This question is meant to be in good faith. I know this topic can be charged but please try to be understanding.
As a 19 year old from Europe Iām just trying to understand why so many Americans (of course not all, but many) not just only seem to have stereotypes against foreigners/immigrants with different nationality such as Mexicans etc. (which is also the case here in Europe), but also exclude and stereotype other Americans solely based on their looks (or what many Americans call āraceā).
For example I think many people in Europe unfortunately also are racist against immigrants and people with nationality from a different country because they fear that theyāre bringing crime and drastically change the culture (because many of them are Muslims etc. and have very different world views and might not accept ours). In America this seems to be the case as well emphasizing āAmerican valuesā/āAmerica firstā and excluding everything thatās against that and mass deporting immigrants.
But whatās even harder for me to understand is why so many Americans seem to exclude and racially stereotype other Americans solely based on their appearance that has nothing to do with their personality. They could have the exact same personality, interests, religion, same number of American ancestors etc. but still separate and stereotype each other based on their skin or face appearance.
Of course this also exists in Europe but it seems way more rare than in America. In American culture it seems like it has normalized that people constantly talk about skin color (being āblackā or āwhiteā) and other āracesā that they exclude and stereotype. Like calling people āblack peopleā or āwhite peopleā as if theyāre a different species.
For example France also has many people with dark skin and other features but they seem to be way more integrated and mixed. If itās racist theyāre mostly related to someones nationality or personality but not whether how dark or pale their skin is or whether they look Asian.
For example I have friends with dark skin but we never talk about that. We might only talk about it the same way we talk about having different hair and eye color but we donāt obsess over it as if weāre different people because of that.
It would seem very weird here if someone said āI donāt date Asiansā. Or things like āBlack-Onlyā Schools or communities would be unthinkable here.
The act of calling someone āblackā or āwhiteā alone seems weird imo, since skin color isnāt truly āblackā or āwhiteā like coal and paper are. Imo itās more like a brown/orange/pink color that varies in darkness between people but thereās no distinct point where someone is considered dark/black or pale/white anyways.
And to me it always seemed completely normal that all humans naturally look different, some more some less (which I think is a more healthy and realistic view).
I know America has a long racist history but that doesnāt justify this imo and seems weird to still take place in 2025.
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forgive my ignorance, but it seems you are asking why Americans are racist but explaining it in a way where you think it means something else, like youāre talking about a unique kind of racism more common with Americans. genetic superiority is not more common of an idea here than anywhere else. the people who see white and black as you put it, ātwo different species,ā are ultimately how all racists see the world. they might not be equally as violent or aggressive or outwardly hateful, but they would never consider themselves like one of them. maybe iām not following you and what youāre asking lol, sorry if so.
No youāre understanding me right, I just tried to not use harsh or direct language to not offend anyone. And I donāt wanna say āWhy are many Americans racist towards other Americansā because imo thatās racist to say as well. I tried to be more considerate.
Itās only that to me it felt like this genetic superiority and separation is more extreme in American culture than in Europe. Like I said it feels like itās almost a mainstream trend in America to make this identity about ābeing black or whiteā in so many aspects of life which I just donāt see in Europe even in more diverse places.
i understand your hesitation and i commend your approach to othersā sensibilities. however, i wouldnāt consider āwhy are many americans racistā to be racist, because American isnāt a race. it is a nationality. but even without that, you are specifying within the group and also excluding. you arenāt calling all Americans racist, you are asking why there are a lot of racist Americans. truly, that is a fair question of any people. if your culture is racistā¦ why?
lol! Very true. Dawg wrote an essay to make why is blank country racist seem different for Americans. Could ask the same question for any European or worldwide country.
I think other people have given good answers, but something I didnāt see anyone touch on is the cultural erasure aspect of chattel slavery. A concerted effort was made by slave owners and others to erase the culture and history of the people they kidnapped and sold. Families were split, languages were suppressed and a lot of that history and cultural identity was intentionally d destroyed. That is part of why American racists hate āblack peopleā instead of Kenyans or Ghanaians. It is both a failing of their worldview and a generations long strategy.
Our parents and grandparents grew up in times of segregation. Laws banning interracial marriage were abolished in 1967. It, unfortunately, takes time to collectively change our mind.
And actually, now that I think about it, I donāt ever remember seeing interracial dating represented on television in the US until the last decade or so.
Possibly because Americans as a general group are more diverse than any other country and so run into the ādoesnāt look like me, might be scaryā conflict more oftenā¦
That being said, every country has this. From France giving their black players a whole bunch of racist shit, to the Greeks killing refugees that donāt look like them through negligence, to the Germans who still shit all over the Romani people for having a different appearance/culture.
Itās not a unique feature to the US.
As for using colors to describe people based on their skin toneā¦ Every language does it as far as I can tell. I donāt understand why you find that odd. It can be a useful descriptor and if you want to be shade specific, youāre more than welcome to.
Perhaps you have to experience it from the outside. Itās hard to put my finger on, but thereās a noticeable difference in how Americans see race.
Here in Australia weāre quite diverse, but within a generation people tend to act very similarly, regardless of background. There are still differences, and they should be celebrated, but Iād say we have more in common as just Australians. Thereās a tipping point where whatās most important is either a common national identity, or ethnic identity. It feels like we are just barely on different sides of that line - which is funny because Americans are more into overt displays of patriotism.
For example, we wonāt claim to be Irish because our grandparents were. Thatās probably the most common differentiator.
That said, racism exists here like everywhere else, and is a problem. That may be a different discussion though, because itās the minority.
You know whatā¦ the more I think about, it shouldnāt be any different between our countries. But itās an impression everyone seems to have so there must be something to it. Maybe itās because the United States is relatively insular? It means the differences within your country are more significant. Australians have a lot of interaction with other nationalities (tourism is an important industry and we love to travel) so our national identity becomes more significant, because thatās what weāre often representing. Europe would be similar with its relaxed borders.
And like I said, to me it seems like many Americans discriminate against other Americans even without having a different background.
They could both be American for many generations, both are Christians, both are fans of the same football team but they still separate each other solely based on their skin color.
And this discrimination purely based on someoneās appearance is what seems so weird to me and that I havenāt noticed to this extent here in Europe. Of course people like this will also exist here but it seems very rare where as in American culture it feels like itās integrated into normal every day mainstream life to have stereotypes based on these āracesā and to differentiate between races like āblack peopleā, āwhite peopleā, āAsiansā etc. in general.
I mean I could somewhat understand if it was related to religion, rituals etc. because those things actually affect someones personality and culture and that this can naturally clash (different personalities and cultures) is pretty obvious. But it being related to appearance makes no sense to me.
AFAIK bigotry of various kinds isnāt new. But racism was invented under capitalism to justify slavery and settler-colonialism, and to sow division between groups of working class people. Itās a divide and conquer strategy by the capitalist class. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_capitalism