AUSTRIA: ACTIVIST TOGO BORN DAMIEN AGBOGBE TRIES TO COUNTER RACIST ATTITUDES HELD BY THE FREEDOM PARTY
Record ID:
646697
AUSTRIA: ACTIVIST TOGO BORN DAMIEN AGBOGBE TRIES TO COUNTER RACIST ATTITUDES HELD BY THE FREEDOM PARTY
- Title: AUSTRIA: ACTIVIST TOGO BORN DAMIEN AGBOGBE TRIES TO COUNTER RACIST ATTITUDES HELD BY THE FREEDOM PARTY
- Date: 4th June 2001
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF PROFESSOR DAMIEN AGBOBE, THEOLOGIAN WITH HIS FAMILY AT HOME (3 SHOTS) 0.09 2. VARIOUS, AGBOBE WITH HIS CHILDREN IN STREETS OF VIENNA 0.18 3. WIDE OF VIENNA STREET WITH CHURCH 0.21 4. VARIOUS, AGBOBE AND HIS FAMILY WALKING ALONG STREET 0.33 5. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) PROFESSOR DAMIEN AGBOBE, THEOLOGIAN SAYING "People now dare to tell us to our faces that they don't want blacks here. They make allusions to the Freedom Party, saying "we're in power now, so soon there won't be any dirty negroes hanging around the place anymore." They dare say that. I think that I'm imagining things, but it's reality. It's a reality that confronts us here, in Vienna." 0.58 (REUTERS FILE) 6. VARIOUS OF FREEDOM PARTY CAMPAIGN WITH PEOPLE LISTENING TO POLITICANS AT OPEN AIR RALLY (2 SHOTS) 1.06 7. SCU ELECTION POSTER OF JORG HAIDER 1.09 8. VARIOUS, PEOPLE LISTENING TO JORG HAIDER AT OPEN AIR RALLY OF FREEDOM PARTY (2 SHOTS) 1.16 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) FREEDOM PARTY LEADER JÖRG HAIDER SAYING "We need to find a solution to the problem of the thousands of illegal immigrants who are here in Austria. Because they, my dear friends, are the real problem. If someone is here who has no justification for being here, and then turns criminal, deals in drugs, poisons our children well then we need to get him out quicker than he came in. That's our only option." 1.42 10. VARIOUS, AUDIENCE LISTENING AND APPLAUDING (3 SHOTS) 1.50 (RECENT) REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 11. SLV PEOPLE WAITING FOR TRAM WITH MAN STANDING COVERED WITH POSTERS 1.55 12. WIDE OF PEOPLE WAITING AT TRAM STATION 1.57 (REUTERS FILE) 13. SMV HAIDER AT OPEN AIR ELECTION CAMPAIGN RALLY 2.02 (RECENT) REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) DAMIEN ABOGBE SAYING "It's the old story told to little children: the black man is here, the black man will eat you. And it continues that same message is spread implicitly by the party, some Austrians do consume it, and love to consume it." 2.19 15. VARIOUS STREET SCENES WITH ELECTION POSTERS (2 SHOTS) 2.27 16. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. AARON RHODES, HELSINKI FEDERATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS SAYING "The political campaign [edit] in Vienna unfortunately has been characterised by a lot of xenophobic slogans and political advertisements which legitimate intolerance and xenophobia and anxieties about foreigners and ethnic groups." 2.45 16. SLV AGBOBE WALKING DOWN STREET 2.49 17. SLV POLICEMAN STANDING IN STREET 2.55 18. VARIOUS OF CROWD AT FREEDOM PARTY CAMPAIGN OPEN AIR RALLY (2 SHOTS) 3.00 19. SLV ELECTION POSTERS FOR GREEN PARTY SHOWING ABOGBE AT CANDIDATE (3 SHOTS) 3.07 20. SLV ABOGBE STANDING BY HIS ELECTION POSTER 3.11 21. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) DAMIEN AGBOGBE SAYING "For Austria's public this is a completely new mentality: to realise the Africans and foreigners can do something for this country too, that they aren't evil or bad or any of the other things that people here think." 3.24 22. WIDE OF AGBOGBE TALKING TO JOURNALIST 3.29 23. SCU SOUNDBITE) (French) DAMIEN AGBOGBE SAYING "We get calls, they call my wife "negro whore", and they say: "you won't win, but if you do, you won't be here anymore." That scares me, this "you won't be here anymore" scares me." 3.46 (REUTERS FILE) 24. VARIOUS, OF FREEDOM PARTY PRESS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 3.54 25. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (German) HELENE PARTIK-PABLE, FREEDOM PARTY CANDIDATE SAYING "I want to make it clear that there is a link between foreigners and crime. For an example, 70% of car-thieves are foreigners, and 30% of burglars. So there's no doubt that the issue of crimes committed by foreigners is important for Vienna." 4.12 26. WIDE OF STREET WITH ELECTION POSTERS 4.18 27. WIDE , PEOPLE STANDING WAITING TO REGISTER AND COLLECT VOTING PAPERS IN POLLING STATION 4.22 28. VARIOUS, DAMIEN AGBOGBE VOTING 4.37 29. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) DAMIEN AGBOGBE SAYING "I dream that one day, people from different backgrounds will be seen as something valuable, not as a threat." 4.47 30. VARIOUS, DAMIEN AGBOGBE LEAVING POLLING STATION WITH HIS CHILDREN (2 SHOTS) 4.56 31. VARIOUS, AGBOGBE WEARING GREEN PARTY BADGE AND SPEAKING TO ELECTOR 5.03 32. SCU AGBOGBE'S CAMPAIGN POSTER FOR GREEN PARTY 5.07 33. SMV GROUP OF GIRLS TALKING 5.11 34. VARIOUS, AGBOGBE AT HOME WITH HIS CHILDREN 5.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVADKKL977O3GB126R72GWKIX8TN
- Story Text: An African politician is on a mission to get his
voice heard in a country still criticized for having
far-right leanings. But Damien Agbobe is determined to fight
Austria's Freedom Party leader, Jorg Haider.
He's born in Togo and his roots are in Africa. But
Damien Agbogbe is an Austrian. He arrived here 10 years ago
with no real intention of staying until he fell in love,
got married and settled down.
His life is in Vienna now. And the buzzing metropolis in
the centre of Europe is the only home his children know.
Agbogbe has come to love this country. But in recent years,
life here has become more and more difficult. "People now
dare to tell us to our faces that they don't want blacks
here. They make allusions to the Freedom Party, saying we're
in power now, so soon there won't be any dirty negroes
hanging around the place anymore. They dare say that. I
think that I'm imagining things, but it's reality. It's a
reality that confronts us here, in Vienna."
The reality kicked in in October '99, when the far-right
Freedom Party was elected into government.
Jörg Haider is the man behind the party. He has charisma and
radical opinions, which may be carefully worded but still
border on the offensive. "We need to find a solution to the
problem of the thousands of illegal immigrants who are here
in Austria. Because they, my dear friends, are the real
problem. If someone is here who has no justification for
being here, and then turns criminal, deals in drugs, poisons
our children - well then we need to get him out quicker than
he came in. That's our only option."
Human Rights groups compare the Freedom Party to the
Nazis, because they use foreigners as scapegoats. But the
bad press hasn't stopped Haider's ideas from falling on
fertile soil. In a country as stable and wealthy as
Austria, his success is baffling. But not for Agbogbe.
"It's the old story told to little children: the black man is
here, the black man will eat you. And it continues that
same message is spread implicitly by the party, some
Austrians do consume it, and love to consume it."
It's a message that plays on old fears and this year's
campaign was no exception. "The political campaign [edit]
in Vienna unfortunately has been characterised by a lot of
xenophobic slogans and political advertisements which
legitimate intolerance and xenophobia and anxieties about
foreigners and ethnic groups." (Dr. Aaron Rhodes, Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights).
Agbogbe has had enough. Even the police, he says, single
out coloured people and harass them for no reason. And in a
way that is eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany, the
population stands by and watches.
So he decided to do something. And in March, he was the
first black candidate ever to stand in an Austrian election.
He didn't do it to win, but to make a point. "For Austria's
public this is a completely new mentality: to realise the
Africans and foreigners can do something for this country
too, that they aren't evil or bad or any of the other things
that people here think."
But making a stand hasn't been easy for the timid
academic. "We get calls, they call my wife "negro whore",
and they say: "you won't win, but if you do, you won't be
here anymore." That scares me, this "you won't be here
anymore" scares me."
And the Freedom Party didn't tone down their campaign -
in spite of the Helsinki Federation's open criticism.
"I want to make it clear that there is a link between
foreigners and crime. For an example, 70% of car-thieves are
foreigners, and 30% of burglars. So there's no doubt that
the issue of crimes committed by foreigners is important for
Vienna." (Helene Partik-Pable, Freedom Party Candidate)
But on election day, it turned out that it wasn't that
important to Vienna after all. The Freedom Party's vote fell
by 7%, giving the Socialists the absolute majority. And
though the Freedom Party is still big, taking second place,
the election result did show that their campaign of
prejudice didn't pay off.
And for Agbogbe, it was a step closer to a dream come
true. "I dream that one day, people from different
backgrounds will be seen as something valuable, not as a
threat."
He didn't get elected. But it takes time to change
mentalities. And whether his candidacy had a direct impact
on the result or not, at least he has shown that people like
him have a voice too.
And besides - everyone in Vienna now knows what the
traditional Togolese dress looks like, and that this is an
important and valuable part of their culture.
Agbogbe sees himself as an "Austrian of different
origin". And he looks forward to the day when people like
him will be accepted as fellow citizens, with their own
unique cultural identity.
---ENDS---
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