Lula is a white person himself. The fact that E. Stanley O'Neal, Kenneth Chenault (Amex's CEO), Richard Parsons, Vikram Pandit, etc., and a handful of other people of color sit or sat at the top of multinational financial institutions does not detract from the broader critique that Lula's statement advances, which is that Anglo-American capitalism as it was practiced for the last 20 years has caused GLOBAL FINANCIAL DESTRUCTION, and the people worst affected are the poor all over the world, especially poor people of color. Lula expressed what billions of people recognize. Comparing him to a known right-wing racist and sexist pig like Berlusconi, who has repeatedly insulted women, gay people, black people, the left, and so on, really undercuts your argument.
KCProgramr
· 8 months ago
And Citigroup's Vikram Pandit is hardly a Mayflower descendant. But why let facts stand in the way of a good rant?
example
· 8 months ago
Pandit only got the job after the damage was done.
ricrico
· 8 months ago
kind of like Obama
example
· 8 months ago
Man for a liberal you sure do get prissy about any of those brown people who dare offend the majesty of the United States.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 8 months ago
are you the great brown hope or something? can't figure out your agenda.
Rob Mule
· 8 months ago
Racist, maybe...But his recording of "To Sir With Love" was fabulous!!! Oh wait...That was LuLu...Nevermind.
eclecticbrotha
· 8 months ago
Lula is blonde and blue eyed and considered a white man in Brazil. I'm guessing he was referring to white male privilege, since most corporation boards are dominated by white men.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 8 months ago
but i think you'll find that brown eyes dominate blue. :)
eclecticbrotha
· 8 months ago
HAHAHA I guess.
larry
· 8 months ago
Maybe you should not be so quick to judge who might need therapy. The reality is Chris that the world financial markets are controlled by white men with varying eye colors....but white men nevertheless. And Lula is voicing what most if not all in the emerging world believes or feels about the western european and american hegemony over economies and power around the world, we screw up they pay. It is amazingly amusing that whites find Lulas statements racist based on the history of racism in Latin America and elsewhere. I lived in Brasil and other parts of Latin America for a number of years and his feelings, comments are based on the history of the region and colonialism there, Africa, South Asia etc.. You have ranted, bitched and carried on about AIG and Wall Street for days...how is it that you can spew criticism of irrational behavior and Lula somehow is not allowed? Ahh...because you are white and a demi god. I forgot. But...Lula is right and he can speak truth to power like it or not. OH yeah...Brasils economy because it has been managed well by Lula and because Brasil regulates its economy while still promoting entrepreneurship and capitalism economic overall downturn will likely be less than ..France, the US, and other "developed" economies. As for sticking to the facts...Lula did...and less tendency to cherry pick the facts as you.
larry
· 8 months ago
NO Lula is not blonde but is considered white in Brasil. As my best friend (a Brasilian) always says...every Brasilian has a toe in Africa.
cosanostradamus
· 8 months ago
. And now we know why they call them "Brazil nuts."
On the other hand Goth Girls are REALLY white! And they ROCK! .
unrepentant_expat
· 8 months ago
"Brazil's president blamed "white people with blue eyes" for the world economic crisis and said it was wrong that developing countries should pay for mistakes made in richer countries, sparking accusations of racism'
An accurate observation of the fact is not racism. People of colour are not well represented midst the halls of the money morphers.
Not many women there either.
An_American_Karol
· 8 months ago
I didn't take offense to his comment. I felt he was underscoring the disparity in the minority class. It just fell a little flat. I thought he was trying to show support for the United States finally voting in a minority into the most powerful position in the world. I could be wrong, but I just didn't take offense to it.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 8 months ago
"it fell flat" is the best way to sum it up. i've caught myself yelling at the vatican for being a bunch of old, white males. but i can't prove that a bunch of old black males would be any better (certainly doesn't hold in the anglican church). so i probably should just say they are clueless and disconnected from reality and leave out the identity stuff.
An_American_Karol
· 8 months ago
I guess I should have added, as a First American, the term old white guy is meant to describe anyone of European decent. Not that I don't have some old white guy European in me - German and Irish.
Ed Boudreau
· 8 months ago
Let me see what color are 90 % of the CEO's in US of A. Black No, Yellow No , RED No could it be White. The guy is saying it was US of A that screwed up the system. This site seems to have a White Jewish problem.
eagleye
· 8 months ago
I'm with elizabethcostello on this one. There is no doubt that the White Man screwed up the global economic system, much to the detriment of the people of color in this world. Lulu simply spoke the uncomfortable truth. He could just as well apply the same observation to the environment and to military issues.
unrepentant_expat
· 8 months ago
footnote... When challenged about his claims, Lula said: "I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker," according the Guardian newspaper.
High Crimes & Misdemeanors
· 8 months ago
Lula musta read the many chapters of "Economic Hitman"
He's right of course, so lets not get our undies in a bundle for calling the IMF out....
Plus these CEO's are patsy's to the board of directors and most of these multinationals have mostly white folks too, but let us remember, white folk seem to know greed better then brown folk at least on a grander scale and over a longer period of time in history.
It is called institutional racism for a reason.
Josh
· 8 months ago
Last time I checked it was not Africa that was responsible or Latin America, Middle East, or Asia it was the U.S, and Europe!!
In this case it is white people who are overwhelmingly responsible for this crisis.
When the shoe fits...
Steve_in_CNJ
· 8 months ago
yeah but what's the point? i doubt that business leaders in africa are a whole lot more concerned about the poor. there's terrible exploitation everywhere you look. would things be better if the world economy were turned over to black businessmen? it doesn't sound like skin color is the main problem.
An_American_Karol
· 8 months ago
I view it more as greed. Greed comes in lots of colors. It just so happens right now the dominate color is white. That doesn't mean black, red, yellow, or brown wouldn't have their greedy little hands in the pot if allowed. Again, that's just my opinion, but look at the corruption in Africa and Mexico. Just saying...
Charel
· 8 months ago
Berlusconi does need therapy, but Lula is very sane. The first president in Brazil who did something to alleviate the misery of the large majority of Brazilians by improving health care and increasing the minimum income and wage for the generally overlooked have-nots.
Berluscony is a crypto fascist who has lost the plot, but seems to speak to the Italians in the most populist of terms. Besides therapy he needs to be ousted before he destroys the country.
richmx2
· 8 months ago
"Chris in Paris" sounds like he's saying "But some of my worst bankers are black!". Please... President Lula may not have said what he did in the most diplomatic of language, but people thoughout Asia, Africa and Latin America (even the blue-eyed blonds among us) are saying "right on!" .
cosanostradamus
· 8 months ago
. So, I guess if the executives paraded before the cameras had been black or Asian, all blacks or all Asians worldwide would have been solely responsible and punishable collectively for the economic downturn.
And I guess all whites must be sharing equally in the wealth skimmed off by these pirates, and they must not be the ones who are paying out of their own pockets to try and prevent things from becoming even worse than those individual pirates have already made them.
It's interesting to see what a crisis will bring out from under the rocks all over the world. What a bunch of idiot racist *ssh*les. .
bob_h
· 8 months ago
He's just reciprocating the racism we Anglos direct toward Latins.
cosanostradamus
· 8 months ago
. "We Anglos"?
Speak for yourself, kimosabe. I ain't no damn Anglo.
And, yeah, the Brazilians really have it TOUGH in this country!
BWAWHAWHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!
"Reverse-racism" is OK, then? What, exactly is the difference?
He's just playing the Yanqui card for the locals. Meanwhile, he's tonguing the IMF's perineum behind closed doors. It's bullsh*t. Racist hate-mongering, pure and simple. .
GoBlue
· 8 months ago
Lula, if you detest Anglos that much, then by all means expel little Sean Goldman from your country and send him back to his father in New Jersey who has been fighting for him against your corrupt judicial system.
Indigo
· 8 months ago
All whites look alike.
Skepticat
· 8 months ago
The problem isn't black or white--it's green, as in greed. Better he had blamed "rich people with few scruples."
The march of Mussolini into Italy's mainstream After carrying the dictator's torch for 60 years, the far-right National Alliance is to merge with Silvio Berlusconi's party. So is this the end of fascism in Italy? Quite the reverse. Peter Popham reports
Mahina
· 8 months ago
I appreciate some of the astute comments. The observation that members of the American corporatocracy are responsible for this crisis, most of whom are white men, is an accurate one. Sure there are token African-Americans, but the reigns of power are most certainly in the hands of white men. Their greed has done immeasurable harm to those who are economically disadvantaged to begin with, in the US and around the world. The trickle down mentality only heaps shit on those at the bottom.
Anton
· 8 months ago
I know I am late, but stille here is my comment. Read my blog first (as my google blog is down at this moment I redirect you to my website: http://www.amsteeman.com/?p=1431), which I ended with the following note: Americablog's “Chris in Paris” writes in his post "Lula and Berlusconi need therapy": "The last time I checked, disgraced but wealthy Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal is African-American....." and contests Lula's words. Clearly he doesn't understand the language and the way-of-thinking in developing countries and doesn't know how the people living in these countries see AND experience daily the Americans living in their countries. Lula's words had nothing to do with racism or discrimination, but everything with the cold truth as the big speculators (including bankers) of the USA created the mess the US and the world are in in the first place and the European bankers ran into this pit out of greed too. Have you heard of any 'coloured' bank in Latin America which needed bail-out money? Brazilian banks prove to be sound. So, Lula is right, it were the "white, blue-eyed bankers" and it is of no importance that by any coincidence there was somewhere, sometime a 'black banker'. Lula's words, blunt as they came from his infamous big mouth, are however correct. The poor, developing and emerging countries are suffering most, thanks to the insatiable greed of the white, blue-eyed bankers of the rich countries. A sore blogpost. Better you read the text in the original language first, before starting to shoot. Incredible that in general you attack the main stream media and now use their words as basis for your blog. A blogpost not worthy the slogan: "A Great Nation Deserves The Truth". It is not Lula who needs therapy, the white, blue-eyed bankers (speculators as Lula said) in the US and Europe who need it most and urgently as well, as they don’t seem to be inclined to change their attitude. So don’t blame Lula without knowing what you are talking about.
All Comments
Oh wait...That was LuLu...Nevermind.
You have ranted, bitched and carried on about AIG and Wall Street for days...how is it that you can spew criticism of irrational behavior and Lula somehow is not allowed? Ahh...because you are white and a demi god. I forgot. But...Lula is right and he can speak truth to power like it or not. OH yeah...Brasils economy because it has been managed well by Lula and because Brasil regulates its economy while still promoting entrepreneurship and capitalism economic overall downturn will likely be less than ..France, the US, and other "developed" economies. As for sticking to the facts...Lula did...and less tendency to cherry pick the facts as you.
And now we know why they call them "Brazil nuts."
On the other hand Goth Girls are REALLY white! And they ROCK!
.
An accurate observation of the fact is not racism. People of colour are not well represented midst the halls of the money morphers.
Not many women there either.
I thought he was trying to show support for the United States finally voting in a minority into the most powerful position in the world.
I could be wrong, but I just didn't take offense to it.
Not that I don't have some old white guy European in me - German and Irish.
When challenged about his claims, Lula said: "I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker," according the Guardian newspaper.
He's right of course, so lets not get our undies in a bundle for calling the IMF out....
Plus these CEO's are patsy's to the board of directors and most of these multinationals have mostly white folks too, but let us remember, white folk seem to know greed better then brown folk at least on a grander scale and over a longer period of time in history.
It is called institutional racism for a reason.
In this case it is white people who are overwhelmingly responsible for this crisis.
When the shoe fits...
Again, that's just my opinion, but look at the corruption in Africa and Mexico. Just saying...
Berluscony is a crypto fascist who has lost the plot, but seems to speak to the Italians in the most populist of terms. Besides therapy he needs to be ousted before he destroys the country.
So, I guess if the executives paraded before the cameras had been black or Asian, all blacks or all Asians worldwide would have been solely responsible and punishable collectively for the economic downturn.
And I guess all whites must be sharing equally in the wealth skimmed off by these pirates, and they must not be the ones who are paying out of their own pockets to try and prevent things from becoming even worse than those individual pirates have already made them.
It's interesting to see what a crisis will bring out from under the rocks all over the world. What a bunch of idiot racist *ssh*les.
.
"We Anglos"?
Speak for yourself, kimosabe. I ain't no damn Anglo.
And, yeah, the Brazilians really have it TOUGH in this country!
BWAWHAWHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!
"Reverse-racism" is OK, then? What, exactly is the difference?
He's just playing the Yanqui card for the locals. Meanwhile, he's tonguing the IMF's perineum behind closed doors. It's bullsh*t. Racist hate-mongering, pure and simple.
.
The march of Mussolini into Italy's mainstream
After carrying the dictator's torch for 60 years, the far-right National Alliance is to merge with Silvio Berlusconi's party. So is this the end of fascism in Italy? Quite the reverse. Peter Popham reports
Americablog's “Chris in Paris” writes in his post "Lula and Berlusconi need therapy":
"The last time I checked, disgraced but wealthy Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal is African-American....." and contests Lula's words. Clearly he doesn't understand the language and the way-of-thinking in developing countries and doesn't know how the people living in these countries see AND experience daily the Americans living in their countries.
Lula's words had nothing to do with racism or discrimination, but everything with the cold truth as the big speculators (including bankers) of the USA created the mess the US and the world are in in the first place and the European bankers ran into this pit out of greed too. Have you heard of any 'coloured' bank in Latin America which needed bail-out money? Brazilian banks prove to be sound. So, Lula is right, it were the "white, blue-eyed bankers" and it is of no importance that by any coincidence there was somewhere, sometime a 'black banker'.
Lula's words, blunt as they came from his infamous big mouth, are however correct. The poor, developing and emerging countries are suffering most, thanks to the insatiable greed of the white, blue-eyed bankers of the rich countries.
A sore blogpost. Better you read the text in the original language first, before starting to shoot. Incredible that in general you attack the main stream media and now use their words as basis for your blog. A blogpost not worthy the slogan: "A Great Nation Deserves The Truth". It is not Lula who needs therapy, the white, blue-eyed bankers (speculators as Lula said) in the US and Europe who need it most and urgently as well, as they don’t seem to be inclined to change their attitude. So don’t blame Lula without knowing what you are talking about.