Racism in Europe?

Remove all ads!

Are people more racist in Europe than other parts of the world? After reading some posts by Euros it seems so. I know there are racists everywhere, but it seems to me that there is more racism in Europe. What do you all think?

 

Grillen - I suggest you take a good look at the rules of this forum. Such generalizations are against the rules.

 

I can answer that;

No, we're not. Without trying to turn this into an Europe vs. USA topic, I can bring up a counterpoint for every point you make that Europe is racist.

 

Pah, there are just as many racists in Europe as are in America.


And what posts have you noticed that are racist? If there were any, moderaters would have stopped them already.

 

Now you see Tal, this is the perfect situation to call somebody a nasty name . Some people need telling

 

I don't know why people keep making the mistake of calling us Euros as if we are one people. Get an education for crying out loud.

 

There are racists everywhere. And I wonder if the term 'Euros' is any more of a generalisation than the term 'Africans' or 'Asians".

 

Wherefor art thou from, grillen?

As far as I can tell the only race on BoM is the one to see who can post the most spam...er ...I mean intelligent, witty posts.

 

To add a little of a seriousness, I think Europeans may come off as more extreme on certain topics because we don't make a point of being politically correct. We're more into traditional politeness (which is in decline, anyway) than political correctness trends.

I don't want to be picky, but if real racism goes, Europe is no match. But I don't think you want to talk about recent history, though, so let's leave it at this.

 

There's racism and then there's racism. Overt racism, like the kind practiced by the KKK, is a dying phenomenon in most civilised nations. Open hostility or antipathy based on race is so loathesome that no-one (in polite company, at least) will or should be proud of it. That's not to say it's not there; it's just less organised and better hidden in most cases.

Then there's covert racism, which is typically implied or visible by effect rather than open antagonism. This is a problem everywhere, because everyone gets along better with the cultures and races they grew up with, and it is often necessary to be conscious of this so that one doesn't marginalise or disregard other people's voices. My country, for one, has a long and disturbing history of such bigotry (primarily against the Australian Aborigines and Asian immigrants). This, I feel, is a much bigger problem, and it's everywhere.

France may have brought it into the spotlight, but it's a gargantuan leap of faith to assume that it's necessarily worse in Europe because of this. Australia and the US are comparatively homogenous next to continental Europe. That hasn't stopped either nation from establishing an economic order which has benefited Caucasians and marginalised others. While I would not suggest that such arrangements have necessarily been deliberate and purposive, it's hard to argue with decades of demographic information, mortality rates, levels of income and rates of incarceration.

 

NS - didnt you mean to say that the people of Australia and the US are heterogenous in nature, when compared to the homogenous nations of Europe (or other nations for that matter)? Or have I just had too much party yesterday and dont get you point?

 

Compared to Europe as a whole rather than individual countries, it is more heterogenic than US as a whole. US compared to any individual Europen country is more heterogenic in turn.

 

Ah. Thanks for clearing that up.

edit -- Ditto, NS.

 

Dendri - I was under the impression that Europe, as a whole, is more culturally and ethnically diverse than Australia or the US (or at least, that distinct groups are more concentrated, more identifiable or hold greater local influence than scattered populations in the other two countries). The difference is that continental Europe is not comprised of just one nation, and there have been centuries to build up grudges, feuds or general resentment between nations. I imagine that each nation in Europe is more homogenous, however. Having never been there, I could be wildly off the mark.

Plus, as appears to be evident from this thread at least, Europeans are more inclined to say what they mean and mean what they say.

EDIT: Yeah, what Susi said...

 

Even so I am not sure if that is correct. Perhaps I should post no more, as I saw my bed at 9.00 am... but:

Can it be said that US citizens of, for example, Indian, African and European descend have more in common than British and Dutch Europeans? The Polish and German? Swedish and Greek (to go to the extremes)? Dont know what the other 'Euros' here might have to say to this, but to me Germany's nine neighbours arent at all that incomprehensible in matters of religion, traditions, habits etc (language left aside ).

Depends on how much of their cultural background those ethnic groups in the US or Australia have retained, I suppose.

But I guess this is off the topic. On it goes with racist Europe.

 

Out of curiousity, why are people condemning the term "Euros"? Isn't it the same as Asians? I would have never guessed that it was a derogatory term.

 

Because it makes things sound as if we're talking about one race, one people, and i guess that's not how we prefer to be considered. A German is a European, and so is a Frenchman, but there's a huge difference between a German and a Frenchman, in every way. And the same goes for all other races in Europe, that's why it's kinda silly to put them all under one flag.

 

Well saying Euros is I guess a bit like calling Americans yanks. It's not exactly the nicest word around. Saying "Europeans" would be more correct though.

I'm not all that convinced that Europe is any more racist than the US or Australia. Prejudice exist in quite a large scale in all over the world, which is in my opinion very unfortunate.

 

And if you call a southerner a yankee, you're just asking for trouble.