5 ms·
I agree that most of the world is worse (or different?), but America is still special because it has so much pure racism that isn't a blend with xenophobia. He
by usrusr 4y ago
I agree that most of the world is worse (or different?), but America is still special because it has so much pure racism that isn't a blend with xenophobia.
Here in Germany for example, black skin Africans report wildly different amounts of discrimination: the lucky ones are those who, due to some inexplicable subtility, tend to get misidentified as African Americans. Suddenly they are on the other side of that strange line separating immigrants from expats, without even trying.
- spywaregorilla 4y agoI had no idea people identified as African Americans outside of America
- em-bee 4y agowhy would they not? do caucasian americans identify as europeans outside of america? or mexicans as spanisch?
- spywaregorilla 4y agoAfrican American is neither a race nor a citizenship. If you're of African descent, born in England, you may say you're African, or English, but you'll likely never say you're English African. There's a sense of heritage in African American descent but it's also very messy. A black man from England travelling to America could plausibly be called African American because it's largely been redefined as "Black but not culturally African" in what I assumed was culturally local definition.
- usrusr 4y ago"get identified", not "identify" (even if I wouldn't bet that the latter never happens, it would be a clever image projection). A mistake on the side of the potential xenophobe that usually turns out quite positive for the misidentified. "Welfare seeker" vs "impersonation of the Marshall Plan", the difference could not be bigger. The face of the "good GI", in popular memory, has black skin because that used to be so much of a standout feature back in the day.
- DiggyJohnson 4y agoGenuinely asking, what would be an example of pure, overt, common racism in American life?
- usrusr 4y agoLiterally everything that hurts people whose ancestors have been born Americans for more generations than they can trace back?
- DiggyJohnson 4y agoI’m asking for an example, not the definition of racism. Sorry to put it so bluntly.
- em-bee 4y agofor one the fact that most americans are aware of the existence of racism and openly debate it. whereas european rasism is hidden, and many people are unaware that it even exists because they don't see it. in germany, racism is considered a feature of the extreme right, ignoring that general xenophobia is more widespread than that. european racism is also more xenophobia than about race, which is exemplified by the difference between africans and african-americans. it's less the skin color that matters but where you are from. an african-american is from a 1st world country with a western culture similar to europe, whereas a native african is from a 3rd world country. "from the bush", from a poverty stricken and war-torn region.
- DiggyJohnson 4y agoI’m sorry, but having a discussion about racism isn’t really an example of overt racism. What is this discourse based on in the modern experience of being a minority American?
- em-bee 4y agoyou are right. i didn't really answer your question. i mean to say that racism in the US is more open in the sense that more people recognize discrimination as such. it is also more systemic. as you can see it happening in institutions. in europe there is a lack of awareness and it's mostly individuals unaware that their behavior is xenophobic or racist.