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Monday, October 25, 2010

Slovenian reactions to Peter Bossman's election

10/25/2010 , 10 comments

My translation of few representative comments from a Slovenian forum

Here are some translations of the comments from the homepage of the Slovenian national TV (RTVSlo.si) in reaction to Dr. Peter Bossman's election as the first black mayor in Slovenia as well as to his instant fame in the world media. The commentators on that website are usually pro right-wing, but in the case of Peter Bossman, the comments are mostly positive (I'd say over 90%). There are many congratulations, even a sort of a pride is felt by many based on the fact, that the new mayor attracts so many positive reactions from all over the world.

Let me share some of the representative comments, the positive and negative. On the right side is a small feature that shows, if people liked or disliked a comment (thumbs up and thumbs down), which also tells a lot about how some comments are perceived.

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kozi
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:09
Bossman ni črnec ali temnopolten, ampak Afro-slovenec...
Ne bodimo no tako zategnjeni :)))
+ 30 glasov
Bossman is not black or dark skinned, he's an Afro-Slovenian.
Let's not be so backwards :)))
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PICENG 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:07
Mi je všeč!
+ 29 glasov
I like him!
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commonsense
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:11
Zgleda, da bo en mož naredil več za "prepoznavnost" Slovenije kot cela državni aparat turizma in oglaševanja.
+ 28 glasov
Looks like one man will do more for the "visibility" of Slovenia than
the whole state tourist board and their advertising.
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kolibri123
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:28
Bosman je vljuden, prijazen in dober zdravnik. Ljudje mu zaupajo, ker ga poznajo iz prve roke, Barva kože je pa postranska stvar.
+ 16 glasov
Bossman is polite, friendly and a good doctor. People trust him,
because they know him first hand. The color of the skin is a secondary thing.
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kleman3 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:16
Čestitke!!! Pa le slovenci nismo taki rasisti kot sm mislu!
+ 15 glasov
Congratulations!!! Slovenians are really not as racist as I thought!
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Valuk_
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:16
Čestitke res.

Bo tole kar pretreslo verjetno marsikaterega ksenofobnega Slovenčka.
+ 12 glasov
Congratulations, really. This will probably shaken up quite few xenophobic Slovenians.
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Sheppard 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:13

Sam nevem al samo mene al se koga druzga spominja na onega iz leathal weapons, drugace pa da je zmagu svaka cast kdo bi si mislu hehe.
+ 10 glasov
I'm not sure, is it only me or does he really look like the one from leathal weapons*, on another note his victory deserves all the praise, who would have thought hehe.
(*He means Danny Glover)
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8
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enoo
25. oktober 2010 ob 12:50
Upam, da bo Bossman tako dober župan kot je zdravnik!! Skratka želim mu dobro vodenje prelepega Pirana.
+ 5 glasov
I hope that Bossman will be as good as a mayor as he is as a doctor.
I wish him good management of the beautiful Piran.
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pAznik
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:35
Bravo čestitam
+ 4 glasovi
Bravo, I congratulate
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NOB
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:19
Once you go black you can't go back. ;-)
+ 2 glasova
*Don't need to translate this one :-)
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Dr. Kumrovec
25. oktober 2010 ob 10:50
Majhen korak za človeštvo a velik skok za vzhodno Evropo. Od Pirana do Moskve imamo vsi vzhodno evropejci razlog za slavje.
Small step for humankind, but a big jump for Eastern Europe. From
Piran to Moscow all of us Eastern Europeans have reason to celebrate.
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kreten=kreten 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:34

kaj bi dal, da na naslednjih volitvah v teh tako imenovanih liberalnih občinah kandidira kak cigan/rom................ pa da potem vidimo, kolk so liberalni
- 1 glas
I would give anything to see that in the so called liberal
municipalities a gypsy/roma runs for office............
let us see then, how liberal they are
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michael25 25. oktober 2010 ob 11:54

Najbolj so pri nas nestrpni levičarji, ki nikoli ne bi izvoli nekoga, ki je Slovenec in katolik... ne samo, da takšnega človeka levičarji ne bi nikoli volili, pa če je še tako dober, oni bi Slovencem katolikom tudi najraje odvzeli vse državljanske pravice in jih izgnali iz države...
- 8 glasov
The most intolerant people in our country are the leftists, who would never elect someone, who is a Slovenian and a catholic... not only, that the leftists would not elect such person, even if he's really good, they would also like to expel the Slovenian catholics out of the country...
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elzial4x 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:29

Bossman je popolnoma nekompetenten za biti župan. Žalostno je videti, kako je s slovenčki lahko manipulirati, dva-tri članke v časopise in potem volijo (ne vejo kaj, kar nekaj) nekoga samo zato, da bodo del "nečesa velikega". Kake prazne glave.
- 12 glasov
Bossman is completely incompetent to be a mayor. It's sad to see, how easy it is to manipulate with slovenians, two-three articles in the newspapers and then they vote for (they have no clue why) someone only to be part of "something big". Empty heads.
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spf xxii 25. oktober 2010 ob 10:47
Ja men je to sramota in izguba lastne identitete.
- 21 glasov
For me this is a shame and a loss of our own identity.
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What was your reaction to Dr. Peter Bossman's victory?

[Photo by Luka Cjuha, Dnevnik]

10 COMMENTS:

Hmm, I wouldn't know as I haven't been to Slovenia. But I'd say this: East Europe is much more cosmopolitan than I previously thought.

@The Envoy: Maybe. But we don't see ourselves as part of East Europe, but rather central.

Politics...

Okay. The issue is about him being Black? I think as long as he can do the job, there should not be a problem.

@Gnetch: It's not really an issue, it's a sensation here, hehe.

What an amazing and laudable event... while the world media, true to form, treats this as a mere spectacle, truth be told Eastern Europe (including Slovenia) is far from being a post-racial society... That said, I view this as a preciously bold step into the future by a town in a nation famous for introversion and deathly afraid of both change and ''foreigners taking over''... This comment coming from a Slovenian American who has lived in Slovenia for 12 years, so don't dare tell me I don't know what I'm talking about... Cheers to Nino for covering this story!

@Nick Taylor: Nobody will dare to attack your credibility, don't worry, I have pit bulls protecting your comment ;)

I totally agree. It would be a bigger surprise, if Piran had for example 20% of Black population. Being one black man that everybody knows and most respect is a big benefit. It's still a big thing that he actually won, but I doubt there would be a Roma elected mayor of Novo Mesto for example. We still have a long way to go, but maybe this is a small leap forward for Slovenians. And it's funny how they put him as a representative of whole Eastern Europe. I think Piran, Sofia and Donetsk have less in common than Piran, Bari and Sevilla...

Good to know :D And you're absolutely correct Nino, just goes to show how limited the world's understanding of Europe east of Venice really is... What's really a shame is that many avid travelers haven't ever been, depriving themselves of the experience of a lifetime, being that Western Europe is absolutely overrated...

@Nick Taylor: Exactly :) I think east and south from Vienna is where the fun begins :)

Wow it's nice to see that he's received such a warm welcome overall :) Great job with translating the comments for us to read. And I giggled at the comment about comparing him to Danny Glover from Lethal Weapons LOL
I can't say I have a reaction to his victory, but seeing that he's the first afro-slovenian mayor in your country, I think it's a positive step forward...that is, if he proves to do well for Piran. You'll have to keep us updated on this!

@Karen: Thanks. I hope he will do a good job. Piran is one of our tourist magnets.

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