Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate
Shaun Walker in Moscow
theguardian.com, Monday 16 September 2013 13.35 BST
The subject of racism has become the focus of a public discussion in Russia after an MP from the Duma caused outrage by posting an image of Barack Obama on Twitter that was photoshopped to include a banana.
Irina Rodnina, an MP from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and a triple Olympic champion figure-skater, posted the picture on her personal Twitter account.
The image features Obama chewing, while a hand in the foreground waves a banana at him.
Rodnina insisted that there was nothing wrong with the photograph, and said she had been sent it by friends in America. "Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, and you should answer for your own hang-ups," she wrote.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/16/russia-obama-banana-racism-debate