No UN Charter Change, But Olmos Still Influences World

G4 backtracks on weekend interview with former 'Battlestar Galactica' star

By MICHAEL HINMAN Jul-30-2009
Source: Airlock Alpha
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No one can blame Edward James Olmos for being excited.

He told G4's "Attack of the Show" last weekend during San Diego Comic-Con that a March appearance by the "Battlestar Galactica" cast at the United Nations did more than just bring some neat publicity to the world body: Olmos' statements against using race as a cultural discriminant was so powerful, the United Nations changed the very charter it created just after World War II.

The problem? The United Nations never changed its charter.

G4 has posted a bit of a correction of its interview with Olmos Wednesday.

"Though Edward James Olmos was correct in the United Nations changing its language on race, their actions were reflected in their Durban Review Conference," the network said in its "Attack of the Show" blog.

The Durban Review Conference was a United Nations gathering last April in Geneva, Switzerland, designed to evaluate how well the world governing body as doing in battling racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia stemming from a 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa, according to the conference's official Web site.

The conference reportedly ended with an agreement by participating parties that will create "real changes" in the fight against racism, the Web site said.

The conference reaffirmed that "all people and individuals constitute one human family, rich in diversity, and that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; and strongly rejects any doctrine of racial superiority along with theories which attempt to determine the existence of so-called distinct human races."

Even though it's not the actual charter that was changed, Olmos still had a lot to be proud of.

"It's one of the hardest things that happened to me, and it would've never happened but if it weren't for 'Battlestar,'" Olmos told G4 last weekend. "'Battlestar' and its writers decided to take on what was happening now. The reconciliation between the Cylon and the human being, how did that happen? How could it happen? If the Palestinian and the Jew could only see 'Battlestar,' they would understand how to reconcile."

About the Author: Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
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