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So I’m a 21 year old from Germany
When, as a people, or a nation do unprecedented crimes and evil, it rings out through history, carried by the parents and given to the children. Racism is still a topic for discussion because it's still a problem. I'm sure you understand.
I'm sure you understand
Idk I spent a few years in Europe and, to be honest, I don't think so. You ask a European about gypsies or Muslim immigrants and all of a sudden they're mask off. But "it's different" so it's okay
It's a complicated issue in the United States because of the history. Lots of countries did slavery, but at the point the United States did it, science was starting to spark into its modern form and one idea that "seemed good at the time" was pursuing superior genes.
That ... went really really really sideways and basically became a justification for continued slavery on the premise that white people were just better and they were doing the inferior black people a favor. Basically while the rest of the world was going "maybe slavery isn't good" the US was like "slavery is the humane thing to do, because science!"
Even after shit like that gets disproven people still tend to believe some amount of it (look at the antivax movement). So, even after the slaves were freed, they and their children were looked down upon by the culture. Many black people remained uneducated, financially bankrupt, etc. The culture especially in the south fought really hard to keep it that way for a looonnngggggg time.
That kind of formed a counter culture of its own, the "gang" culture. Which isn't all that different from the counter culture you see that came from prohibition and the moonshiners and such ... basically outlaws fighting the man, looked down upon, etc
So basically there are several main US cultures, Northern East White, Midwestern White, West Coast White, Southern White, Black, and the Appalachian White/redneck culture that descends from a mix of the moonshine runners, rural farmers, coal miners, and white southern culture.
Black people of course have multiple cultures even within the US but it's all kind of lumped into this messy "black culture" thing. Some black people I've met love the black gangster with the gold chains imagery and hold it up as something great and the "true black culture", others see it as ridiculous and trashy.
Calling these other cultures white is also intellectually dishonest as the entire US is a melting pot and the cultures of those regions were not formed by a single skin color ... but I'm using "white" for the purposes of the contrast ...
Anyways, black people just kind of stand out so they're an easy target... and they have been targeted for a very long time fueled (at least in part) by that long ruled scientifically ridiculous idea that they're inferior.
Add in the extra spice that the Appalachian subculture is angry about being tied in with the other white cultures despite being screwed over by the government a lot (not to the extent black people were, but still badly) ... and you've basically got the mess that is America in 2025.
There's a mix of justifiably mad people on both sides, outright racists, and people that serve to benefit from the conflict never ending politically.
(Perspective of a white guy originally from Appalachia that has seen a fair bit of the country and world now ... and largely no longer agrees with the Appalachians politically ... but is trying his best to explain a very complicated and touchy subject without writing a novel or making a bunch of people angry ... your collective grace is appreciated)
I watched a TV show called 'Justified: City Primeval' - it's not very good, but something I found weird was how often the characters mentioned each other's race I'm from the UK, so maybe it was just badly written, or maybe Americans do actually talk like that.
Back in the 90s the focus was to be colorblind, ie to treat everyone the same. Now people are focusing on race again in a big way. It boggles my mind that people now think treating people differently based on race is somehow a good thing. That people should get preferential hiring based on race is probably the biggest WTF.
I recommend you check out "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander.
The basic getaway from the book is this: Segregationists didn't go anywhere, and since the time of Ronald Reagan, the ways the segregationists found to keep black people down are mostly related to the economy and law enforcement. The stereotype being attacked is now the "gang-bangers", those from "the hood". Not all black people... Just most of them.
From the 60s-70s, black people living in near industrial zones where they mostly worked were hit by mass unemployment due to their relocation. Rather than try to find a solution, propaganda stigmatising them was massively produced, the "war on drugs" was started to punish them for the only survival means that some found. Black people serve disproportionately long sentences, and are forever alienated when they get out, often unable to find jobs. Not only those who were imprisoned, but their families and communities suffer from this. This is not only true of drug-related crime; but sometimes things like misfiled taxes. The war on drugs was basically a pretext to over police and arbitrarily arrest black people, and dissuade them from forms of protest against their situation.
Now, compared to segregation, this is as big a net, but not such a tight one: This systems allows some black people to escape this system and get a situation equal to white people... But of you look at the bulk of the stats, many aren't better off than during segregation.
These were at first, right-wing policies bore by the Republican Party, but Bill Clinton ended up doubling down on them instead of opposing them, because he didn't want to appear "weak on crime", since then there has been no opposition to it in mainstream politics.
Colorblindness helps this system, because it keeps you from naming the oppressed group, and thus from seing the oppression. It makes it easier to swallow the idea that the millions in prison are no-good gang hooligans from the mysterious land of "hood", but that for the most part, black people are doing fine, because those who went to the same school as you or are among your coworkers are doing fine.
I feel like it started getting worse from 2016 on and since 2020 the world has become so weird
Lol someone already posted this, was that you?
I'm gonna copy paste my reply again:
I don’t really see this, in my area at least. Other people’s experience will vary. I notice my white and black clasmates get along very well. Hate is not born, it’s taught. I think this “divide” is more in rural areas. I’m in Philly and it’s a very diverse city, racism between white and black kids are almost non-existent (or at least I never witnessed any actual racism between white kids and black kids beyond the kids being “edgy” with their “dark humor”). I mean like, I never heard a white kid said the N word with the hard R.
I did, however, notice a lot of kids making racist “jokes” against me (For context: I was born in PRC, and immigrated to the US). Like white kids and black kids would both make jokes like “Chinese language probably sounds like ‘Chng Chng’” and then they both laugh at the “joke” I’m just like wtf dude. Luckily, as you go up higher in the grade level, the less racist people seem to be.
For context, my high school was like (approximately): 30% White, 20% Black, maybe like 15% Latino, 30% Asian.
Now, the school was very shitty, there were bullying everywhere. But bullying usually wasn’t based on race.
And despite the racism that I personally have faced, I do have some Chinese-American classmates who were born here in the US, and they seem to get along with everyone else well, so I’m guessing I’m just not “Americanized” enough and its more like Xenophobia more than Racism/Sinopobia. I’m don’t use an “American” name so I guess that’s is one of the major reasons why I get targed for racism but others who look just like me don’t get targeted.
Now, to be clear, that’s not to say there aren’t racism between white people and black people. I’m not downplaying racism, I’m just saying I’m lucky to live in a place where the racism is very minimal. There are probably some racists in certain neighborhoods in Philly. I did see some trump flags when traveling around the city, so those people definitely exist. But my point is that its so rare and so socially unacceptable (at least in my city) that I’m having a hard time recalling when I personally witnessed any serious (as in a non-joke) racism between white people and black people happened (I mean, other than on those on the news).
But, outside of my city, especially the rural areas… I don’t have first hand experience, but those are probably not somewhere a racial minority would want to go to. And I personally would NEVER go to any republican dominated area.
Edit: In response to this part
And I feel like this is also influencing people overseas like here where especially younger people in cities adopt this American mindset and I’ve even seen some using the N-Word etc
If you hear kids saying the n word ending with the "a" its a friendly greeting similar to "homie". Even a white kid can say it if their black friends is okay with it. However, the "hard-r" the N word ending with the R is not acceptable.
Idk why kids do this, but I guess they are trying to "reclaim" the word. I personally never used any variation these words, because its just wrong, even if its trying to "reclaim" the word or whatever.
White Americans feel about black people and other minorities roughly how Germans feel about Muslims. And I have to say, Germans do not like Muslims.
Unfortunately many Germans do have problems with migrants/Muslims which I don't understand. I have nothing against Islam being the biggest religion here.
But my question was particularly referring to that divide based on pure ethnicity because who you call "black people" are exactly as American as who you call "white people" with the only difference being having a different darkness of skin that doesn't even have a determined line at which point someone is considered "white" and at what point someone is considered "black".
The German equivalent would be if we divided Germans on whether they had bright blond or darker blond hair.
It's not quite the same as being a migrant group that brought a different culture from a different country. I guess the American equivalent was if they didn't want Mexican migrants because they're Muslim.
But my question was particularly referring to that divide based on pure ethnicity because who you call "black people" are exactly as American as who you call "white people" with the only difference being having a different darkness of skin that doesn't even have a determined line at which point someone is considered "white" and at what point someone is considered "black".
So the short of it is that the wealthy classes in colonial North America created this divide to make white people feel better about keeping slaves from Africa even though they converted to Christianity. That's it, it's all a ruse by the ultra rich. However, the ruse has continued for so long that even after racism "ended" (it absolutely hasn't) the system is very much racist, and that aside it's just baked into the North American consciousness now. Being black or white or Hispanic is part of one's identity and in many cases community.
It's not quite the same as being a migrant group that brought a different culture from a different country.
Many minority groups in America do have different cultures than the white majority, though it's not quite as big as the difference between Germans and Muslims. For example there are many Hispanic people whose main language is Spanish rather than English, and some blakc people have their own dialect.
Finally I want to add that despite all these details the crux of the issue is xenophobia. That's why the things Americans say about minorities in general are very similar to the things Germans say about Muslims. Fundamentally it's the same thing, and Germans and other Europeas will have to deal with many of the same issues America is dealing with now (to a lesser extent though, because of the lack of slavery)
The Germans refuse to admit they're treating Muslims the way they used to treat the Jews.
Mention of religion is also very uncommon in Germany. If someone isn't wearing something like a cross chain, a kippa or a hijab, their religion often goes completely unnoticed in daily German life. It's mostly irrelevant and ppl only discover it, if someone asks for halal/kosher options at a restaurant or so.
Are you sure? Because to my knowledge most Muslims in Germany are Middle Eastern and therefore quite easy to distinguish from the white Germans around them.
I guess Germans feel about Muslims the same way that Muslims feel about homosexuals or atheists.
Some great videos on the subject:
Franz Fanon vs Identity Politics
That’s funny, I’m an American who literally argued with a German why Schwarze Pete (Black Pete) being a thing in the Netherlands, a country that heavily dealt in the slave trade, serving as a servant for Santa, and encouraging a form a black face… maybe a little racist?
Germans really like to analyze American politics, but mention nuclear power or Palestine and you see there’s a lot more in common than different.
I've never understood why Americans want to come over and tell us it's "racist" to dress up as a character that happens to look too much like an African in their eyes
For me the interest in American society comes from the feeling that America is the center of the earth. Not only is 99% of the content that I consume as a gen-z from America but I also grew up being told America is the best and most powerful country in the world.
America feels like the core of our Western society but the fact that it's still an entire ocean away I think is what makes many people curious about it more than other countries cause it's such a big deal and influence but we can't quite reach or control it which upsets some people cause they don't agree on certain things with the US but can't control it (hope that makes somewhat sense).