3 ms·

Do you believe the US is the least racist country in the world or have i missed some sarcasm? I'm truly not trying to antagonize, just curious

0xffff2 2y ago
Who would you nominate? The US certainly has severe problems with racism, but everything I've ever read about other countries has led me to believe that this isn't actually a totally implausible claim.
- rectang 2y ago
  https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-racist-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-rac... Number 1: New Zealand. Number 73: USA Methodology: > The WVS survey asks respondents from more than 80 countries dozens of questions, including one that asked respondents to identify types of people they would not want as neighbors. The more people of a particular country responded that they would be happy to have a neighbor of a different race, the more racially tolerant the respondents' country would be considered
  - sjducb 2y ago
    That is based on 2 studies, one of which puts the US as one of the least racist countries and the other puts the US as among the most racist. Something is wrong. The US is very racist by self reported observation of racism. However citizens of different countries have different definitions of racism. If you use a constant definition of racism like “Would you live next to people of another race, yes/no?” Then you find that almost all Americans say yes (low racism) . In some other countries over 70% of people would not live next to a person of another race.
sjducb 2y ago
Name a country that is less racist.
- throwaway2037 2y ago
  Canada. New Zealand. Jamaica.
  - sjducb 2y ago
    Canada and New Zealand are part of the “west” so they’re very similar to the US. Jamaica is a good pick. A non western country that has very low levels of racism. Maybe the assertion should be that the US is amongst the least racist countries in the world. The US is clearly in a different league compared to Russia, China and India.
    - throwaway2037 2y ago
      Why do you think Caribbean nations are not part of the "west"? How about countries in Africa or South America? Why do you think Russia, China, and India are "more" (moar?) racist than the US? All three of those countries are continent-sized and (internally) wildly diverse. Interestingly, all three of them have significant minority groups that practice Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity, yet they are peaceful places to live. This whole Internet trope that the US is more or less racist than country X is weird. I see it so many times. Any country that had institution racism well into the 20th century (many!) is going to be working through a continent-sized garbage dump of cultural baggage. I don't care so much about any country's absolute state; I care more about their direction and progress. Two interesting examples: 30 years ago Germany treated Turkish people, who had peacefully and legally settled thanks to the post-war guest worker programme, as second citizens. Today is completely different. There are ethnic Turks who are national ministers! Less extreme: Both Italy and Romania have large populations of Roma people (outdated term: gypsy), but today they are more integrated into mainstream society than ever. 30 years ago they were absolutely second class citizens.
      - sjducb 2y ago
        Regarding China, Russia and India. They’ve all got a big problem with the literal enslavement of people from ethnic minority communities. I think that’s racism. https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/ https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/

0xffff2 2y ago

Who would you nominate? The US certainly has severe problems with racism, but everything I've ever read about other countries has led me to believe that this isn't actually a totally implausible claim.

rectang 2y ago
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-racist-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-rac... Number 1: New Zealand. Number 73: USA Methodology: > The WVS survey asks respondents from more than 80 countries dozens of questions, including one that asked respondents to identify types of people they would not want as neighbors. The more people of a particular country responded that they would be happy to have a neighbor of a different race, the more racially tolerant the respondents' country would be considered
- sjducb 2y ago
  That is based on 2 studies, one of which puts the US as one of the least racist countries and the other puts the US as among the most racist. Something is wrong. The US is very racist by self reported observation of racism. However citizens of different countries have different definitions of racism. If you use a constant definition of racism like “Would you live next to people of another race, yes/no?” Then you find that almost all Americans say yes (low racism) . In some other countries over 70% of people would not live next to a person of another race.

sjducb 2y ago

Name a country that is less racist.

throwaway2037 2y ago
Canada. New Zealand. Jamaica.
- sjducb 2y ago
  Canada and New Zealand are part of the “west” so they’re very similar to the US. Jamaica is a good pick. A non western country that has very low levels of racism. Maybe the assertion should be that the US is amongst the least racist countries in the world. The US is clearly in a different league compared to Russia, China and India.
  - throwaway2037 2y ago
    Why do you think Caribbean nations are not part of the "west"? How about countries in Africa or South America? Why do you think Russia, China, and India are "more" (moar?) racist than the US? All three of those countries are continent-sized and (internally) wildly diverse. Interestingly, all three of them have significant minority groups that practice Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity, yet they are peaceful places to live. This whole Internet trope that the US is more or less racist than country X is weird. I see it so many times. Any country that had institution racism well into the 20th century (many!) is going to be working through a continent-sized garbage dump of cultural baggage. I don't care so much about any country's absolute state; I care more about their direction and progress. Two interesting examples: 30 years ago Germany treated Turkish people, who had peacefully and legally settled thanks to the post-war guest worker programme, as second citizens. Today is completely different. There are ethnic Turks who are national ministers! Less extreme: Both Italy and Romania have large populations of Roma people (outdated term: gypsy), but today they are more integrated into mainstream society than ever. 30 years ago they were absolutely second class citizens.
    - sjducb 2y ago
      Regarding China, Russia and India. They’ve all got a big problem with the literal enslavement of people from ethnic minority communities. I think that’s racism. https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/ https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/