racists out there than we know and i’m prolly guilty of racist thought many a times too which sucks :frowning:
oh well…khayr i’m off for now yara tc :wave:

5

True. The difference, i am sure, is that you consciously try to remove a racist thought once you think of it - i know, when i have racist thoughts in my mind, i immediately try to remind myself that it’s wrong and i ‘rationalize’ how stupid my racist thought is. For example, being scared of walking down a street when there’s a black guy ahead… i try to rationalize, there’s no more danger in that than if it was a white guy walking infront of me. Just because he is black, does not mean i am going to get mugged. So even though i DO have racist thoughts, and i hate to admit this, i consciously try to make sure i never act out on those thoughts and i make myself accept how stupid and illogical my racist beliefs are in reality.

argh. Hope that made sense :rotato: Have fun yaar and take care :wave:

6

It was a talk show on the radio, right?

I am sure it is pretty sad thing to hear... on the other hand, I can tell you, there are plenty of talk shows, here in the US, where the hosts get away with stuff which is much worse than this. I have listened to right-wing conservative talk-shows and the sort of conspiracy theories and the racist crap they spew out will put this Anan snippet to shame.

This is talk radio for you. Its all freedom of opinion here. If one doesn't like it, they switch the channel. If the sponsor doesn't like it, they pull their sponsorship. Talk radio hosts, for the most part, try to shock the viewers by being politically incorrect, and arguably saying things as they deem fit, and not sugar-coat them. A few days ago, I was listening to "Savage Nation" which is a ultra-conservative talk show here and the guy lamblasted all ay-rabs in the worst possible manner. Thats what expected of him, cz its a savage talk show, with no mercy shown.

The day when Bush addressed the UN, the same guy, Michael Savage, threw a bunch of insults on Coffee-Donut-Annan and called him the "black guy" who is "given" the secy-general'ship and who should check his mouth before "insulting" the biggest super power in the world. Something like that. I am sure, any black guy listening to the show would be enraged, and for some reason, I doubt if a lot of black guys tune into that station anyway.

To each his own.

7

Stunts attract an audience. What good would a show be if the host simply agreed with everyone. The media lives for controversy, and pushes for it.

That doesnt mean his marks were appropriate.

8

:eek: f-in *******! he should be locked up or heavily fined or even banned from radio.

9

its about time. this qulfi-naan guy is nothing but a puppet whose strings are in the hands of USA. whenever i see him on TV i feel like hitting him with my jooti but then my TV is expensive and i don't want to damage it. :)

10

Those of us who have voice that reaches the public have a greater responsibility. So this talk show host should have thought about what he was saying.
We, as normal everyday civilians can think or say almost whatever we want but when you are in the limelight you are judged by the public...and the public is a very strong force , if united.

11

And right on the cue, today all American news rooms are buzzing about the comments by Rush Limbaugh on ESPN yesterday where he suggested that a quarterback (American Football) is getting more than his fair share of credit in the media for his team's performance, just because he is black.

Rush is an ultra-rightwing conservative, who hosts his own talk radio show... very famous, actually... and many analysts are citing his comments to show-case that all conservatives are closet-racists.

12

why the hell can't people look past colour and ethnicity to who the person is, their character and what good they are capable of doing?

13

^ I expected that from you Mehnaz :snooty:

14

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MehnazQ: *
why the hell can't people look past colour and ethnicity to who the person is, their character and what good they are capable of doing?
[/QUOTE]

restricted to annan only, can you list a few GOOD and worth-mentioning things this guy has done in the past keeping in mind his position and influence as head of UN.

15

My comment was not about Kofi Annan. It was a general observation on people and society ... how there are some individuals that we (or perhaps just me) often come across who place a tremendous amount of value and importance on ethnicity and using whatever another person's ethnicity is to make assumptions/generalizations and comments about their character rather than really looking at who they are. Why do people do this? We see is all the time on t.v., radio and in our everyday lives. It's ridiculous.

16

Its human nature. You can try and control yourself and not think about it, or not express your feelings. Its impossible to erase the whole notion of race-based and appearance-based judgements.

17

BabyGulabJaman, i want a response from you in particular. What do you mean, “its about time”? It’s about time that an African guy be told where he belongs? It’s about time that an African human being not think he’s ‘above’ the rest of us whiteys (or wannabe whiteys)? Precisely, i am asking you, what do you mean?

i don’t care what you think of his job as Secretary General. He has not done a commendable job, i see eye to eye with you on that. NOW, when it comes to someone making comments about him based upon the colour of his skin or his ethnicity, and not upon the work that he has done, but rather based upon his skin colour, then a line MUST be drawn. This broadcaster, Paul Holmes, should have said what he wanted about his work, but not about Annan’s colour or ethnicity as a Ghanaian.

When you are in the masjid this coming Ramadan for your taraweeh prayers, you better make sure that you’re not sitting next to a ‘cheeky darkie’ as well… and remember every time that you hear the Azaan, that it was a black man, black as most Ethiopians are, Bilal, who was appointed by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to give the first Azaan on Earth. And remember if you ever go on Hajj and see the Khana Kaaba for the first time, remember it is completely black in colour. And remember that a black man, Hakeem Olajuwon, is doing a great deal of dawah in the US and in Canada to spread the message of our great faith.

Am sincerely looking forward to reading your response.

Cat-woman, Fayax, and Mehnaz :k:

18

my response was in regards to his work as SG of UN. i don’t care about his color, cast or religion. these things are of no importance or concern to me. i don’t like him because of his inability to handle UN as its SG. :slight_smile:

19

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
This is talk radio for you. Its all freedom of opinion here. If one doesn't like it, they switch the channel. If the sponsor doesn't like it, they pull their sponsorship. Talk radio hosts, for the most part, try to shock the viewers by being politically incorrect, and arguably saying things as they deem fit, and not sugar-coat them. A few days ago, I was listening to "Savage Nation" which is a ultra-conservative talk show here and the guy lamblasted all ay-rabs in the worst possible manner. Thats what expected of him, cz its a savage talk show, with no mercy shown.

[/QUOTE]

What a wonderful idea Faisal. Can we have something like this on GS?

20

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Its human nature. You can try and control yourself and not think about it, or not express your feelings. Its impossible to erase the whole notion of race-based and appearance-based judgements.
[/QUOTE]

True. However, I also believe that a person becomes more concious of their behaviour and may attempt not to implement negative ethnic stereotypes in their speech or general attitude only if they themselves have experienced ethnic discrimination as they, themselves, will know what it feels like and will try not to conciously do it to others.