I wish to use this medium to express my reservations and shock over the recent upsurge in the number of racist or apparently racist advertisement .
Apparently Racist Ads 6
31.03.2008. Blogā
We live in a world and in a society where stereotyping, prejudice, and intolerance abide. We can all see the manifestations of these acts in racially motivated violence, discrimination, humiliation, xenophobia, and social exclusion that are all rampant in our society today. These acts without a doubt create tension and discord for all of us; this is not what we are striving for.
In light of the above, it is therefore very imperative that businesses, especially large companies pay attention to the various interpretations of the messages they send through advertising. We cannot afford to be seen as supporting activities that keep the society divided, make a certain group an object of amusement, jeering, despise and displeasure for others. We expect companies to show their commitment to social cohesion and tolerance in the society, and distance themselves from any activities that might be interpreted otherwise.
The recent advertisement, despite the debates on whether it is clearly a form of racism or not definitely leaves room to be interpreted as such. And, a substantial part of the society sees it as such, and their opinion cannot and should not be neglected.
It is indeed the absence of commitment that leaves the rest of us wondering whether these messages are not intentional. We look forward to a time when companies will openly advertise themselves as equal opportunity employers and be more proactice in building a society void of racism and discrimination. Until this is done, we are left to wonder what is behind catchy slogans created to attract customers.
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE ĻAUJ RAKSTU PĀRPUBLICĒT BEZ MAKSAS, ATSAUCOTIES UZ AUTORU UN PORTĀLU PROVIDUS.LV, TAČU PUBLIKĀCIJU NEDRĪKST LABOT VAI PAPILDINĀT. AICINĀM ATBALSTĪT PROVIDUS.LV AR ZIEDOJUMU!
Komentāri (6) secība: augoša / dilstoša
reebok freestyle hi 22.07.2011 15:29 http://www.rbkshoes4u.com
emeka 28.05.2010 08:20
ejugbo CHRISTOPHER, HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU? a bum onye igbo, e nwetara m admission n' obodo latvia. biko racism o di too much nke bu n' mmadu a gaghi a no wu eba
Bearit 01.04.2008 11:11
Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union for so long that not only were Latvians repressed but repression lost us our sensitivity and ability to empathize with other people. This condition continues seventeen years after the occupation, and it will probably continue until the image of "the ugly Latvian" echoes back from abroad ever more loudly. However, our media has, to the best of my knowledge, stopped portraying black people as medieval Africans who in some ways resemble the Gallic *Asterisk with horns on his helmet. This is probably because the hairdo of our President makes such a representative caricature of our political elite without ever trying and which fact acts as an ever present mirror image of ourselves.
Pankūkas - Pētersonei! 01.04.2008 10:10
I have owned and used two black laptops in my life and none of the glossy white kind -- those "meant more for playing or recording TV and other multimedia than writing e-mail and other productivity tasks" (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242382,00.html ). The current one, too, is of *err* dark complexion. Must I start showing some contrition? :)
Krista 01.04.2008 09:29
I was shocked and disgusted by this ad, which has a clearly racist undertone, and by no means am I the only one who has noticed: this ad was reviewed in the BadAd website (movement against bad advertising): http://badad.lv/?p=545
So, at least I'm glad to see that not only the Ombudsman has spoken out, but also the advertising industry professionals.
PS There are very many places to buy computers from and I have made a strong mental note NOT to do it from this particular shop. I hope I'm not alone and they'll see that racist advertising can hurt their business
Aleksis 31.03.2008 17:02
>>> The recent advertisement, despite the debates on whether it is clearly a form of racism or not definitely leaves room to be interpreted as such. And, a substantial part of the society sees it as such, and their opinion cannot and should not be neglected.
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There is definitely place for different opinions and discussion regarding possible interpretations for public speech. In fact, advertising may create problems for careless businesses - they pay a hefty Public Relations price whenever something goes wrong. On the other hand, I would be glad, if Afrolat members would declare that while they raise issues about controversial advertising (thus exercising their right to free speech), they would also respect the basic civil liberties of their fellow citizens. Namely, that they will not promote any lawsuits or any other direct action against anything that could be misinterpreted as racism, but, in fact, is just a novel way to talk about products and services. (In this regard, the attitude of "Tiesībsarga birojs" is scandalous - see http://www.db.lv/Default2.aspx?ArticleID=59bec5fa-a27e-4ac5-... ).
The well-known advertisement with two laptops could be variously interpreted and it may be controversial, but it is definitely not an incitement to racial violence. Any arguments from the so called "Tiesībsarga birojs" (namely, that computers do not perform work, only humans can work, "black" and "white" should be necessarily interpreted as Caucasian and African race, etc.) is an absurd attempt to legislate how people should speak about computers.
>>> It is indeed the absence of commitment that leaves the rest of us wondering whether these messages are not intentional. We look forward to a time when companies will openly advertise themselves as equal opportunity employers and be more proactice in building a society void of racism and discrimination.
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There can be no racism and discrimination: Satversme article 91: "Visi cilvēki Latvijā ir vienlīdzīgi likuma un tiesas priekšā. Cilvēka tiesības tiek īstenotas bez jebkādas diskriminācijas." There are many laws that specify this further. What other commitment do we need? (Should businesses be required to declare - yes, we do not want to break the existing law?)