"The little imperial gentleman from the north must be across the river by now. Let's send him a big shout: Gringo go home!"

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez addressing a crowd of 40,000 at an anti-imperialist rally in a football stadium in, Buenos Aires in March. The rally was timed to coincide with the North American President, George Bush’s arrival in neighboring Uruguay.

"It's the west as usual ... when they criticise the government trying to prevent violence and punish the perpetrators of that violence, we take the position that they can go hang. Here are persons who went out of their way to effect a campaign of violence and we hear no criticism at all of those actions of violence, none at all."

Robert Mugabe, 15 March 2007, following criticism of his government and the ‘attack’ on around 50 opposition leaders who were allegedly beaten and arrested while trying to attend a rally.

Back to top

"A nation of this quality should have the sense of saying we are very sorry and we have to put the record straight. This community was involved in a very terrible trade, Africans were involved in a very terrible trade, the Church was involved in a very terrible trade ... it's important that we all own up to what was collectively done."

The Archbishop of York John Sentamu in March 2007 urging Tony Blair to go further than a statement of regret for Britain's role in the Maafa. He also calls on African people to accept responsibility for their own enslavement.

"When I look out at what Britain is, it's just a complete mess. I don't appreciate how people come into our country and take over our country. Britain's really not Britain anymore. My mind is completely open to different cultures, but I don't think they should bring them to Britain… I don't like fat people, I don't really like really ugly people, I don't like it when foreigners come into this country and they don't take on British culture and British values. I'm for the British Empire and things. I'm for slavery, but that's never going to come back."

18-year-old Lucy Buchanan speaking on Channel 4's reality television show, Shipwrecked. He comments stirred huge controversy about whether Channel 4 should have broadcasted her comments. Whilst some individuals sought to embark on a campaign against the teenager, others felt that her comments were a reminder of the simmering racism embedded in all sectors of British society. The incident generated a number of complaints to Ofcom but the controversy served the cynical Channel 4 agenda to increase their ratings for the show.

"There will be serious economic and cultural consequences of a successful purge of "[n word]" from Americans' vocabulary. As "[n word]" goes, so will go "ho", "booty", "beatch", and a whole host of irreplaceable terms, without which the entire rap and hip-hop music industries will collapse."

The Asia Times news website arguing against the banning of offensive and derogatory language in the American lexicon. The comment followed the announcement that New York City Council had passed a symbolic resolution banning the n word. The move was supported by Marcia Williams, from Ban the N-word organisations. She said: "this is a word that is rooted in hatred". Not everyone supported the move, suggesting that it was a futile and redundant gesture.