I was walking along minding my business, when I came along this story (Slovenian only) on a Mr. Peter Bossman, a black doctor who is running for mayor of the lovely Slovenian seaside town of Piran. Well, go 'head bruh!
Upon further inspection, it seems that he is being subjected to the haterism that plagues a black man anywhere he tries to do something good. In this case, he is being pressured to step out of the race by people who are claiming that he is addicted to gambling. Mind you, he is a doctor who works healing people from their own addictions, but they think that he -- most likely one of the most noticeable people in his town -- is sneaking around feeding some sort of addiction, while also trying to build his own political career (he is already part of the presidency of the local chapter of his political party). Hmm, dubious. They also tried to out him as having a child out of wedlock, to which he replied that that didn't fly in his culture and that he was indeed paying his child support. Then the people said that as soon as voters saw a black face on the campaign posters they would realize that they didn't want a black mayor.
Where is this coming from you ask? Well, according to recent polls, it seems Mr. Bossman is some fierce competition for the incumbent, Tomaž Gantar, and the existing structure is none-too-thrilled about the threat to the established order. I don't really know what this Bossman cat is all about, but a little change -- in fact a lotta change -- sounds good to me. If Bossman wins, I might have to relocate to the seaside and help him paint the town a lovely shade of brown!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wait, What?! A Brother Running for Mayor in Slovenia
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
it's a shame indeed. But it's also about time Slovenia came out of her narrow minds and started fighting openly against racism, sexism, neonacism and other forms of violence...
This Doctor is fom Ghana - won't you know it??
This Doctor is from Ghana - of all places!!
Wish him every success! Sometimes the established order needs to be broken, especially if it is not benefitting the people.
Hey Camille,
I follow your blog sometimes and I just wanted give you some info that may be of interest to you. Slovenia is reporting on its human rights record at the 77th session of the International Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) this August. You may want to follow what going on. I gathered that this may be something that would interest you. You can read reports submitted byt Slovenia as well as Human Rights Agencies that operate there.
Have seen Russia report before. They've actually got alot of progressive laws but no implementation because of corruption. Nice to see this councillor after some of the reports I've read.
Hi Voyageur, Thanks for reading and thanks for the tip! Will spread the word.
Camille that's really cool, interesting how you're the one BREAKING this news story, can't find many main stream media sources for this story on the net... BTW if you haven't yet check out my blog at its new home http://thetwohalves.com
@Nick - Well, like I said I found it in Dnevnik.
Hi again! I am sitting on Slovenia's periodic report today. I can let you know whether they say anything legally significant about minorities and immigrants.
Please do! I'd be happy to pass it along!
His ethnicity shouldn't matter, right? At least that's how I see politicians. Of course I'm aware that being a black candidate in Slovenia is a totally new thing and of course it draws extremely negative and extremely positive comments. But if both of these poles base their opinion on Bossman solely because he's black, I think they're both wrong. I can understand your enthusiasm, but you're not doing Bossman any favor or improving race relations in Slovenia. You say go 'head bruh and haterism plagues a black man anywhere he tries to do something good and they didn't want a black mayor. And especially I don't really know what this Bossman cat is all about, but a little change -- in fact a lotta change -- sounds good to me. If Bossman wins, I might have to relocate to the seaside and help him paint the town a lovely shade of brown! The last quote is most telling: You have no idea, what he stands for, you have not even read his program or if you did, you haven't highlighted any of his plans to improve the lives of people in Piran. All you're excited about is that he's black. So is it any difference from those who would vote for Gantar, just because he's white? And you moving to Piran to make it more black, what's the point of that? What's with all this obsession with race? Race should not matter, the color of the skin should not matter. We will be equal, when we stop seeing colors, but start seeing people. And as I said, you're not helping by being the counterpart to Slovenian racists. Compare the campaigns of Gantar-Bossman to Obama-McCain and one might think Slovenians are far less racist than Americans.
And another thing: Bossman got most of the votes, because he is a good doctor and those who had the pleasure to be treated by him, are satisfied with his work and trust him to be a good mayor. And they do not care about him being black. He's a good doctor and a good person. My mum can confirm that. Those who are blatantly racist, are in a big minority in Piran, but of course the media will always show 2 racists and 2 pro-Bossman voters and then it looks like half of people of Piran are racists, which is not true.
With all this said, I'm of course happy that you have written this post, because I could write something I have had on my mind for a long time. Thank you for starting the discussion.
Cheers.
Brane
His ethnicity shouldn't matter, right? At least that's how I see politicians. Of course I'm aware that being a black candidate in Slovenia is a totally new thing and of course it draws extremely negative and extremely positive comments. But if both of these poles base their opinion on Bossman solely because he's black, I think they're both wrong. I can understand your enthusiasm, but you're not doing Bossman any favor or improving race relations in Slovenia. You say go 'head bruh and haterism plagues a black man anywhere he tries to do something good and they didn't want a black mayor. And especially I don't really know what this Bossman cat is all about, but a little change -- in fact a lotta change -- sounds good to me. If Bossman wins, I might have to relocate to the seaside and help him paint the town a lovely shade of brown! The last quote is most telling: You have no idea, what he stands for, you have not even read his program or if you did, you haven't highlighted any of his plans to improve the lives of people in Piran. All you're excited about is that he's black. So is it any difference from those who would vote for Gantar, just because he's white? And you moving to Piran to make it more black, what's the point of that? What's with all this obsession with race? Race should not matter, the color of the skin should not matter. We will be equal, when we stop seeing colors, but start seeing people. And as I said, you're not helping by being the counterpart to Slovenian racists. Compare the campaigns of Gantar-Bossman to Obama-McCain and one might think Slovenians are far less racist than Americans.
Sorry, I double posted my comment. You can delete this one and the one before. Thank you.
Brane - Race shouldn't EXIST, but it does, it really does! And I am acting accordingly. If you really think people are voting based solely (or even primarily) on any candidates' political positions, then I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you for a good price. Look, Dr. Bossman is undoubtedly bringing to the table all his myriad experiences including that of overcoming/dealing with the adversity of being black in a country where it is not pleasant to be visibly different in any way. I CARE about him being black and I hope the people who are voting for him do too. That is an important part of who he is and I hope they appreciate it and all that he (in his blackness) can bring to his community.
Post a Comment