Media for social change

These nasty attacks on Niemi are typical of the refusal to understand the subtleties of how "yeux bridés" was used in that context. Yes, it is more nuanced that "slanty-eyed" but it was nonethless a regrettable choice of words, even in French.

Mr. Niemi's French is also impeccable, and to try to turn this into a defence of nationalism is pathetic. I have never heard Niemi suggest that the entire PQ is racist. Not once. No wonder he won't return your calls, Mr. Houng:

Fo Niemi clearly placed himself on the side of Quebec bashers when he transformed the french meaning of "yeux bridés" into the english meaning for "slanting eyes" during the Quebec general election in March 2007. In French litterature "yeux bridés" has always been associated with charm, mystery, amazement. The english translation is a poor approximation since the french word "bridé" has no equivalent in english. Not one francophone in Québec has ever given it the meaning of "slanting eyes". Mr Niemi who is fluent in French and who lives in Montreal seems to have been blinded by his prejudices against the Sovereigntist Parti Québécois as he had, of his own admission, read only the english translation before putting out a damaging Press statement (in english exclusively) condemning André Boisclair for using the expression "yeux bridés" in a speech in Trois-Rivières during the election campaign. Had he not been prejudiced, he would certainly have double checked his sources before jumping so rapidly to conclusions. His prejudice that the Parti Québécois is racist is obviously the result of a mindset equivalent to what his organization was set up to fight against. I sincerly hope that Mr Niemi will eventually fight against ALL forms of racism, prejudices and damaging clichés even if it goes against his political slants. I suggest he start by getting in touch with me so I can introduce him to real people, in person. He has not returned my calls as of March 18 2007.