A surprising anti-racist development

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Daniel Rancour-Laferriere wrote:

> 2 Dec 2005
> 
> Just a few moments ago I watched newscaster Vladimir Kara-Murza 
> broadcast a puzzling new legal development in Russia (on the RTVi 
> network).  He reports that today (Friday) a Moscow court had handed down 
> a ruling which forbids the party "Rodina" from participating in the 
> upcoming elections for Mosgorduma.  As you may be aware, right-wing 
> "Rodina" recently ran a TV ad in Moscow advocating that the "garbage" 
> ("musor") be cleaned from the streets.  The ad shows a very pale, blonde 
> woman pushing her baby carriage past a group of "litsa kavkazskoi 
> natsional'nosti."  The darkish-skined men are throwing watermelon rinds 
> on the sidewalk, there is a close-up of the baby carriage passing over 
> one watermelon rind.  The "garbage" in question is clearly people from 
> the Caucasus, metonymically represented by the watermelon rind.  It is 
> these people who, in the opinion of "Rodina," need to be cleansed from 
> the streets of Moscow.
> 
> Back to the TV broadcast.  The court held that the ad was unacceptable, 
> and that "Rodina" (a sizeable political group) would therefore not be 
> allowed to participate in the election.  The judge, clearly 
> uncomfortable, was shown reading his ruling.  He referred to the 
> offensive ad (speaking of "litsa chernykh volos").  Everyone in the 
> courtroom seemed taken aback.
> 
> I refer to this odd event in view of recent postings about racism in 
> Russia.  The ruling clearly recognizes that there IS a problem.  Would 
> anyone out there know how it came to be dealt with in this particular 
> instance?  I am astonished and puzzled.
> 
> Regards to the list,
> 
> Daniel Rancour-Laferriere

Do I understand correctly from "clearly uncomfortable..." that the judge 
disagreed and was ruling thus on orders from higher-ups? (it wouldn't be 
the first time the Putin government has found an excuse to disqualify 
competing parties and candidates)

Or do you mean to say he was feeling revulsion toward the ad?

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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