[Workaccount2]

I honestly think one of Americas greatest strengths is the ability to move here from where ever and be able to join society with relatively low friction.

People go on and on about racism in America, but I have generally found that those people have absolutely no fucking idea what racism in a society actually looks like. You wanna see racism? Go be a minority in any country with a 90% majority race/culture.

Edit: Invariably people need to confuse "Racism is a bigger issue in other countries than the US" with "Racism never existed in the US".

[walthamstow]

Racism in the US is less to do with the people who moved there and more to do with the people who were taken there.

The USA was an apartheid country in the Jim Crow era. What could be more racist than segregation?

Jim Crow apartheid was so deeply pervasive that WW2 soldiers blood transfusion packets were segregated, so a stricken white soldier wouldn't be tarnished with black blood. That's quite something when you're fighting against the Nazis.

[Workaccount2]

Yes, America was extremely racist.

But contemporary examples, especially against immigrants, contrasted against immigrants to mono cultural countries, would be much more relevant to the point I am making.

[walthamstow]

Look, your first paragraph was perfectly sensible and, in my view, true. It's one of America's greatest strengths.

Your second paragraph was a car crash of racism denial and you should probably take it back, rather than insisting it's everyone else's fault for reading it wrong

> "You wanna see racism? Go [somewhere else]"

[Workaccount2]

They're not reading it wrong, they are packing an agenda into it. People chronically bring up the American south of 60+ years ago as examples of how contemporary full span America is racist. Just look at all the replies.

The outward shameless and crippling racism of 1940's American south is still in full force in many countries, but they never get attention for it because the minorities there are too minority to even show up on the radar.

Japan is probably going to collapse because giving a foreigner a position of power (commercial or government) is basically unthinkable. Meanwhile America "the most racist country on Earth" just had a black president for 8 years and has a congress composed of 25% minorities.

[walthamstow]

You can point to extreme xenophobia elsewhere without minimising American racism, instead you've decided to do both.

[pedrosorio]

> giving a foreigner a position of power (commercial or government) is basically unthinkable

I mean, not totally unthinkable, thankfully. That's the only reason we have the Carlos Ghosn Hollywood-esque escape story.

[i5heu]

To convey: I think this is a good example, of what Workaccount2 might have meant, we are somewhat sensitized for racism that we perceive the comparison of the situation with another countries as racism denial and i think this is because it suggest that we are perfect in some sense and can stop fighting for more equality, which we can absolutely not, there is still a lot of work in front of us.

I think that in the context of this discourse Workaccount2 has a point in what i believe Workaccount2 has meant, which is that the countries with the lowest amounts of xenophobia and racism will attract the most migrants... because who would like to live in a country in which you are oppressed.

And to come back to Japan: Japan seams to have a horrific problem with xenophobia and racism, at least this is the impression i get when i look at the discourse that happen in Japan from the outside[0] and read through Wikipedia[1]. What, does not mean that the US or EU has no racism, and can stop working, quite the opposite.

[0] This one is especially revealing IMHO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CraWEwbyapQ

[1] > Japan lacks any law which prohibits racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination. The country also has no national human rights institutions. Non-Japanese individuals in Japan often face human rights violations that Japanese citizens may not. In recent years, non-Japanese media has reported that Japanese firms frequently confiscate the passports of guest workers in Japan, particularly unskilled laborers.

> A significant number of apartments, and some motels, night clubs, brothels, sex parlours and public baths in Japan have put up signs stating that foreigners are not allowed, or that they must be accompanied by a Japanese person to enter.

> "Discrimination toward foreign nationals in their searches for homes continues to be one of the biggest problems", said the head of the Ethnic Media Press Centre.

> "Discrimination toward foreign nationals in their searches for homes continues to be one of the biggest problems", said the head of the Ethnic Media Press Centre.

> Some hospitals have been known to turn patients away if they could not confirm their residence status.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Japan

[giraffe_lady]

I don't think that's cause to dismiss the very real experiences of racism that people do have in the US. Racism kills people here too.

[silverquiet]

When my dad was a kid, black Americans couldn't use the same water fountain as whites; it's not exactly ancient history. My grandparents wouldn't share rooms with black people at their nursing homes, and I'm talking about a couple years ago. It didn't all end because LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act. At some point I think it might have been better when it was all out in the open, so at least you knew what was going on.

[throwaway743]

Stories of discrimination would come up quite a bit about my father (black).

One time, he and my mother (white) were apartment hunting and this one landlord was excited to show them, when speaking over the phone. Once they showed up to check it out, that asshole slammed the door in their faces.

Discrimination persists through all aspects of life, employment, housing, etc. It's pathetic, really.

[alephnerd]

I literally got into an argument with a couple Germans on HN about this earlier today.

[throwaway743]

> I honestly think one of Americas greatest strengths is the ability to move here from where ever and be able to join society with relatively low friction.

It really depends on where you move to and where youre from.

Also, let's not sweep discrimination under the rug. It's ugly and wrong all around. Some places worse than others, but it's still bullshit and shouldn't be tolerated, especially when it comes to employment.