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On Thursday, 6 June 2013 23:02:08 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:

More on Swedish racism.
GE
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New York Times
Sweden's Closet Racists

By JONAS HASSEN KHEMIRI

Published: April 20, 2013


WELCOME to my body. Make yourself at home. From now on, we share skin, spine and nervous system. Here are our legs, which always want to run when we see a police car. Here are our hands, which always clench into fists when we hear politicians talk about the need for stronger borders, more internal ID checks, faster deportation of people without papers.
And these are our fingers, which recently wrote a very public letter to Sweden's justice minister, Beatrice Ask, after she went on the radio to defend racial profiling of passengers on Stockholm's subway.
On March 7, the minister told a nationwide audience: "One's experience of 'why someone has questioned me' can of course be very subjective," suggesting that racially profiled subway passengers were overreacting and that their anger was irrational. Without missing a beat, she continued, "There are some who have been previously convicted and feel that they are always questioned, even though you can't tell by looking at a person that they have committed a crime."
It was an interesting choice of words — "previously convicted." Because that's exactly what we are. All of us who are guilty until proved innocent. We Swedes who do not fit the outdated blond, blue-eyed stereotype of what a true Swede should look like. We whose personal experience makes us doubt our country's international reputation of being a paradise, with equal opportunities for everyone.
We remember the shame and the slights. ............................................................................................................................................................



Unpacking the layers of Sweden's racist-misogynist cake
April 20, 2012 By Sokari 4 Comments
blacklooks.org

Shailja Patel writing in Pambazuka News responds to the shockingly brutalisation of African women's bodies by the Swedish Artists Organisation  – Lets be clear this action and the response by the artists in question does not stand alone.  It should be studied closely in itself AND  along with the growing acceptance of racism and racist action all of which point to the continuing brutalisation of African people in Europe and America [USA & Canada] and the attempt by white liberals to deflect the Black reality through the insidious myth of a post racial world.

The missing ingredient in Sweden's racist-misogynist cake

What makes the cake episode so deeply offensive is the appropriation, by both artist and his audience, of African women's bodies and experiences, while completely excluding real African women from the discourse. It is a pornography of violence.

TOP LAYER

The scene is Stockholm's Museum of Modern Art, on Sunday, April 15th. The event is the celebration of World Art Day, and the 75th birthday of the Swedish Artists Organisation. Five artists have been asked to create birthday cakes for the occasion.

This is what the world will see, in photos and on video, the next morning.

On the table, a huge cake, with a smooth shiny black surface, in the form of a caricatured African female body, sans legs. Naked, splayed on its back, it is composed of crotch, belly mound, large pendulous breasts held by truncated stick arms, a row of neck rings. Where the neck rings end, a living human head rears up through a hole in the table. The head belongs to the kneeling body of a man. It is tricked out in exaggerated blackface –large white circles around the eyes, drawn-on cartoon red mouth and pointed teeth.




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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow [har...@msu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 9:38 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FW: Sweden riots expose ugly side of Nordic model (Guardian)

the cake is not a valid example. it was an african artist who made a
weird cake depicting sara bartmann, and as a performance artist, emitted
groans whenever it was cut.
you can call this a weird, grotesque, unpalatable effort...but there was
no racism unless you miss all the irony in the performance and take it
literally.
sort of like chris ofili's elephant dung used for his black madonna.
the general public has always read modern art and performance on a
literal level, i.e., on the surface, missing the point and blaming the
artist. another example would be criticisms of basquiat's figures as not
representing black people in a beautiful manner....
(that still leaves four more sites!)
ken
On 6/5/13 11:32 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
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>   Five sites on Swedish racism.
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> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
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> Swedish minister denies claims of racism over black woman ... <http://ccs.infospace.com/ClickHandler.ashx?du=www.guardian.co.uk%2fworld%2f2012%2fapr%2f17%2fsweden-europe-news&ru=http%3a%2f%2fwww.guardian.co.uk%2fworld%2f2012%2fapr%2f17%2fsweden-europe-news&ld=20130606&ap=5&app=1&c=facemoodsv4.1095&s=facemoodsv4&coi=771&cop=main-title&euip=70.134.227.140&npp=5&p=0&pp=0&pvaid=592e4a9124eb41d4b1ca7efad01c08ac&ep=5&mid=9&hash=574DF45E8B808DFED69B3FD36510E4B4>
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> Sweden's minister of culture has been accused of racism after cutting
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> a cake depicting a naked black woman. Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth
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> was taking part in an ...
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> www.guardian.co.uk/…/2012/apr/17/sweden-europe-news<http://ccs.infospace.com/ClickHandler.ashx?du=www.guardian.co.uk%2fworld%2f2012%2fapr%2f17%2fsweden-europe-news&ru=http%3a%2f%2fwww.guardian.co.uk%2fworld%2f2012%2fapr%2f17%2fsweden-europe-news&ld=20130606&ap=5&app=1&c=facemoodsv4.1095&s=facemoodsv4&coi=771&cop=main-title&euip=70.134.227.140&npp=5&p=0&pp=0&pvaid=592e4a9124eb41d4b1ca7efad01c08ac&ep=5&mid=9&hash=574DF45E8B808DFED69B3FD36510E4B4>
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> http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2011/05/23/sweden-racism/
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> Sweden riots expose ugly side
>   of 'Nordic model'
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>   *   Stockholm riots challenge image of happy, generous state<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/us-sweden-riots-idUSBRE94L1BW20130522>
> Wed, May 22 2013
>   *   Sweden's capital hit by worst riots in years<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/us-sweden-riots-idUSBRE94L0CH20130522>
> Wed, May 22 2013
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> By Niklas Pollard and Philip O'Connor
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> STOCKHOLM | Thu May 23, 2013 10:21am EDT
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> STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The scene of Sweden's worst riots in years, Husby
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> is on the surface at least a typically neat suburb of
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> colorful playgrounds, manicured parks and low rise apartment buildings.
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> Conversations with residents of this immigrant neighborhood soon bring tales
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> of fruitless job hunts, police harassment, racial taunts and a feeling
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> of living at the margins that are at odds with Sweden's reputation for openness and tolerance.
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> http://kenyastockholm.com/2011/05/22/growing-racism-against-africans-in-sweden/
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> This article referred to a  mock slave auction in 2011 in  Lund.
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> Stockholm riots leave Sweden's dreams of perfect society up ... <http://ccs.infospace.com/ClickHandler.ashx?du=www.telegraph.co.uk%2fnews%2fworldnews%2feurope%2fsweden%2f...&ru=http%3a%2f%2fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2fnews%2fworldnews%2feurope%2fsweden%2f10080320%2fStockholm-riots-leave-Swedens-dreams-of-perfect-society-up-in-smoke.html&ld=20130606&ap=9&app=1&c=facemoodsv4.1095&s=facemoodsv4&coi=771&cop=main-title&euip=70.134.227.140&npp=9&p=0&pp=0&pvaid=9279da057c6f450b8a12b94cc543b26c&ep=9&mid=9&hash=F891EA2EA1FA5B0333821AB4676CD1E9>
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> Stockholm riots leave Sweden's dreams of perfect society up in smoke A week of
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>   disturbances in Sweden's capital has tested the Scandinavian nation's reputation for ...
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> www.telegraph.co.uk/…ws/worldnews/europe/sweden/...<http://ccs.infospace.com/ClickHandler.ashx?du=www.telegraph.co.uk%2fnews%2fworldnews%2feurope%2fsweden%2f...&ru=http%3a%2f%2fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2fnews%2fworldnews%2feurope%2fsweden%2f10080320%2fStockholm-riots-leave-Swedens-dreams-of-perfect-society-up-in-smoke.html&ld=20130606&ap=9&app=1&c=facemoodsv4.1095&s=facemoodsv4&coi=771&cop=main-title&euip=70.134.227.140&npp=9&p=0&pp=0&pvaid=9279da057c6f450b8a12b94cc543b26c&ep=9&mid=9&hash=F891EA2EA1FA5B0333821AB4676CD1E9>
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--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

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