What's racism like in other Non US countries?

Every where but the US is a racial utopia where everyone is open minded and welcoming, no matter what your race, your religion, or your sex, or your sexual orientation.

Places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran will welcome you with open arms. Asian countries are the least judgmental, you can see how open they are given their open borders and how easily it is to immigrate to those countries.

Most countries in Africa are welcoming to outsiders, and will not treat you differently than they treat their fellow countrymen.

The world is your oyster go explore it!

Thanks for supporting me!

I lived in a Spanish speaking South American country and there was this Brazilian family who had to pull their kid out of school because he was bullied everyday for having darker skin than the other kids in the class. That one seemed confusing, but it did look like the family had some African descent, but he didn’t look much darker then anyone else.

I remember teenagers occasionally making fun of us, calling us white guys monkeys. Also, there were Germans in the country that weren’t much liked by certain people. I suppose that’s understandable even though they had so intermixed with the culture both socially and genetically that it wasn’t too much of a problem.

Whatever racism was there seemed stronger, more palpable, and obvious than in the US. But, at least in that country, your race I believe didn’t really hold you back too much, and in the US it certainly holds you back much less.

In Europe there's certainly racism and Black Lives Matter has made a huge impact, especially after Floyd. Lots of places are supporting the principle of BLM, if not the organization's demands (overthrowing capitalism etc).

In the UK there has been a lot of introspection over the Empire's role in slavery and that has extended to the partitioning of India and other events. In Bristol a statue of a slaver-turned philanthropist was thrown into the harbour. This has turned into a good debate on what should replace it, and there's broad agreement that the slaver should be put in context in a museum, rather than imposing itself on a city.

(White) Nationalism and neo-nazism exists in pockets and there are some problems where the far-right attack or threaten BLM-type protests. In Richmond some of the far-right wore the insignia of the local Army regiment. That caused some problems for the Army, who are on a diversity recruitment drive.

Talking to BAME friends, unconscious bias is more a problem here than overt racism (not to say that doesn't exist) so it's harder for them to get job interviews, senior roles etc - and this is backed up by the evidence. It's an issue that most employers have been working on for a while.

I think a big benefit we have over the US is that our police aren't basically paramilitaries - dialogue has to come first, and screaming at people while pointing a gun at them isn't conducive to dialogue.

I like to think Cananada scores pretty well in this area but I imagine we still have a lot of shortcomings. Definitely for the Natives it's extremely prevailent but tbh it's probably one of the best places in the world to be black (not that I am one who can speak to that).

31 now but ever since grade school I can remember being taught that we are a melting pot and that diversity is our strength. I think we have a very non-racist culture which is great, but I imagine there a still big inbalances and we could be doing more to adress them. I hope people who are non-white at least feel like they live in a place where they are fully embraced just like anyone else though.

The US is unique in the level of police violence. Most police officers in Europe have never discharged their weapon and maybe have to point a gun at someone once or twice a year. And in Europe, police do not go around arresting people in low income neighborhoods for every little infraction like they do in the US under the "broken windows" policing policy.

That being said, racism is everywhere. I've spent some time in France and am friends with a bunch of French ex pat families in the US. There is a lot of racism against North Africans. People won't hire them and won't let their kids be friends with them. There is also a lot of antisemitism, especially with traditional Catholics. And it really seems like a much deeper sort of racism than we have in the US. French culture is so well defined and has such history that racial and cultural purity has an entirely different meaning than what we have in the US where must of us are mutts.

Thanks for the contributions. Makes one wonder...is there a nation with a diverse population where there is no racism, or is it inherent? Be nice to know that it can happen. It'd be interesting to see what countries with multi ethnic populations score highest in beating racism.

There have been protests in France due to the police treatment of muslims in some areas where the police do roll in and pick out minor infractions to throw people against a wall. You might enjoy Les Miserables, from 2019:

It's a work of fiction, but based on the real life police violence.

Precious Roy wrote:

The US is unique in the level of police violence.

There have been over 30 mass shootings in Chicago alone so far this year. I'd say the level of police violence isn't so bad considering the crap we're asking them to deal with.

RunRagged wrote:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/

Thanks for that. That was quite a surprise.

seikosha wrote:

Thanks for the contributions. Makes one wonder...is there a nation with a diverse population where there is no racism, or is it inherent? Be nice to know that it can happen. It'd be interesting to see what countries with multi ethnic populations score highest in beating racism.

It's probably not the answer you were looking for necessarily but... Switzerland?

Three peoples (French, Germans and Italians) who each have the language and culture of neighboring states. There's debate about whether they are for example Swiss Italians or Italian Swiss.

Considering the enmity particularly between France and Germany, by comparison the French and German people in Switzerland have never sought to join their neighboring countries or fight with each other.

America is the least racist country in the world. America is the easiest country for anyone to immigrate to. By contrast, most European countries have political parties dedicated to opposing immigration.

Hahaha. Swiss not exactly a diverse Utopia. Multi ethic state yes but the different ethnicities are not very different at all.

diversery wrote:

Hahaha. Swiss not exactly a diverse Utopia. Multi ethic state yes but the different ethnicities are not very different at all.

I was just about to recommend that he try to immigrate to Switzerland.

Precious Roy wrote:

That being said, racism is everywhere. I've spent some time in France and am friends with a bunch of French ex pat families in the US. There is a lot of racism against North Africans. People won't hire them and won't let their kids be friends with them. There is also a lot of antisemitism, especially with traditional Catholics. And it really seems like a much deeper sort of racism than we have in the US. French culture is so well defined and has such history that racial and cultural purity has an entirely different meaning than what we have in the US where must of us are mutts.

Funny how the there is racism in France against North Africans but then in North Africa there is racism against Sub-Saharans.

What evidence can you furnish for that mere assertion? I am reminded of your recent statement that Bill Gates was not a great coder.

I was in Scotland when a gas station clerk kicked me out for being British.

....I'm American.