4 ms·

This is an absolute outrage. Reading this made me realize maybe moving to France or Germany might be better. I'd move to Brazil but too much robbery. The reason

This is an absolute outrage. Reading this made me realize maybe moving to France or Germany might be better. I'd move to Brazil but too much robbery. The reason I say France and Germany is because they scored less on the racism. I live in Canada but racism is still around, just not direct and in your face most of the times. It's like an invisible wall you run into as a visible minority in certain situations, the cohesive side of normal human interaction is present but without the acknowledgement of another human. You take a step back and look at the invisible wall that surrounds the people inside it and you walk away thinking and you begin to doubt yourself. Then you find open minded people and it hits you in the head, the wall was real. it's still around.

acjohnson55 12y ago
Europe often has a different manifestations of racial issues, in my experience. Some feel that racism there isn't so cloaked and ingrained in the culture, see [1] for example. It was in Austria that I, a black guy, along with 2 white American guys, were stopped and interrogated by police in one of the large public parks. They peppered us with a whole bunch of questions of who we were, where were our papers, where were we coming from, where were we going, etc., before letting us leave. As a black dude, my instinct when released from the cops is to non-threateningly disengage as quickly as possible. But one of my white buddies asked the cops why they had stopped us. One cop told us point blank that there were a lot of black guys dealing heroin in the parks, and they wanted to make sure I wasn't up to no good. It's kind of darkly comical, but I'm pretty sure if you had snapped a photo of us at the moment, you'd have seen two white dudes with their jaws agape and who knows what my face looked like. I remember clearly feeling a mix of feelings. Sure, I felt some anger and annoyance at being hassled simply because I was black. I felt embarrassed for being the reason my buddies were also hassled. Mostly, I was just like, "wow, I can't believe they admitted that". In a small way, it was a vindication of all the times I had felt marginalized because of my race, but couldn't say for sure. And as racism is so hard to explain to non-minorities, I was kind of thankful my two friends were there to witness it. Quite frankly, their minds were blown. [1] http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-reading-james-baldwins-stranger-village http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-rea...
- sampo 12y ago
  A lot of European countries (UK and France being exceptions) have almost zero black population who are in the middle or upper class. Most of the small black population they have are recent, and sometimes illegal, immigrants from Africa.
- notastartup 12y ago
  I don't know what to say. You absolutely did not deserve that kind of treatment. It's very disappointing to hear even a big economy like Austria is this backwards in terms of races. I think even though this article highlights that racism transcends wealth and status I also feel like there's a strong voice,view from Americans in general of being aware and against racial prejudice where as in other countries there's not even such awareness, rather racial profiling is the norm. It's appalling.
  - acjohnson55 12y ago
    Yeah, but it's weird. That awareness leads to a more humane society on the surface, which I think is a great thing. But the racism itself doesn't evaporate; it condenses into more subtle and coded forms. Racial issues continue to perpetuate a stark opportunity divide between minority groups and white folks, and as minorities, it's a constant struggle to convince society as a whole that there are real systemic problems unbalancing the playing field, requiring real systemic solutions to address them.
    - notastartup 12y ago
      you said it. it's hard out here for minorities. unless we are absolute best and stand out, we won't get treated as equals. sad, but i think this is why so many minorities are so driven to succeed, especially immigrants.
guard-of-terra 12y ago
Go to Russia, there you will be in the middle of the pecking chain for a change :)
- notastartup 12y ago
  Russia freaks me out with all its neo-nazi who don't know their own history, the sacrifice made in fighting Nazis, it's almost bizarre. Then again the neo-nazis in Mongolia is also shocking as well. I was learning Russian a while back, I would love to visit Eastern Europe but not sure what the general attitude is like. I do see Asian looking Russian speakers so this leaves me confused. They are not quite East Asian but Asian nonetheless.
  - guard-of-terra 12y ago
    It's complicated, but the amount of neo-nazis is greatly exaggerated and they're not after you anyway. Either way this was more like a joke, in its current condition Russia is a sad place.

acjohnson55 12y ago

Europe often has a different manifestations of racial issues, in my experience. Some feel that racism there isn't so cloaked and ingrained in the culture, see [1] for example. It was in Austria that I, a black guy, along with 2 white American guys, were stopped and interrogated by police in one of the large public parks. They peppered us with a whole bunch of questions of who we were, where were our papers, where were we coming from, where were we going, etc., before letting us leave. As a black dude, my instinct when released from the cops is to non-threateningly disengage as quickly as possible. But one of my white buddies asked the cops why they had stopped us. One cop told us point blank that there were a lot of black guys dealing heroin in the parks, and they wanted to make sure I wasn't up to no good. It's kind of darkly comical, but I'm pretty sure if you had snapped a photo of us at the moment, you'd have seen two white dudes with their jaws agape and who knows what my face looked like. I remember clearly feeling a mix of feelings. Sure, I felt some anger and annoyance at being hassled simply because I was black. I felt embarrassed for being the reason my buddies were also hassled. Mostly, I was just like, "wow, I can't believe they admitted that". In a small way, it was a vindication of all the times I had felt marginalized because of my race, but couldn't say for sure. And as racism is so hard to explain to non-minorities, I was kind of thankful my two friends were there to witness it. Quite frankly, their minds were blown. [1] http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-reading-james-baldwins-stranger-village http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/black-body-re-rea...

sampo 12y ago
A lot of European countries (UK and France being exceptions) have almost zero black population who are in the middle or upper class. Most of the small black population they have are recent, and sometimes illegal, immigrants from Africa.
notastartup 12y ago
I don't know what to say. You absolutely did not deserve that kind of treatment. It's very disappointing to hear even a big economy like Austria is this backwards in terms of races. I think even though this article highlights that racism transcends wealth and status I also feel like there's a strong voice,view from Americans in general of being aware and against racial prejudice where as in other countries there's not even such awareness, rather racial profiling is the norm. It's appalling.
- acjohnson55 12y ago
  Yeah, but it's weird. That awareness leads to a more humane society on the surface, which I think is a great thing. But the racism itself doesn't evaporate; it condenses into more subtle and coded forms. Racial issues continue to perpetuate a stark opportunity divide between minority groups and white folks, and as minorities, it's a constant struggle to convince society as a whole that there are real systemic problems unbalancing the playing field, requiring real systemic solutions to address them.
  - notastartup 12y ago
    you said it. it's hard out here for minorities. unless we are absolute best and stand out, we won't get treated as equals. sad, but i think this is why so many minorities are so driven to succeed, especially immigrants.

guard-of-terra 12y ago

Go to Russia, there you will be in the middle of the pecking chain for a change :)

notastartup 12y ago
Russia freaks me out with all its neo-nazi who don't know their own history, the sacrifice made in fighting Nazis, it's almost bizarre. Then again the neo-nazis in Mongolia is also shocking as well. I was learning Russian a while back, I would love to visit Eastern Europe but not sure what the general attitude is like. I do see Asian looking Russian speakers so this leaves me confused. They are not quite East Asian but Asian nonetheless.
- guard-of-terra 12y ago
  It's complicated, but the amount of neo-nazis is greatly exaggerated and they're not after you anyway. Either way this was more like a joke, in its current condition Russia is a sad place.