"Elegant" racism

I'm not sure I understood it. Is it a first world problem? I'm looking at the allafrica site about the abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria.

The link worked fine for me. Will read it properly later.

Now ... Where have I come across these ideas recently

I meant that the problem of elegant racism is a first world problem .i read the allafrica.Nigeria this morning and saw that 100more people have been killed and 8more children abducted. I think most Americans have the opportunity and wherewithal to deal with elegant racism. Whereas several hundred girls possibly sold to Somalians for £8. Where are the headlines for that? It was at the bottom of the page in the Times

The media are strangely silent on this appalling case - is it because we recognise that there is depressingly little chance of rescuing these girls or indeed of justice in a corrupt political system?

US has sent team and the British have offered help.

Better late than never. But it's three weeks since these girls were abducted and who knows what degradation they may have suffered in the meantime.

It doesn't surprise me that governments are reluctant to get involved in Nigeria's misogyny. But as jings says, the UK and Us governments are now trying to help.

Re the article I linked to, I'm wondering if the so-called first world isn't allowed to have racism problems . (Strange after another recent gransnet conversation). The problem described is different from the problem(s) in Nigeria, but it's still a complex problem people face and one which, once aware of it, any civilised country should try to resolve. Isn't it?

I reiterate . The US have the means to deal with it. It is a problem which is a luxury. Does that make Nigeria uncivilised?

No, but there obviously are uncivilised people in Nigeria or the kidnapping of the schoolgirls would not have happened. However, that's not the point. I didn't post the link to an article about happenings in Chicago in order to talk about problems in Nigeria. How can the two things be compared? They are two completely separate things.

I thought the article by Coates interesting. I thought some others might find it interesting as well. That is all. This has nothing to do with Nigerian abductions!!!!!!!

Go and hijack a different thread! Or, better still, start one yourself about something that you found interesting.

Oh, and before anyone else says it, yes, there are uncivilised people in first world countries too. And once again that is beside the bloody point!

Yee Gods! as my mum used to say.

As far as I'm aware racism doesn't even come into the Nigerian kidnappings problem.

Muslim extremists not wanting girls educated?

No, perhaps not racist. But still....

"Was the black family better off as property?" Stupid definitely.

Fascinating article, B. I don't know who most of the people mentioned in this piece are, yet found the 'meat' of the article had me thinking hard about the subtlety of language and social engineering. The sort of racism that 'mortally injures but does not bruise' (Coates) .

Thanks for the link.

A very USA centrist article. racism is a universal problem. Japanese attitudes to Koreans, Chinese to everybody else, most of eastern Europe to Africans, Arabs to Africans.

The only thing one can say is that Africans seem to be the victims in almost every country.

Of course hidden racism expressed obliquely is more damaging because difficult to put a finger on, as is anti-feminist, class based prejudice or anything else.