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I was reading a book by a journalist about the UN - United Nations: - the power imbalances in the set-up, about self-interest of the dominant players, in particular the USA, the racism of western nations making decisions that only third-world soldiers carry out, etc. It's called "Why we did nothing" But when the author started to describe Somalis, I realised something. I know, have friends, have colleagues who are Somali and none, in no way, resemble the characture of gun-toting cowboys. Now that I'm alerted to the Somali characatures, I start to read the book differently. I realise the book is full of stereotypes - mostly for humourous effect. One example: to the author's eye, all the Pakistani blue-helemt soldiers look the same and she describes a scene that I guess is meant to conjure hilarious images in her reader's mind of them praying in Mogadishu, Somalia. With friends like these, any campaign for justice and understanding needs no enemies...
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NBAll diary entries are based on my own perception of a situation or event. They are subjective reflections and often written well after the fact. Other people I mention will have their own version of the events I describe and might disagree with their portrayal. This project is not about libelling people or stigmatising them but about recording my own perceptions of racism as a person sensitized to racism, both as a victim of racism and as a racist.
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