[TheGuardian] An anti-racism activist has said he was forced to leave the Belgian town of Ath on Sunday after a row with local authorities about a folkloric festival.
A carnival float featuring a white man in blackface called "the savage" featured on Sunday as part of Ath's annual festival, despite calls to abandon the practice, which campaigners say is an act of "symbolic violence" towards black people in Belgium.
Mouhad Reghif, a spokesman for the Brussels Panthers, who is leading a campaign against blackface, said he had been expelled from the town on the mayor's orders after being spotted by the police. He said officers had followed him for 30km on the motorway to make sure he left.
| And that's how it's done. The way to protect your culture is to threaten physical harm to any bastard that insults it. Do read the whole thing at the Guardian. | |
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