News / International
Images denigrating Obamas causes furore
26 Mar 2014 at 02:25hrs | Views
THE publication, by Belgian newspaper De Morgen, of digitally altered pictures of US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as part human and part ape smacks of racism and is meant to reduce confidence in all people of colour, analysts say.
The pictures were published ahead of Mr Obama's expected visit to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
The pictures were part of a satirical feature presented as though sent to the newspaper by Russia's president Vladimir Putin.
The pictures were accompanied by the words: "Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia. He sent us this attachment at our request, and chose to send pictures instead of text 'because he doesn't have a lot of time'."
Another picture of Mr Obama was printed with the caption "First black president of the USA starts selling weed".
The pictures sparked outrage worldwide with critics saying they were racist and had nothing to do with media freedom forcing the paper to apologise.
The pictures were published ahead of Mr Obama's expected visit to Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
The pictures were part of a satirical feature presented as though sent to the newspaper by Russia's president Vladimir Putin.
Another picture of Mr Obama was printed with the caption "First black president of the USA starts selling weed".
The pictures sparked outrage worldwide with critics saying they were racist and had nothing to do with media freedom forcing the paper to apologise.
Source - The Herald
