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I heard this from other friends of color that describe strikingly different experience while visiting or living in Europe. I grew up in Slovakia which as non-di

by doh 6y ago

I heard this from other friends of color that describe strikingly different experience while visiting or living in Europe. I grew up in Slovakia which as non-diverse as it gets. The country is quite racist, but in a very different way than I seen in US. It's more like "everyone different is bad" than "people x are bad". What I observed in US that the country really takes an advantage of "poor" people (This is not meant to be derogatory. It supposed to mean people without immediate means. I'm not trying to make a statement about how they got to where they are). And because minorities generally are at the bottom of wealth, this tend to fuel the racism even more. I always thought that a strong safety net system would ease the situation and allow for the most vulnerable groups to gain some footing which would be better for everyone. But I found over the years that the system racism is so powerful and so deeply integrated in the society that there is no way they will let it happen. I never figured out any solution to this problem which frustrates me immensely.

vmception 6y ago
Your observations about socioeconomic status echo deeper than you might think. Towards black Americans, European xenophobia doesn't translate into microaggressions intertwined with poverty, like being suspected of stealing while in any shop or being mistaken as working there because that context doesn’t exist. Where that sentiment exists, it seems reserved for another group like Romanians or Romanian minorities. Towards anybody, there is no possibility of the police being called on you while strolling through any random neighborhood and no possibility of that escalating into danger if they were. There is no need to rationalize perpetual danger with “but look at the violent crime stats, LE has to assume everyone that looks like that has a dangerous weapon”, and the lack of collective punishment absolves almost all of the strife. More likely you’ll wind up in a society where everyone ignores each other by default anyway and that’s great, leaving only the endearing things to experience.
- doh 6y ago
  >Towards anybody, there is no possibility of the police being called on you while strolling through any random neighborhood and no possibility of that escalating into danger if they were I attribute this to gun ownership. Police in most of Europe don't worry about anyone caring a gun, so their physical reactions are much less severe. >“but look at the violent crime stats, LE has to assume everyone that looks like that has a dangerous weapon” After Hitler used very detailed census data to single out certain groups, Europe is very sensitive about collecting them. I remember a debate in Slovakia a decade or so ago, where they were talking about guessing a race and people were strongly against it (never passed). >More likely you’ll wind up in a society where everyone ignores each other by default anyway and that’s great, leaving only the endearing things to experience. Interestingly enough, I never felt this way while living in Europe. People are still engaged and quite caring but also keep their distance. Europe is far from perfect, but there are parts I miss greatly.

by doh 6y ago

vmception 6y ago

Your observations about socioeconomic status echo deeper than you might think. Towards black Americans, European xenophobia doesn't translate into microaggressions intertwined with poverty, like being suspected of stealing while in any shop or being mistaken as working there because that context doesn’t exist. Where that sentiment exists, it seems reserved for another group like Romanians or Romanian minorities. Towards anybody, there is no possibility of the police being called on you while strolling through any random neighborhood and no possibility of that escalating into danger if they were. There is no need to rationalize perpetual danger with “but look at the violent crime stats, LE has to assume everyone that looks like that has a dangerous weapon”, and the lack of collective punishment absolves almost all of the strife. More likely you’ll wind up in a society where everyone ignores each other by default anyway and that’s great, leaving only the endearing things to experience.

doh 6y ago
>Towards anybody, there is no possibility of the police being called on you while strolling through any random neighborhood and no possibility of that escalating into danger if they were I attribute this to gun ownership. Police in most of Europe don't worry about anyone caring a gun, so their physical reactions are much less severe. >“but look at the violent crime stats, LE has to assume everyone that looks like that has a dangerous weapon” After Hitler used very detailed census data to single out certain groups, Europe is very sensitive about collecting them. I remember a debate in Slovakia a decade or so ago, where they were talking about guessing a race and people were strongly against it (never passed). >More likely you’ll wind up in a society where everyone ignores each other by default anyway and that’s great, leaving only the endearing things to experience. Interestingly enough, I never felt this way while living in Europe. People are still engaged and quite caring but also keep their distance. Europe is far from perfect, but there are parts I miss greatly.