Racism in Different Continents

[Kudzai Mukaratirwa]

just out of curiosity and i need a few perspectives for TOK how is racism treated in your country and continent ? i just want your opinion no judging just want to see what people think and say and this is racism to all races....i'm from Africa so its pretty much out there because of colonialism and people (mostly non africans/black) are careful about what they say...and in other places like asia i heard its different please share what you think

[Procrastination]

Well my case is very different, I live in Colombia and it could be stated that there's minimun racism. First of all Colombia is a multicultural country so it has a lot of ethnical diversity. Even though most Colombians are white there is also a big majority of coloured people and people with mixed race.

The minimum racism that exist ocurres in the high classes of the country against coloured people which mainly come from the pacific coast of Colombia. People is overall very tolerant when it comes to ethnicity knowing that there are many different classes of them in this south american country. Hope it helped.

[Kudzai Mukaratirwa]

Well my case is very different, I live in Colombia and it could be stated that there's minimun racism. First of all Colombia is a multicultural country so it has a lot of ethnical diversity. Even though most Colombians are white there is also a big majority of coloured people and people with mixed race.

The minimum racism that exist ocurres in the high classes of the country against coloured people which mainly come from the pacific coast of Colombia. People is overall very tolerant when it comes to ethnicity knowing that there are many different classes of them in this south american country. Hope it helped.

wow that interesting i no nothing about south america besides football, i've seen something interesting on how the more upper class people tend to be less tolerant thanks, south america sounds chilled was it ever colonized ?

[Procrastination]

Well how come you don't know that! If you speak about colonies you have to inmediately refer to south america. We were colonized in first instance by Spain, except for Brasil which was colonized by the Portuguese, there you have the language differences.

Thanks to the colonization the process of mixing races started and multiple ethnicities resulted from that

[Mahuta ♥]

I live in Africa, so we're the people who would be the victims of racism most of the time. So even though I am in North Africa and I am not black, I would say we don't have that much racism because black people face no form of racism in North African countries, as far as I see and know.

[Proletariat]

There is very little racism in Canada. Allophones make up, I believe, around 20% of the population. In our largest city - Toronto - half of the population were born in a country other than Canada.

These aren't exactly socio-cultural conditions that are ripe for racism. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, but I've personally never see it outside of one instance when I was on a work exchange in Quebec. Canadian cities - like most in the world, I imagine - are very ethnically diverse.

[dessskris]

I live in Indonesia. in this country the majority of the people is Muslims and I could say that the minority is Chinese.

I hope what I'm saying here doesn't offend anybody. the Muslim Indonesian have something against the Chinese (I don't know what it is as I myself am Chinese and non-Muslim). and in national public schools, the Chinese students are sort of excluded by the Muslim Indonesians, so most of the Chinese prefer going to national private schools (besides the schools are...better).

but in international schools, I don't really see this. I don't know, though. I think it's the family background. no comment.

also there is this thing. Chinese families here (maybe outside here too, but idk) don't want the children to marry a non-Chinese.

a Chinese friend of mine dated a non-Chinese without her parents knowing. one day her parents found out and they forbid her from dating that guy. so they broke up. poor them.

I don't know the reason why though... it's a complicated matter.

[Ice Cream is really yummy]

Hey, so I live in Canada as well, and as Proletariat said, there is very little racism (I find) here in Canada. I think that the racist generations have almost all passed on, and we are all beginning to see the world change and grow. I do see pack of ethnic groups here and there. The Chinese seem to stay together, and so do the Indians. Of course, there is some MIX, but I do see that humans naturally follow their own kind, aha.

And one more thing, at my school, we are pretty multicultural... but if you were to go to another school, you will be able to see perhaps a few different nationalities.

[Sandwich]

I think that the UK is a very confused country On the whole though, I'd say there isn't much racism. People are very tolerant - but as somebody else has said, they have a tendency to stick together. I could tell you where to go in my town for the Muslim bit, the Italian part... but then I could also tell you where to go for the 'chav' poor white population and the rich white population. In many ways I don't think it's race as much as lifestyle and what you can afford. Immigrants can rarely afford the best houses, and it's natural to want to be near your family, so I suppose people effectively self-segregate.

When I say very confused, I think what I really mean is that it's multicultural in parts and in others, still has a very high % of its white indigenous population. So the whole thing is pretty weird to me. For instance, London is the most multicultural city in the world - loads of people in the capital and the big cities of England are mixed race. But immigrants don't tend to want to settle in the countryside, so when my friends and I (2 of whom are dark skinned) went to stay on the east coast for a while, it was VERY apparent that everybody else was white and staring. Not for evil reasons (necessarily, I dunno, I can't read people's thoughts!) but because it's just so uncommon. It's a relatively poor area of 'white' England, so nobody immigrating to this country would choose to go and live there.

There's very little violence or hate crime in the majority of places, but in a few places you can get problems. The problems tend to be less to do with race and more to do with what I'd say overlaps race but is the major concern of the British lately - immigration. Regardless of the fact that immigrants tend to fill jobs the local people would never do, especially since the economy crashed and loads of people were made unemployed, there's a lot of resentment around the topic of immigration. Especially since the EU made movement between member states completely free, a lot of Eastern Europeans (mostly Poles) have come to work primarily as builders, pickers, labourers... and there are various organisations such as the British National Party and the English Defence League which are basically clubs of bigots who nevertheless have quite a successful time advancing the fact that people here are unemployed and immigrants are 'stealing' our jobs or failing to integrate - because on some levels, it's true.

So yes. The majority of people are extremely tolerant, but there are small nubs of disquiet. It's perhaps less racism as much as 'immigrants', to some extent. Of course a huge proportion of visibly 'immigrant' people (i.e. obviously not native Brits) are born here, educated here and have grown up here, so it's even more fringe because of that!

[Kudzai Mukaratirwa]

I think that the UK is a very confused country On the whole though, I'd say there isn't much racism. People are very tolerant - but as somebody else has said, they have a tendency to stick together. I could tell you where to go in my town for the Muslim bit, the Italian part... but then I could also tell you where to go for the 'chav' poor white population and the rich white population. In many ways I don't think it's race as much as lifestyle and what you can afford. Immigrants can rarely afford the best houses, and it's natural to want to be near your family, so I suppose people effectively self-segregate.

When I say very confused, I think what I really mean is that it's multicultural in parts and in others, still has a very high % of its white indigenous population. So the whole thing is pretty weird to me. For instance, London is the most multicultural city in the world - loads of people in the capital and the big cities of England are mixed race. But immigrants don't tend to want to settle in the countryside, so when my friends and I (2 of whom are dark skinned) went to stay on the east coast for a while, it was VERY apparent that everybody else was white and staring. Not for evil reasons (necessarily, I dunno, I can't read people's thoughts!) but because it's just so uncommon. It's a relatively poor area of 'white' England, so nobody immigrating to this country would choose to go and live there.

There's very little violence or hate crime in the majority of places, but in a few places you can get problems. The problems tend to be less to do with race and more to do with what I'd say overlaps race but is the major concern of the British lately - immigration. Regardless of the fact that immigrants tend to fill jobs the local people would never do, especially since the economy crashed and loads of people were made unemployed, there's a lot of resentment around the topic of immigration. Especially since the EU made movement between member states completely free, a lot of Eastern Europeans (mostly Poles) have come to work primarily as builders, pickers, labourers... and there are various organisations such as the British National Party and the English Defence League which are basically clubs of bigots who nevertheless have quite a successful time advancing the fact that people here are unemployed and immigrants are 'stealing' our jobs or failing to integrate - because on some levels, it's true.

So yes. The majority of people are extremely tolerant, but there are small nubs of disquiet. It's perhaps less racism as much as 'immigrants', to some extent. Of course a huge proportion of visibly 'immigrant' people (i.e. obviously not native Brits) are born here, educated here and have grown up here, so it's even more fringe because of that!

wow thats really cool because i see sort of the same thing going on here in Zimbabwe and neighboring South Africa...when our economy crashed (in 2001 and maintained this decline for about 9 years) most people immigrated leaving mostly black people(or brown i'm too lazy to type and it feels weird even for me) and the 4-5 generation white people and of course some Greeks ambassadors children and so on...and after our independence in 1980 the has been alot of tolerance until 2001 when everything went down and the government decided to reposes 80% of farms owed by white people it was mostly the poor and war liberation war veterans who did this they might have deserved some land but went about it the wrong way and basically destroyed the economy...after that thee has been lot of racial tension and people tend to fall into 7 categories 1. white colonial background usually racist or left the country 2. white immigrant with colonial ideas mildly racist 3. foreigners 99% tolerant except for the Chinese they are half and half because they are mostly ex cons working for government projects and have never seen brown people 4. indians 98% tolerant and 5. coloured people (mixed race usually black ,white ,arab sort of thing) 98% tolerant 6. black traditional 50% tolerant 7. modern black 99% tolerant....there's alot of diversity and people usually get on well but the topic of land repossesion is sensitive with both black and white people since some people were killed our lost everything they owned in 48 hours because they were white not for land reasons. i go to a private school and the people who had farms taken away are usually bitter and less tolerant the foreigners are cool those are most of my friends...its interesting to observe how it in 90% of cases there are non interracial relationships in teenagers but the greatest of friendships a strange paradox if thats the right word because towards older people its less apparent but still pretty rare? mostly in southern africa is still all a sensitive issue over sensitive in fact people are afraid to cross race lines because they are either too scared or too backward minded except the europeans and asians most people here have been to the UK before and are always surprised at how tolerant people are even though you colonized us 32 years ago lol but people do also tend to gravitate to their own racial classes indians with indians greeks with greeks all at the same greek school the only one in the country, except foreigners they go with who they want they don't see colour

Edited June 21, 2011 by Kudzai Mukaratirwa

[Gee :)]

just out of curiosity and i need a few perspectives for TOK how is racism treated in your country and continent ? i just want your opinion no judging just want to see what people think and say and this is racism to all races....i'm from Africa so its pretty much out there because of colonialism and people (mostly non africans/black) are careful about what they say...and in other places like asia i heard its different please share what you think

Oh wow!I love this post.

Okay,well,I live in Southern Africa

And from my experience I would say racism is around us everywhere(here) however,it is very subtle.

You are SPOT ON about the friendships here.(I'm black) and all the white people (zimbaweans or south africans) are perfectly fine with being friends with black people.But they never date across the race lines.

The only people I've met who were open to dating other races were either minority races (mainly asians) or they were white,from european countries.

I think the effects of Apartheid live on ,despite the fact that its technically over.

Its just my opinion but I would think that you can't really change a mindset rooted in racism.Not that fast anywhere.

Its not just a one way thing.I think we all do it to each other.I don't think there is any race which isnt affected or a perpetrator.We(as the human race) have not become any less racist,just more politically correct.And I feel this saying applies especially when regarding where I live.Sometimes I can see traces/effects of racism being expressed but its very hard to pick up because like you said,people are reluctant to fully express how they actually feel.Its a very sensitive issue.

From my observations,people are quick to be politically correct if an outward generalisation about black people is made but fall victim to taking part in subtle racism (for example,the other day my classmates were riled up because the teacher said that black people generally have large lips.I was far from being offended.But other times,when said teacher pokes fun at a classmate for the darkness of his skin tone,the same people who were offended go along with "the joke".I am never amused ) Maybe this isn't the case everywhere in southern africa,but these are my experiences.

Thoughts?Where do you live?

[Kudzai Mukaratirwa]

[quote name=Gee ' timestamp='1308683326' post='121653]

just out of curiosity and i need a few perspectives for TOK how is racism treated in your country and continent ? i just want your opinion no judging just want to see what people think and say and this is racism to all races....i'm from Africa so its pretty much out there because of colonialism and people (mostly non africans/black) are careful about what they say...and in other places like asia i heard its different please share what you think

Oh wow!I love this post.

Okay,well,I live in Southern Africa

And from my experience I would say racism is around us everywhere(here) however,it is very subtle.

You are SPOT ON about the friendships here.(I'm black) and all the white people (zimbaweans or south africans) are perfectly fine with being friends with black people.But they never date across the race lines.

The only people I've met who were open to dating other races were either minority races (mainly asians) or they were white,from european countries.

I think the effects of Apartheid live on ,despite the fact that its technically over.

Its just my opinion but I would think that you can't really change a mindset rooted in racism.Not that fast anywhere.

Its not just a one way thing.I think we all do it to each other.I don't think there is any race which isnt affected or a perpetrator.We(as the human race) have not become any less racist,just more politically correct.And I feel this saying applies especially when regarding where I live.Sometimes I can see traces/effects of racism being expressed but its very hard to pick up because like you said,people are reluctant to fully express how they actually feel.Its a very sensitive issue.

From my observations,people are quick to be politically correct if an outward generalisation about black people is made but fall victim to taking part in subtle racism (for example,the other day my classmates were riled up because the teacher said that black people generally have large lips.I was far from being offended.But other times,when said teacher pokes fun at a classmate for the darkness of his skin tone,the same people who were offended go along with "the joke".I am never amused ) Maybe this isn't the case everywhere in southern africa,but these are my experiences.

Thoughts?Where do you live?

hahaha wow so it is a trend in southern Africa !!!! ah it told my white friends they denied it one was from south africa one of my best friends afrikaans surprisingly, but i totally understand what you are saying !! i see it all the time too with relationships its the europeans or asians who cross the race lines the locals are still in the mindset me and a few of my black friends call it " colonial thinking" they are so stuck in the old mindset and are old fashioned in a sense compared to the foreigners who ae open and used to living in multi-cutural open society...its sad and strange at the same time because i have seen some people who want to cross the race lines but are afriad of being judged because the entire race issue has been made so sensitive and yet t times is treated with as a "joke" s you say and the lines have become vague on some issues with what is right and what is over the top. like me and my white friend call each other ****** all the time and he darkie and stuff as a joke but my other friend doesn't agree with him and says its no appropriate because other people could get offended and i couldn't give him straight answer because i would contrdict myself beecause other people don't know him like me and the issue is sensitive, i live in Zimbabwe and you wow i'm still shocked how the situation is so similar its scary lol i guess southern africa needs to move on in general...don't you ?

[Kudzai Mukaratirwa]

I live in Indonesia. in this country the majority of the people is Muslims and I could say that the minority is Chinese.

I hope what I'm saying here doesn't offend anybody. the Muslim Indonesian have something against the Chinese (I don't know what it is as I myself am Chinese and non-Muslim). and in national public schools, the Chinese students are sort of excluded by the Muslim Indonesians, so most of the Chinese prefer going to national private schools (besides the schools are...better).

but in international schools, I don't really see this. I don't know, though. I think it's the family background. no comment.

also there is this thing. Chinese families here (maybe outside here too, but idk) don't want the children to marry a non-Chinese.

a Chinese friend of mine dated a non-Chinese without her parents knowing. one day her parents found out and they forbid her from dating that guy. so they broke up. poor them.

I don't know the reason why though... it's a complicated matter.

wow really i never would have guess kinda like gypsies in europe ?or not?.....ah i always thought koreans and chinese people never got on well ? here public school are pretty much useless so most people are in public school and lot of chines people have been coming here mostly ex convicts to work as mine technicians because our government has close dealings with china , and they mostly keep to themselves an live in their own community and don't interact much with people but people don't mind. but i do have a new chinese guy in my class amazing at maths !! he makes higher level stuff look like kids play anyway he is adjusting well socially he has no enemies just friends and is still getting used to the non chinese system of schools where its not only about academics and being top o the class bt making friends parting bla bla bla wow what does this have to do with aanything ? ...here in terms of relationships if you are npt foreign you usually stick to your own race unless you want to be ridiculed a bit and get over it get but muslims are more strict and dating is done in seecy sort of if you are a non muslim but the children themselves are fine its rather parents that influence children into the way of thinking of segragtion and so on you know :)quiet sad :/

[Rigel]

Well how come you don't know that! If you speak about colonies you have to inmediately refer to south america. We were colonized in first instance by Spain, except for Brasil which was colonized by the Portuguese, there you have the language differences.

Thanks to the colonization the process of mixing races started and multiple ethnicities resulted from that

That's not always the case.

In South America, there is a lot of racism going on, or well, at least in Peru and in other countries.. But the funny thing here is that the middle class is the one that is the most racist, because it wants to be like the higher classes... In my school, 85% of the people in there are racists or half-racists.. They don't know that they were from native American descent! They just hate people from the highlands or, sierra.. That's why there is so much ignorance and so many paradigms in South America. Someone told me a story that showed us how deep racism was in people's minds, it comes from the education. Even a girl that was 5 years old was racist! The teachers in my school found out that her mother was a racist, and the grandmother was one also! Impressive, right?

[Gee :)]

hahaha wow so it is a trend in southern Africa !!!! ah it told my white friends they denied it one was from south africa one of my best friends afrikaans surprisingly, but i totally understand what you are saying !! i see it all the time too with relationships its the europeans or asians who cross the race lines the locals are still in the mindset me and a few of my black friends call it " colonial thinking" they are so stuck in the old mindset and are old fashioned in a sense compared to the foreigners who ae open and used to living in multi-cutural open society...its sad and strange at the same time because i have seen some people who want to cross the race lines but are afriad of being judged because the entire race issue has been made so sensitive and yet t times is treated with as a "joke" s you say and the lines have become vague on some issues with what is right and what is over the top. like me and my white friend call each other ****** all the time and he darkie and stuff as a joke but my other friend doesn't agree with him and says its no appropriate because other people could get offended and i couldn't give him straight answer because i would contrdict myself beecause other people don't know him like me and the issue is sensitive, i live in Zimbabwe and you wow i'm still shocked how the situation is so similar its scary lol i guess southern africa needs to move on in general...don't you ?

I agree!

"colonial thinking"? you and your group of friends sounds really smart!I see colonial thinking quite a lot here and I'd say its because you know,apartheid only ended a few years back and most of our parents in Southern africa were raised in times where racism was a really big issue.Now we have traces of it,its certainly not as bad as it used to be but still..lets move on!

Its a bit weird because like you say some people are attracted to other races but would never think to date them (due to fear of parents and the public opinion).I think its really weird that we're so prepared to become friends with each other and what not but crossing the race lines when dating is a different story...I mean,what does that say really?I think it kinda implies what people are really thinking...subconciously

I live in Botswana so YAY we're neighbours!

[wombat123]

I live in Vancouver, Canada - one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Racism is widely condemned in Canada. Multiculturalism is an official government policy and is supported by the people as well. I don't know if the US, our fellow North American nation, is as open, but as far as I know, racism is in general dying out in this continent.

[Arrowhead]

Well, I find that the position in India is quite odd and a bit unique. Over here whenever I come down I find that the colour of skin makes a huge difference to people, more so than it should. In India foreigners are treated with an obscene amount of respect and deference if they are white and are immediately distrusted if they are black, I dunno why it is that way, but it is. Its a testament to this overt racism that we have gigantic signs of billboards and advertisements on "Fair and Lovely" and these scamming creams and such that promise to make you "fair." There's this one advertisement that I saw yesterday where the opening line was this fairly fair girl saying, "He would like me if I were fair." Then ta-da, the fairness cream comes out from nowhere and she starts applying it and starts to glow white like a goddess. Its disgusting to watch, but then I see the maid working in my Grandma's House who takes a break every now and then to go and wash her face with "Fair and Lovely" to become white. I finally mustered up the courage to tell her that its just sunscreen for God's sake. She shook her head and refused to believe it and then she tells me that she got her boyfriend to start using it as well, his version is called "Fair and Handsome."

Another thing I've observed is that the racism varies across cultures across India. I'm sure a lot of you have heard that there are 100s of languages spoken in India and even more Gods worshipped. There are tons of sects across India and there is a varying of skin tone as well. People from the North, Centre, and East tend to be fairer while those from the South tend to be very Dark, the West is generally a mix, what would quintessentially be Brown. Its because of this you generally find that Northerns are much bigger sticklers for fair skin than the Southerners, but I find that even in educated areas like Kerala, you would be applauded if you managed to come home with a beautiful, "fair," husband/wife. My mother's family comes from Sind (which is now in Pakistan, but is effectively the 'North'), the racism that my mother and grandmother and their entire family knowingly or unknowingly express is astonishing sometimes. Its imbedded in their very language. My grandmother always says that we should fine a bride who is 'beautiful, white, and mild-mannered." The "white" part is actually a common phrase for them and they don't even think twice about it.

You would think that archaic attitudes as such would die with the older generations, right? Not so much. My first-ever girlfriend was from Kerala when I was in school. She was dark-skinned, but (IMO) she was gorgeous, perfect skin, big eyes and all that jazz. When I first introduced her to my cousin (who is 6 days older than me), he was polite to her. Afterwards he tells me, "But she's so black! What could you possible have been thinking?" I was so taken aback and speechless by his crass declaration, and he saw nothing wrong with it. That was the first time I saw how racist our society could be.

I have been genetically "blessed" (as my mother puts it) with a Northern "fair" skin tone, while my sister has more of my father's family's skin tone, which is Brown and a little darker. The grief that my sister faces every time we have family brunches with my mother's family is annoying now, but if she wasn't as used to it as she is, I doubt she would be able to sit through their meals without snapping someone's head off. At the same time, whenever we have meals and parties and such with my father's side of the family, my sister doesn't get any grief (because they have the same skin tone as her), but they surround themselves around me, almost ritualistically, and tell me how lucky I am to have inherited my mother's skin, and how "fair" I am, blah blah blah. Sometimes I feel like its like the end of the world for them.

You can imagine that I live in the educated circles of the country, the upper echelons so to speak, and its this bad. Fathoming how terrible it is as we go 'lower' in the social strata is scary. My old maid who has been working for our family for 18 years once spoke to me about this. She's not the brightest, not by a long shot, and uneducated to boot. Her opinion was simple, if her son were to choose to marry a dark-skinned girl from a good family then so be it, but if they were to choose between a dark-skinned girl and a fair-skinned girl, the fairer one would have the implied benefit unless the dark-skinned girl somehow turned the tables. My maid herself was a victim, or lucky victim really, of this. Her maternal family was living in abject poverty post-Independence in India (she's really old, as old as our country really). Her husband took one look at her, saw how absolutely "fair" and "white" she saw, and paid a huge dowry to her father to marry her. His sole criterion was the fairness of her skin. Even today in 2011, in the poverty-stricken or less educated circles, the blatant racism continues.

Wow that was a long rant. Forgive me for my long-windedness.

Arrowhead.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Arrowhead

[Peanut Butter Jelly]

I live in Vancouver, Canada - one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Racism is widely condemned in Canada. Multiculturalism is an official government policy and is supported by the people as well. I don't know if the US, our fellow North American nation, is as open, but as far as I know, racism is in general dying out in this continent.

Yea, in canada racism is not that prominent in urban and city areas, though I would assume it happens to an extent on the ghetto areas. People will rarely be outright racist towards someone.