3 race and religion articles

Cadbury Dairy Milk ad cleared of racism

The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.

Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.

However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a message across.

Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".

In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism

Griffin: Unfair that Question Time was filmed in 'ethnically cleansed' London

Nick Griffin said today he was the victim of a "lynch mob" audience drawn from a city that had been "ethnically cleansed" and was "no longer British".

The BNP leader's comments prompted Boris Johnson, the mayor ofLondon, to say that there was "no place here" for Griffin or his party as he urged Londoners to reject his "extremist and offensive views".

Fellow Question Time panelist Bonnie Greer admitted today she had to restrain herself from slapping Griffin last night, before adding she was glad she hadn't because he was "totally trounced" on the show.

Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".

Griffin claims he was treated unfairly by the panel and audience and complained that the show, held at BBC Television Centre in London, was broadcast from a city which had changed beyond all recognition because of what he called uncontrolled immigration.

"That was not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob," he told Sky News.

He went on: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British ... That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley?

"Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people [living], and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."

He added: "There is not much support for me there [in London], because the place is dominated by ethnic minorities. There is an ethnic minority that supports me: the English. But there's not many of them left."

The Conservative mayor swiftly hit back on behalf of Londoners: "Nick Griffin is right to say London is not his city. London is a welcoming, tolerant, cosmopolitan capital which thrives on its diversity. The secret of its long-term success is its ability to attract the best from wherever they are and allow them to be themselves – unleashing their imagination, creativity and enterprise. The BNP has no place here and I again urge Londoners to reject their narrow, extremist and offensive views at every opportunity."

The BNP has exploited concerns about immigration among the white working class in some of London's poorer areas to gain representation on several councils in the capital.

It holds a seat on the capital-wide London Assembly and has 12 seats on Barking and Dagenham council, making it the second biggest party there after Labour, with six other council seats across three London boroughs.

The BNP leader insisted that his performance last night was "fine", despite it being panned by the press, with his own party officialsadmitting today that their leader had made a less than impressive showing on last night's show as he was repeatedly criticised by fellow panelists and jeered by a hostile audience.

Greer, the playwright and critic who sat next to Griffin on the Question Time panel, told the Daily Mail Griffin had been "trembling like a leaf" throughout his appearance.

Sitting next to him was "probably the weirdest and most creepy experience of my life", she said.

"I spent the entire night with my back turned to him. At one point, I had to restrain myself from slapping him. But it was worth it because he was totally trounced."

The BNP leader said he needed a second chance on the BBC flagship programme. "People wanted to see me and hear me talking about things such as the postal strike. One or two questions about what a wicked man I am, fair enough, but the whole programme – it was absurd. Let's do it again but do it properly this time."

He also said that he wanted to challenge justice secretary Jack Straw, who was on last night's panel, to a one-to-one debate on the issues of the day, and called on David Cameron to disassociate himself from the protests outside BBC Television Centre where the programme was recorded.

A spokeswoman for the Tory party leader said Cameron, who supports the campaign aims of anti-fascist groups, said he had no intention of responding to Griffin.

Griffin's thumbs-down on last night was not shared by his French counterpart Jean-Marie Le Pen, who predicted today that the BBC's decision to invite Griffin on the show would lead to a surge in support for the party.

The BNP later today posted a message on its website claiming that 3,000 people registered to sign up as members once a current recruitment freeze - introduced in response to legal action over the party's discriminatory membership rules - has been lifted.

"This figure represents the single largest block of new membership expressions of interest ever, and will, once formally signed up, have boosted party membership by nearly 30%."

Earlier today, Le Pen, who has previously described his own appearance on a similar programme in France in the early 1980s as "the hour that changed everything" for his party, told the London Evening Standard: "Small fish become big so long as God gives them life. All political groups have started as marginal before becoming important."

Le Pen – a member of the European parliament, like Griffin – attacked the "scandalous" protests over the BBC's decision, which he said presented a "narrow idea of democracy". "Trying to stop an elected individual from expressing himself on mainstream media appears scandalous," he told the Standard.

Le Pen's own popularity rose after he appeared on the French programme L'heure de Verité in 1984, before which he had been virtually boycotted by the French media. Voting intentions for the Front National in the European elections in June that year subsequently doubled, from 3.5% to 7%, and in the election itself the FN scored 11% (2.2m votes). A Figaro-Magazinepoll conducted after the broadcast showed that the proportion of those with a "positive opinion" of Le Pen rose to 13%, and then rose again to 17% by the summer.

He came second in the French presidential race in 2002, ahead of Lionel Jospin, the former prime minister.

Le Pen said today: "The BBC is conducting itself in a democratic way with regard to the English people. He [Griffin] will reveal his ideas. It's up to the people to judge."

Downing Street said Gordon Brown did not watch last night's edition of Question Time, but he telephoned Straw to thank him for appearing on the programme.

"He very rarely watches Question Time," Brown's spokesman said. "He is often busy on important government matters, finishing paperwork and other government business. He was certainly engaged on government business."

The BBC said that average viewing figures for the programme were almost 8 million – meaning around three times more viewers tuned in than usual.

By midday today, it had received more than 350 complaints following the broadcast.

More than 240 people felt the show was biased against the BNP, while more than 100 of the complaints were about Griffin being allowed to appear on Question Time.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/bnp-nick-griffin-question-time

The world's most influential Muslims?

I was in Cairo International Airport earlier this week, scrolling through Facebook to see what my friends were up to, when I saw Shahed Amanullah had updated his status to say he was one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world.

I followed his link (pdf) to see who or what constituted influence these days. The result was a strange mix of clerics, dictators, terrorists and billionaires. It's a fascinating document – all 202 glossy pages of it – and comes complete with a potted guide to Islam and a handy league table to show which country has the highest success rate.

"We have strived to highlight people who are influential as Muslims, that is, people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim," says the introduction.

Influence is a tricky concept, it continues, and in a variety of different ways each person on this list has influence over the lives of a large number of people on the earth.

"The 50 most influential figures are profiled. Their influence comes from a variety of sources; however they are unified by the fact that they each affect huge swaths of humanity."

The above provide the overarching criteria for selection but there are more than a few anomalies. A quick glance reveals that being good and being influential are not mutually exclusive – Adnan Oktar makes an appearance. Not being observant presents no barrier to inclusion either as I was always under the impression that Zaha Hadid is an atheist.

Dave Chapelle is also on the list. Dave Chapelle? Have they seen his R Kelly skit? The writer and comedian has never confirmed whether he is Muslim or not, so the judging panel might as well have included Ronnie O'Sullivan as one of the 500. But if you're talking about affecting "huge swaths of humanity" then surely Osama Bin Laden should be at the top spot? He isn't. It's King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah is custodian of the two Holy Mosques so he has a position of responsibility, but influence? The following paragraph is more revealing: "King Abdullah reigns over a land of massive crude oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has approximately 25% of the world's proven oil reserves, making him a key player in the global petroleum industry."

Bin Laden is on the list – as a radical. Funny, I thought he was a terrorist. This chapter is reserved for "infamous individuals [who] have incredible influence on vast amounts of people, often cited for heinous acts and controversial statements made from their platforms of authority."

Alarm bells also ring over the lack of women featured. They get a separate section from the men. Too many of the top 50 are either heads of state, which automatically gives them an advantage when it comes to influence, or they have inherited their position. Lineage is a significant factor – it has its own category – and the predisposition to include children of important people reveals a mindset that indicates achievement is an optional extra

LINK :http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/500-influential-muslims-list