Worldview

Global Race Issues

Listen to past Worlview segments in this series and link to organizations with more information on certain topics Read the conference's objectives and themes

Throughout the month of August, including every Monday, Worldview will examine international race issues. This coverage provides a context for the U.N.'s World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) which took place in Durban, South Africa, from August 31-September 7, 2001.

According to its website, the World Conference Against Racism "will focus on action-oriented and practical steps to eradicate racism, including measures of prevention, education and protection and the provision of effective remedies."

From July 30-August 10, 2001, the conference's preparatory committee is negotiating the final agenda and declaration for the meeting in Durban. During these negotiations, the U.S. has objected to calls for reparation payments to be made by nations that benefited from slavery and colonialism. The U.S. is also threatening to boycott the conference if its declaration condemns Zionism.

Recent Worldview Segments Exploring Global Race Issues:

Walking out of the World Conference Against Racism
Listen to this Interview (9.05.01)
Doug Cassel -- Northwestern University's Center for International Human Rights

Opening of the WCAR: View from the Demonstrations
Listen to this Interview (8.31.01)
Dr. Fatima Meer -- Chairperson of the Durban Social Forum, "ANC-stalwart"

Why won’t the US talk about reparations?
Listen to this Interview (8.31.01)
Adjoa Aiyetoro -- Legal consultant for the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America

Kofi Annan speaks at the WCAR
Listen to this Interview (8.31.01)

International News of the Week
Listen to this Interview (8.30.01)
Russ Watson -- Senior Editor, Newsweek Magazine

Colonialism and the social-construct of race: the case of Rwanda
What happens when Western colonialism alters traditional social systems of class, caste, and race and transforms them?
Listen to this Interview (8.30.01)
Allison DesForges -- Consultant for Human Rights Watch, long time writer, researcher, and observer of the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa

Play for Peace
Listen to this Interview (8.29.01)
Using organized play to bring together youth in conflict areas
Michael Terrien -- Co-founder of Play for Peace
Yaa Ashante Waa -- Play for Peace's representative in South Africa
Outside link: www.playforpeace.org

Youth Summit Against Racism
Listen to this Interview (8.29.01)
Bomani Johnson -- Delegate to the Youth Summit Against Racism and program associate at the American Friends Service

Perspectives on the meaning of race today… Is race behind us?
Listen to this Interview (8.29.01)
Howard Winant -- Author of The World is a Ghetto: Race and Democracy Since World War II

Gender, Race and Caste
Listen to this Interview (8.28.01)
Ruth Manorama -- National Convenor for the Federation of Dalit Women, and co-convenor for the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights

Searching for the source of the British race riots
Listen to this Interview (8.28.01)
The British town of Bradford was the site last month of some of the worst riots the country had seen in years. Radio Deutsche Welle's Stephen Beard reports on the riots, during which police clashed with approximately 1,000 predominantly Asian youth.

What if its not illegal to discriminate?
Listen to this Interview (8.28.01)
Hong Kong's lack of legislation on racial discrimination
Catherine Ng -- Spokesperson on Equal Opportunities and Women's Issues and former vice chair of the Citizen's Party

Gender and race: why the combination of these factors matters
Listen to this Interview (8.27.01)
Kimberle Crenshaw -- Professor at Columbia University School of Law

Gender, race and economic justice
Listen to this Interview (8.27.01)
Linda Burnham -- Co-founder of the Women of Color Resource Center

Using soccer to fight intolerance
Listen to this Interview (8.24.01)
Keith Cooper -- Director of Communications for the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA)
Outside link: www.fifa.com

Jerry Springer joins Dutch anti-racism campaign
Listen to this Interview (8.24.01)
Radio Netherlands Bertina Krol interviews Atti Noordhof of Tolerance Unlimited
Outside link: Watch Jerry Springer's commercial

How do we communicate race?
Listen to this Interview (8.24.01)
Representation of Roma in Eastern European media
Claude Cahn -- Research coordinator at the European Roma Rights Center, Budapest
Outside link: European Roma Rights Center

Divided We Fall: How ordinary people deal with genocide
Listen to this Interview (8.24.01)
Milos Stehlik -- Facets Multimedia's Milos Stehlik takes a look at a Czech film that looks at how the Holocaust was rooted in the circumstances of one ordinary family.

Cracking Japan's homogenous image:
Race, discrimination, and immigration in Japan
Listen to this Interview (8.20.01)
Michael Weiner -- Professor of Japanese history and chair of the department of Asian studies at San Diego State University
Outside Links: Amnesty International's 1999 Report on Japan
International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism

What makes a country's immigration policy racist? Is the U.S. policy racist?
Listen to this Interview (8.20.01)
Jackie Bhabha -- Director of Harvard University's Committee on Human Rights

Racism, religion, and the state: the Zionism as racism debate
Listen to this Interview (8.13.01)
Hussein Ibish -- Communications director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Abe Foxman -- National Director of the Anti-Defamation League

Getting ready for the U.N.'s World Conference Against Racism
Listen to this Interview (8.6.01)
Jose Diaz -- Spokesman for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights

Critique of U.S. policy towards the World Conference Against Racism Listen to this Interview (8.6.01)
Julianne Cartwright-Traylor -- A leader of Amnesty International's delegation to the World Conference Against Racism and a founding member of Human Rights Advocates, a nongovernmental organization that has consultative status at the U.N.

Why internationalize race issues?
Listen to this Interview (8.1.01)
Harold Koh -- A professor of International Law at Yale University Law School and the assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Clinton administration.