‘Picaninnies’ | Boris Johnson on Africa

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson

Four statements by the new British Minister of Foreign Affairs Boris Johnson on Africa:

In Uganda: ‘Right, let’s go and look at some more piccanninies'(The Observer, October 5 2003)

On the African Commonwealth: ‘The Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag waving picanninnies.’ (Daily Telegraph, January 10 2002)

On Blair visiting Africa: ‘The pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelin smiles to see the big white chief.’ (Daily Telegraph, January 10 2002)

On defending colonialism: ‘Left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbhydrate gratification of the plantain.’ (Spectator 2 February 2002)

Well, Boris likes the word piccaninnies. I wasn’t born hundred years ago so I didn’t know the meaning. Wikipedia helps, as usual:

Pickaninny is a term in English which refers to a racist and derogatory caricature of dark-skinned children of African descent. It is a pidgin word form, which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino (a diminutive version of the wordpequeno, “little”). In modern sensibility, the term implies a caricature which can be used in a derogatory and racist sense.


Hate pastor

 

Pastor Steven Anderson on YouTube
Pastor Steven Anderson on YouTube

South African equal rights activists are trying to stop the American hate pastor Steven Anderson to enter their country. Check here. And they are right. Since the end of Apartheid US evangelicals have won the liberty to travel African countries since restrictions for them to enter were lifted after the democratic transformation. Too many of them had South African customs stamps in their passports because they loved to visit the white minority paradise. Ironically, the freedom where South Africans struggled for so long opened regions for the supporters of their former suppressors to spread the evil words of hate. The story of the American religious fundamentalists is as frightening as it fascinating. You’ll find it in Homosexuality in Africa, A disturbing love