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Galliano Fired after Anti-Semitic Remarks
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Anonymous
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Europeans are MUCH more racist than Americans.
It is easy to throw stones when you live in homogeneous populations. |
Anonymous
I find this statement hard to reconcile with the many biographies of WW-II era Black soldiers who stated, in so many words, that the first experience of acceptance and dignity they had was when stationed in Europe. I just can't put European style-racism, or xenophobia, up against the race hatred of early 20th-century America and accept that Europeans are much more racist that Americans. Can't accept that. |
Anonymous
I'm the poster you're responding to. I simply meant that while all anti-semitic, racist, etc., remarks are abhorrent anywhere, there's something especially ugly about invoking Hitler in Paris or anywhere the Nazis occupied. Kind of like saying something anti-black in Paris would be abhorrent but somehow especially disgusting saying it in Selma or some other historical location laden with the ugliest of American racial baggage. Again, not saying it's any more acceptable anywhere, but there's an a certain "in your eye" quality to Galiano's remarks. Maybe I'm wrong to make a distinction, but it just struck me that way, thinking of all the Jews rounded up right in the neighborhoods where he was spewing his hate. Just an emotional reaction on my part. (and I'm not Jewish, if that matters) |
Anonymous
| It is interesting that Natalie Portman said that she is proud to be Jewish, after changing her name from Herschlag to Portman. |
Anonymous
Did she change it officially or does she just use Portman professionally? TONS of actors change their names or have professional names different from their given names, it doesn't mean they aren't proud of who they are (and Natalie Portman has always been forthcoming about being Jewish). |
Anonymous
First of all, Portman is still a Jewish name. And many gentile movie stars have prettied up their names too. Herschlag doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. |
Anonymous
No it is not, Norman, English, Dutch, not Jewish. |
Anonymous
| I thought it was her mother's maiden name, no? |
Anonymous
| Agree that Galliano's remarks were disgusting, though the amount of media attention they are getting is overkill IMO. Don't find Portman to be particularly brave. It just doesn't sit right for me to change one's "ethnic" name that reflects your cultural heritage to something that obscures your heritage. It sends a terrible message that seemingly everyone in Hollywood has Anglo names, when in reality it is a diverse place. |
Anonymous
NP here. I think the experience of WW II Black US soldiers was positive because they were not a threat to the relatively homogeneous European populations (since they were a small group and they were leaving) as well as the fact that the contrast with Jim Crow treatment in the US at the time was so stark. As I recall, James Baldwin left the US for Europe because he felt so much more welcome over there. Indeed the Europeans used to look down on us for our racist ways. But it turns out they may have been more accepting of African-Americans because there were so few of them. Now that European nations are dealing with large influxes of immigrants from ethnically and racial different nations, Europeans have turned out not to be any better than Americans in the 40s. Of course I am generalizing but you see in places like France legal attempts to preserve the homogeneous native culture while keeping immigrant groups separate -- for example, the effort to prevent women from wearing headscarves in public. In contrast, these days, the United States is more open to diverse peoples and we stress racial and ethnic inclusivity as part of our national ethos. We obviously fail at this, as racial prejudice still exists as does racial inequality but nevertheless it is not acceptable to say you don't like someone because of their race or to openly discriminate. |
Anonymous
| 17:22 again -- and I should add that the NYT article indicated that this guy was having problems with substance abuse and erratic behavior. My guess is that he was fired because this was the last straw -- it was a good excuse to get rid of someone who was becoming a liability. |
Anonymous
| I just read a couple of stories that suggest the video and the recent incident are two separate occasions. So he's done this twice in public! |
Anonymous
Yes, it's her mother's maiden name. |
Anonymous
You can't generalize like that. My husband (Jewish) has a typically Anglo-French surname. And we are one of two Jewish families on our block with this name. |
Anonymous
No, you can't generalize, but she changed her name because people do generalize and her former name would have held her back (or so she thinks). In general, Herschlag is Jewish. |