I was shocked to see the news about the Boston bombings. Due to explosions during the Boston Marathon, 3 people are dead and more than 140 people are injured. "As authorities try to figure out who triggered the deadly bombings
Monday at the Boston Marathon, which killed an 8-year-old boy and two
others, many are at a loss to explain why anyone would target the annual
event that celebrates thousands of runners from around the world."
Read the article, there are also some videos, e.g. the scene from the attack and the response of Obama, who said: "We still do not know who did this or why. But make no mistake - we will get to the bottom of this... Any responsible individuals or any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice".
It is sad. You really never know what can happen...
In fact, US media provided information that there are two brothers suspected of the Boston Marathon bombing and that they are from Chechnya. This news resulted in a controversy on Twitter between Americans and Czechs, because some Americans have mistaken Chechnya for an abbreviation of the Czech Republic and they are accusing Czechs who in turn defend themselves. Here you can read the tweets which confused Czech Republic and Checnya : http://storify.com/suchosch/e-en-sko?awesm=sfy.co_hIEW&utm_campaign&utm_source=t.co&utm_content=storify-pingback&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter
ReplyDeleteI just wonder if this can result in some future American hostility against Czechs. I mean, even though it will be clarified eventually, some people may then still associate the Czech Republic with the bombing or with some kind of terrorist movements. Who knows.
You know it kinda pisses me off. A lot of Americans (or Africans? It sounds the same to me *sarcasm*) still think our country is called Czechoslovakia and have no idea we're separate now...and then this, now Chechnya or Czech Republic, who cares? Right? Let's blame Czechs anyway and ignore the fact that these are two completely different countries! Arg...I have no words...
ReplyDeleteAs Markéta wrote, I hope we won't be associated with this in the future. It seems quite unfair...:(
ReplyDeleteYou're right, but I could understand the ignorance or disregard of ordinary people, but what surprises (unpleasantly) me the most is the fact that it is also being mistaken by US media - those should be people who either know something about the world or at least they should bother to find out..in fact, the source of this misinterpretation was allegedly some online news service (I'm not sure which one) which stated that Chechnya is a part of the Czech Republic. Or maybe some of you may remember the link posted on Facebook by Ms Bilanová where a US presenter spoke about a girl from Czechoslovakia!
ReplyDeleteExactly and that's the main problem. Even the media don't bother to check it. I know we're a small country but this ignorant approach sort of hurts. Because it DOES matter.
ReplyDeleteWow, I was pretty angry reading those tweets. When even some media spread false information, then how the people can get it right? It is sad that even in this time people get something like this confused! But it is a well known stereotype that Americans don´t know the basic geography...
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