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 I’m 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 “race”).
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 they’re 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 “American values”/“America first” and excluding everything that’s against that and mass deporting immigrants.
But what’s 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 “black” or “white”) and other “races” that they exclude and stereotype. Like calling people “black people” or “white people” as if they’re 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 it’s racist they’re 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 don’t obsess over it as if we’re different people because of that.
It would seem very weird here if someone said “I don’t date Asians”. Or things like “Black-Only” Schools or communities would be unthinkable here.
The act of calling someone “black” or “white” alone seems weird imo, since skin color isn’t truly “black” or “white” like coal and paper are. Imo it’s more like a brown/orange/pink color that varies in darkness between people but there’s 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 doesn’t justify this imo and seems weird to still take place in 2025.
But what’s 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.
You likely know the USA’s checkered past with human slavery of Africans, so I won’t go into that, but thats great example of what I’ll cover.
Besides the tribes of Native Americans that have been here for millennia, all of us are immigrants or the product of immigrants past. Each subsequent wave of migration has had a semi-dominant culture that then worked to “fuck you, I got mine” to immigrants from later arriving groups. Historically while we absolutely discriminated against people of color, its not just skin color that we did this too. We did this to the Irish. You can see here that by this time German immigrants were acceptable and even preferred at the same time Irish were discriminated against:
source NYT 1854
Then 50 or so years later we did this to Italians, and some of that discrimination came from Irish were faced much of the same hate years earlier.
1903…and on and on.
Its not just race though. Even in USA women didn’t have the right to vote until 1920 with the passage of the 19th amendment. Homosexuals couldn’t even marry until 2015.
In short, most of us are dragging the least of us to a position of understanding of equality and equal treatment to all Americans evenly. While I’m very happy about the key pieces of progress we’ve made (Civil Rights act of 1964 being one), We have a long way to go yet. Discrimination in the USA is still a huge problem we need to fix.
Other nations may not discriminant based on race, but on other things.
- UK has a history of discrimination based on societal class
- Canada has a history of discrimination based on preferred language
- India has a history of a caste system
Other countries yet discriminate on religion. Humans have a habit of choosing in-groups and out-groups, and then centralizing power to the in-groups to the detriment of the out-groups.
Europe is racist against the Roma, Australia is racist towards aborigines. I just wanted to note that.
Wow this is a very interesting and insightful reply, exactly what I was looking for. I learned a lot from this and have a better understanding now, thank you!
If only we had received a large influx of socialists and anarchists. <sigh>
Because an awful lot of people in the United States are racist, bigoted, queerphobic, xenophobic, or some combination of those. Or worse.
I’m guessing you’re also @[email protected]. You should really not create a new account every time you post. It’s one thing to move to a new identity every few months or something for privacy reasons, but for every post is a bit much.
Seconded. I tend to shed accounts from time to time… you will never guess my previous two account names.
Seriously though, posting with a new identity every time is what 4chan does. While it has its use cases, never being able to conjure an opinion on the person you’re talking to over time is tiresome and annoying at best. You can spend am entire year talking to people and at the end of it you haven’t gotten to know anyone even slightly better than before.
Privacy is one thing. But being a perpetual blank slate gives you no advantages.
Yea you’re right, it’s probably unnecessary. So I will keep this account for now
It’s not just racial stereotypes either.
Say you met this guy on the street:
You are going to form opinions.
True, I should’ve probably added that
i think it’s really dependent on where you are in the USA and then your accent when speaking. That is a stronger determination on how you will be received over skin or racial distinction.
but really a lot of the US is racist in some way. facing it in some way to stand up for yourself as an individual is the best way to beat it.
- some Lakota dude living in rural suburbia USA
I really don’t know, and I live here. I think it’s just baked into the culture. Like there is too much indulgence in tribalism, it’s not smacked down but wink wink nod nodded.
My kids’ friends are a diverse bunch and don’t seem to judge anybody by their coloring so hopefully it’s easing.
I think in France it’s because they enforce French-ness, right? They make laws against wearing religious dress in school, they push for conformity, they teach kids to be French. It’s almost like a religion. We don’t have the same homogenous culture here, not that it’s any sort of excuse for bigotry.
Can’t be bothered to actually talk to people is my guess.
For your europe example, If it’s related solely to someone’s personality then it’s not racism by definition. If it’s claimed that it’s based on personality, but the claim only appears in relation to people who look different in a particular way, then it’s racism masquerading as something else.
Maybe the only real difference you’re seeing is that Europeans are a lot more subtle than Americans (culturally).
Why do so many Europeans stereotype Americans based on country of origin?
/s but only kind of
Because they’ve probably never left their own town, state, or country to experience the world. Instead, they stay small-minded.
As opposed to any place in the world that does this?
