A crudely written post on a blog called Racialicious makes what seems like a fair point about District 9, claiming that the subplot involving Nigerian gangsters has a racist thrust to it. My impression was that director Neill Blomkamp was just going for the usual gritty/scuzzy venality that all bad guys are obliged to exude in futuristic/sci-fi films these days. But given the film’s racial apartheid metaphor I can see how some might be irate about some of the gross particulars and associations.

HE reader Sabina (i.e., “DeafBrownTrashPunk”), who sent the piece along, claims that the outrage of the author, Nicole Stamp, over the Nigerian thugs killing and eating aliens (or “prawns”) is a racist imagining. In fact, a 4.9.09 BBC article reported that Albino Africans have been kidnapped and killed by gangs because some”witch doctor[s]” believe that albino human parts are magical and offer good health benefits.

The article said there was an Albino sanctuary built to protect Albino African kids from being kidnapped and cannibalized. Here’s another BBC article about the same thing, published a month earlier.