Well at least people react now when there is something they see as racist. This is not the case for all types of discrimination. If they put up posters showing young sheep kicking out old(er) sheep people probably wouldn't react at all. Because that happens every day in this country and nobody gives a toss - in the private sector, in the multi-nationals, and especially in the international organizations, including those whose mandate is to promote human rights.
Productive, creative people are chucked out of their jobs or are excluded from the market, for no other reason than their age.

There are many different types of discrimination in this country, as someone said earlier. Public opinion evolves at different paces in different countires. When I say that most advertisements for jobs in the local papers mention an age limit, people here say they think its normal, whereas in the States it would be seen as an outrage. Why is one kind worse than another? It is seen as politically incorrect to be racist nowadays, but the same people who find this offensive, turn a blind eye to other forms of discrimination.

The black sheep in the family or in society is something which is not just a French saying - as somebody said earlier. It seems to be a term which exists in most countries and languages – a universal phase meaning the person who doesn’t fit in, whose character or behaviour is undesireable. The rebel, the retrobate. . It is probably derived from the fact that sheep with black fleece were seen by shepards as less desirable - as the coat would bring in less money.

I've been seen as the black sheep most of my life. Perhaps because of this or perhaps because for most of my life I've genuinely not seen colour as an issue, I didn't see the poster as meaning more than the initiative it illustrates either. The initiative suggests kicking out the criminals of foreign origin - i.e. the black sheep of society. I personally think that would be a good idea, having seen this place change over the past years. Those ex-pats who live a charmed life probably don't see what is going on as someone said earlier. I now feel nervous when I see a group of young black guys approaching when I’m out late at night. I never used to feel that way. But a lot of us can’t turn a blind eye and can see who are pushing the drugs and seemingly getting away with it – and we aren’t colour blind unfortunately.

However, when discussing this with Swiss friends I learnt about the UDC website, which I am sure most of you will have visited before commenting here. For those that haven't - it’s worth taking a look. It gives statistics on the percentage of foreigners in the criminal element of society – for example the site alleges that 85.5 percent of all rape in Switzerland is carried out by foreigners. When you read about the rapes here in schools, in underground parkings, even at the railway station, it certainly sounds that way.

However, It also has some incredibly xenophobic games on the site, which seem only to be in German, which might be an indication of something other than lack of funds. In one game, you get to play a border patrol goat tasked with eating Swiss passports before they fall into the hands of the multi-coloured foreigners; in another, it’s your job to forcibly keep the black sheep from crossing the boarder into your country (but you can let the white sheep in). Now this seems pretty pointedly xenophobic – even if the poster is more subtle.

I agree with the person who said that the people in Geneva are exceptionally tolerant and don’t appear to be racist. Having lived in Geneva for a very long time, I remember when the people here were extremely xenophobic – but to foreigners in general –not especially with people with more melanin in their skin. As with other countries where society has evolved (racism existed and unfortunately exists in most countries) this society has come round to thinking that racism is not a good thing.

I expect that other forms of discrimination will eventually be frowned upon by most upstanding people too.

However, I can’t help thinking that there will always be a few stray black sheep ---- and, dare I say it, maybe a scapegoat or two.


marySep 24, 2007 @ 23:49