students may not have known was a sick joke.
The fallout from this incident has been immense to the extent that the
Rev Jesse Jackson is now on the scene.
Jesse Jackson's letter to Sweden's minister of education:
http://www.sydsvenskan.se/lund/article1459389/Las-Jacksons-brev-i-sin-helhet.html
All that's missing now is some fire and brimstone sermon from Brother
Louis Farrakhan.
The American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has reacted strongly
against the 'slave auction' held recently at a student association in
Lund and the subsequent racial slurs directed against the person who
reported the incident to the police.
Lund slave auction response: 'stop being defensive and listen' (29 Apr
11)
Brussels outrage over Lund 'slave auction' (22 Apr 11)
Racism whistleblower faces 'negro slave' taunt (21 Apr 11)
Lund students in 'slave auction' outrage (19 Apr 11)
"About a week ago a racist spectacle was held at one of your most
respected institutions," Jackson wrote in a letter to Swedish minister
for education Jan Björklund.
Jackson urged Sweden to have the perpetrators questioned and take
measures to ensure that Swedes are made aware of the brutal reality of
the transatlantic slave trade and the part Sweden played in it.
It was in April that two student associations at Lund University in
southern Sweden were reported for hate speech after a party featuring
the sale of "slaves" complete with blackened faces and ropes around
their necks.
The incident further escalated after Jallow Momodou, the member of the
National Afro-Swedish Association (Afrosvenskarnas riksförbund) who
reported the two affiliated student associations, became subjected to
racial slurs and posters featuring his face superimposed on the image
of a naked man in chains.
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) based in Brussels, later
wrote an open letter to Sweden's Minister for Democracy and European
Affairs Birgitta Olsson expressing its utter disgust at the incident
in Lund.
The organisation requested that the Swedish government take action to
identify and prosecute the perpetrators.
Kitimbwa Sabuni, chairperson of the The National Afro-Swedish
Association is happy with the support from the well-known civil rights
activist Jackson.
"This incident has sent shockwaves all over the world. People are
surprised that there have been no consequences in Sweden," Sabuni told
Swedish daily Aftonbladet's blog Politikerkollen.
According to the Aftonbladet blog, the letter, which was sent by post
to Sweden, has yet to reach minister for education Jan Björklund.
Björklund has so far declined to comment on the matter until he has
read the missive from Jackson himself.
TT/Rebecca Martin (news@thelocal.se)
Jesse Jacskon trying to put things right:
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