Some more politics, some more anger

Political conclusions the day after put aside, I am very glad that a lot of Belgian politicians with foreign origins have been a elected to a seat in the city councils. I personally voted for a woman with Berber/Morrocan origins, mostly because I went to school with her family, which may not be the noblest or rational of reasons, but it is a start that may, in the future, lead to the exceptance of these people as a constituant part of our population.

If the mass media too from now on would follow this example by no longer referring to those people as 'allochtonous', we could go a long way. Say about the US what you like, but at least they do not consider the people who have acquired the American nationality as foreigners. They are considered Americans from day one. And that is probably on of the main reasons why the US is the most powerful country in the world. When it comes to that acceptance Europe could learn a lot from the too often maligned US of A.

Another remark: the woman I voted for is the daughter of an imam. Again this proves that most people of islamic faith are tolerant, far from fanatic and ready to integrate themselves in their country of migration, while at the same time not turning their back on their own culture. The man's family can boast incredible credentials: one daughter is now on the city council and was assistant-lecturer at Antwerp University before going into politics, the oldest son is a politician too, another son has joined the police force and the youngest son has a college degree too. But you won't read much about such immigrant success stories in the Flemish newspapers. Of course not. Which goes to show, again, that the media, through omission and deliberate misinformation, are at least partly responsible for the rise of extreme-right parties.