Swedish town gives 'Negro Village' new name
Published: 13 Feb 12 16:06 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/39084/20120213/
A suburb of Mjällby, southern Sweden, which has been known by locals as ‘Negro Village’ for forty years, will be changing its name after a storm of recent attention.
- Sweden Democrat: 'a negro is a negro' to me (28 Nov 11)
- Immigrant students get 'Negro' Swedish lesson (20 May 11)
- Swedish town ditches 'negro' neighbourhood (24 Sep 09)
“It all started over 40 years ago,” said Lars-Göran Björklund, CEO of Sölvesborgshem, the housing company which manages the area.
“Some 14 or 15 houses were built with black chimneys, and the townspeople decided to call the town Negerby. There was no harm in that word at the time, and there were no problems with the town name," he told The Local.
While ‘Negro Village’ never became the official name of the suburb, the expression stuck in local parlance, and it was 40 years before anyone decided to take action.
“It wasn’t until a journalist came to town a while back and made a big deal about it that people got upset. Now we have discussed it and have decided not to use the name at all anymore.”
The company is now using the temporary title of Slottsstaden (‘Castle City’) while discussions are underway to find something better.
“The chairman has suggested that we hold a competition to find a new name for the area, which hopefully will happen soon,” Björklund said.
In September 2009, a neighbourhood in Karlstad, southern Sweden, was forced to be renamed from Negern (‘The Negro’) after a public outcry.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Minister: Stockholm riots 'not youth versus society'
With one 18-year-old remanded in custody after four nights of rioting in Stockholm, Sweden's Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag said the rioters are a small minority, and did not represent a clash between young people in the suburbs and Swedish society. READ () »
Firefighter to Stockholm rioters: I'll still help you
A viral Facebook post about the terror of being targeted by stone-throwing youths during to the ongoing Stockholm riots has made firefighter Mattias Lassén into something of a Swedish folk hero, and The Local's pick for Swede of the Week. READ () »
Driving in Sweden: Elk, reindeer, and road rage
Fresh from another near miss with a hulking behemoth of an elk, ex-Londoner Paul Connolly offers up a theory on how the prospect of imminent collisions with wayward wildlife affects the driving habits of Swedes up north. READ () »
Swedish parties agree to major free-school reform
The government and its main opposition have agreed to new rules governing performance requirements and profits at publicly funded, privately managed free schools. READ () »
Swedish scientists chart entire fir tree genome
Scientists at three Swedish universities have managed to muddle through the genetic code for fir trees, seven times larger than the human genome, with potential benefits for the Swedish forestry industry. READ () »
Swedish zoo celebrates rare elephant birth
The Borås Zoo in western Sweden has welcomed a rare new elephant calf as African elephant Dudu gave birth on Wednesday after two years of pregnancy. READ () »
Stockholm riots spread south on fourth night
Wednesday night saw more burning cars, smashed windows, and stone throwing at police in at least 15 suburbs around Stockholm, as the fourth night of riots swept the Swedish capital. READ () »
Karolinska joins free online-course community
Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has signed up to offer free online courses, joining a network of 27 universities worldwide that reach nearly a million students. READ () »
- 23/05 Driving in Sweden: Elk, reindeer, and road rage »
- 22/05 Bergman auction canned after suspected theft »
- 22/05 Fashion prize turns Rookies into players »
- 21/05 Topless woman to be lifted from Swedish map »
- 20/05 Topless Swedish beach bunny sparks outrage »
- 19/05 Royal wedding fever hits Sweden »
- 18/05 Man wounded in schoolyard shooting »
- 17/05 Danes invade Sweden for Eurovision final »
- 17/05 American 'prince' says no to Swedish citizenship »
- 16/05 Eurovision superfans swarm southern Sweden »
More news from Germany at thelocal.de
- 23/05 A French Psy who made Cannes stars see double »
- 23/05 Diamond necklace 'worth €2m stolen' at Cannes »
More news from France at thelocal.fr
More news from Norway at thelocal.no
- 23/05 Geneva police raid sex parlours over 'tax fraud' »
- 23/05 Swiss diamond necklace 'stolen' at Cannes »
More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch
In cooperation with DoToday
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
“Örngott”, “luttanpluttan” and “chokladglass” »
"Hej! How is your Swedish coming along? I have received many questions on the Facebook page and in my email lately and it seems like a good idea to post the answers here. Enjoy! Question 1 – “får inte” or “måste inte” Could you please clarify for me which is the most commonly used phrase in Swedish for..." READ »
- 23/5 09:23 REFLECTIONS OF A TWITTER VIRGIN…. (The Diplomatic Dispatch)
- 21/5 21:34 WEEK 21 (Stripes News)
- 20/5 15:25 Hockey. Hockey. Hockey. (Boston Blatte)
- 00:35 Restaurant Inspection Scores
- 00:33 Husby Riots and violence against the police...
- 00:32 Moving to Sweden (Questions) HELP
- 00:13 Moving to Sweden from England
- 23:58 Living costs in London
- 23:38 Gym memberships without a personnummer?
- 21:05 Astra 2F (SKY TV)
- 20:20 Adobo- Filipino Recipe
- 19:13 Is it save to keep money at forexbank?
- 18:49 Found out I'm pregnant!
Individuals & Couples - Stockholm Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Create an account with Banc De Binary, the world’s most reputable binary options firm, and start cashing in today! You can start by practicing with our free $50,000 demo account.
www.bbinary.com
Expat counsellor & talk therapist offers counselling for stress, relationship issues, sexuality, culture adjustment & life coaching. Private & confidential. Stockholm or Skype. Contact me today! 08-559 22 636 or
CLICK HERE
Casa Birgitta in Algarve, Portugal. Reduced price in best location. Private estate on white sand beach. All amenities included. Book here today! edward_george1@hotmail.com
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
That right there explains the state the world is in. "Journalists" are nothing but propaganda peddlers and charlatans.
Much ado about nothing
Mjäll is actually a rather obscure and difficult word with many meanings.
It can mean tender meat, light skin, a sort of soil, newly fallen snow etcetera. Dandraff is just one of its meanings.
This is not what Sweden needs right now
Villages with such names could have been tourist attractions for Negroes and other curious folk. What's still not clear is whether it was Negroes or non- Negroes that were responsible for "the public outcry"
Of course no members of the Ku Klux Klan or the John Birch Society for that matter would like to live in any villages with such names. A tourist in Sweden could easily be led to believe that these villages were ethnic enclaves - some kind of culture reservations, specially reserved for Negroes/ African immigrants, but in that case why not call such a place " Little Nairobi" or "Kinshasa" ?
In my humble opinion the time for some of the immigrant ghettoes, like Rinkeby and Husby and Akalla being re-named is long overdue. The Turks could have it their way as " Turkistan" - the Kurds - " Little Kurdistan".
Even Södertalje could be renamed "Syria", "Aleppo" or "Little Damascus" to the great joy of those who identify with those places....
Just right now there no problem about Montenegro - a sate carved out of the former Yugoslavia. Only problem is that there are hardly any "Negroes" living there. Once you get a number of Negroes there the name itself might cause some social unrest, but I doubt that the majority of the White Montenegroes see anything derogatory about the name......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegro
I guess Spanish speakers will have to assemble to determine a new word for "black" since "negro" is no longer socially acceptable......................
"Even Södertalje could be renamed "Syria", "Aleppo" or "Little Damascus" to the great joy of those who identify with those places...."
Syrians are not the same as assyrians.
Niger is banansidiot!
Neger är en apa!
welcome to Svartby !!! :-)