Open
letter to Barack Obama |
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On Racism in Denmark
The Danish author of 'American Pictures' Jacob Holdt, and Danish author and columnist Rune Engelbreth, have published "An Open Letter to Barack Obama on Racism in Denmark" as a video-message on YouTube and Facebook. The authors are concerned about the rising influence of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party and hope to get the attention of the American President Elect as well as the American public and media. A new series of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed are about to be published in Denmark where political discrimination and hate-filled rhetoric directed against ethnic and religious minorities has become a dominating part of mainstream politics. A critical appraisal of the danger from our neighbours and friends abroad may prove to be a helpful necessity, similar to the criticism directed at the USA in the years when American politicians demonized their own black minority to attract white voters. Many Americans today express gratitude for the international support in those years and in line with the American ambassador to Denmark James P. Cain, hope that Denmark can avoid repeating America's past mistakes.
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FULL TEXT-VERSION OF THE LETTER:
Dear Mr. President Elect, Barack Obama.
In the spirit of optimism, and the courage to hope for real change which has been kindled throughout the world by the historic election in the United States, we hope to bring to your personal attention, and to the awareness of the American public, the distressing state of affairs in our own highly privileged corner of the world. We wish to express our deep concern at the incremental rise of racism and the use of racist propaganda in mainstream Danish politics over the past decade. Ethnic and religious minorities are demonized and marginalized. Discrimination and hate-filled rhetoric reminiscent of anti-Semitic propaganda of the 1930's has become an accepted part of Danish political debate. This especially affects African ethnic minorities, Arabian ethnic minorities and Muslim religious minorities. The following are quotes from elected members of the Danish and European Parliaments:
Danish member of the
European Parliament, Mogens
Camre:
Member of the Danish
Parliament, Pia Kjaersgaard,
on immigrants from
developing countries living
in Denmark:
Member of the Danish
Parliament, Jesper Langballe:
Member of the Danish
Parliament, Soeren Krarup:
Member of the Danish
Parliament, Martin Henriksen:
Member of the Danish
Parliament, Kristian
Thulesen Dahl:
The quotes above are not simply the usual xenophobic rantings of minor internet based extremists. They are the words of Danish politicians popularly elected to the European and Danish Parliaments with one thing in common - they are all members of the same political party: The Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti).
Sometimes members of this party are even more outspoken: »All Muslims must be thrown out of Denmark.« (Vagn Eriksen) »All Muslims must leave Denmark. It's a harsh thing to say, some of them are human beings, but how are we to sort them out?« (Ib Krog Hansen) (A number of the Danish People's Party's campaigns in Danish newspapers has also stigmatized and demonized Muslims and immigrants – for translations and pictures go to the internet-version of this letter: http://www.panhumanism.com/letter_to_obama.php )
The Danish People's Party is demonizing minorities with the same rhetoric that was once used to demonize Jews and Afro-Americans, distorting their intentions and beliefs. Yet they have been the most influential political party of the past decade, dictating policy on ethnic and religious minorities.
Let us not forget how the Nazis seduced the German people into hating the Jews - by constant claims that Jews were a threat to everybody else:
Julius Streicher, Nazi
Propagandist, in 1925:
Compare this to Pia
Kjaersgaard, leader of the
Danish People's Party, in
2000:
Hermann Esser, Nazi
writer on Jews, in 1939:
Compare this to Mogens
Camre, Member of the
European Parliament for the
Danish People's Party, in
1999:
This is how they are stereotyping and stigmatizing people, by demonizing and denouncing a minority in general as a menace to society. We are not accusing the Danish People's Party of Nazi-sympathies, but history has repeatedly showed how quickly this kind of propaganda can take on a critical momentum of its own when used by influential politicians to stigmatize ethnic or religious groups.
And we are not the only ones to criticize the political development in Denmark over the last decade, the international media has been here too:
The Washington Post:
Neue Zürcher Zeitung:
International Herald
Tribune:
In November 2008 the American ambassador to Denmark, James P. Cain, suggested that Denmark might learn something from the United States:
»Americans in some point of our history decided that it was more important to have an ordered, integrated, diverse, peaceful, secure, harmonious society – harmonious racially, harmonious from an ethnic perspective and harmonious religiously – than it was to each have the individual right to insult our neighbours, to incite violence, to draw offensive cartoons just for the heck of it.« (Deadline, November 12, 2008).
Mr. President Elect. We honestly have no idea if this message will reach you - but we have the aucacity of hope. And perhaps the Danish government have learned a lesson or two from the American election in 2008?
Therefore we sincerely hope that you will take the opportunity to raise these pivotal matters with the Danish government and point out the danger of espousing the policies of the Danish People's Party. We believe the government will listen to you if you choose to criticize the influence of the Danish People's Party when the opportunity presents itself. Thank you!
Yours truly, Jacob Holdt (+0045 20 32 44 12) Rune Engelbreth (+0045 40 88 52 25) |