RE: [Cz-L] Otto von Habsburg in Czernovitz

Hi Mark, the word Schwarzafrikaner is used throughout the German-speaking
world to differentiate these people from the inhabitants of the opposite
side of Africa...like the Egyptians who also happen to be Africans..etc.!!
Cornel.

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-37791168-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-37791168-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mark
Wiznitzer
Sent: 22 July 2011 15:57
To: CZERNOWITZ-L
Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Otto von Habsburg in Czernovitz

My two cents.

Like most on this list, I appreciate the Habsburg era in the Bukovina,
as my father was born there late in the enlightened reign of Kaiser
Franz Joseph.

My knowledge of Otto's history is limited. But I did meet him in
October 2004, when he was the commencement speaker for my Executive
MBA diploma ceremony at the IMADEC university in Vienna, where I lived
for seven years. My recollection of his speech, however, was not very
positive. And what sticks out most in my memory were his comments
tinged with subtle racist allusions that attributed America's
competitive weakness to its social diversity. Anyone who has spent
time in Austria will appreciate that such statements are not out of
character in modern-day Austria, where newspaper headlines by the
right-wing Krone Zeitung's regularly refer to "Schwarzafrikaner" drug
dealers (see
http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/Razzia_Polizei_verhaftet_50_Schwarzafrikaner
-Guertel_abgesperrt-Story-30665),
rather than specifying their Kenyan or Ghanaian nationality. There
was a time when Jews were similarly vilified in Vienna, but I doubt
that Otto would have recognized the prejudice implicit in his
analysis.

So whatever his accomplishments, and I suspect they were commendable,
my own limited experience was that Otto also had his shortcomings.

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Received on 2011-07-22 17:51:40