They all say how racist we Americans are but whenever I go to Europe I see way more openly racist remarks then I do here.

Scotland = Drunks yelling racial remarks at Indians

Germany  = Jackasses calling out the Turks and some more    skinheads ranting about the Jews (And everyone else really)

France  = Basically the same as the Germans in terms of hating everyone (Except less people hating the Jews)

Wow, yeah, you're right. Nobody's hypocritical in the US. WTF?

"Wow, yeah, you're right. Nobody's hypocritical in the US. WTF?"

Of course not.

Sure europeans are just as racist as anybody else, we have an exceptional track record in that department.

The difference is that *we* don't claim to be otherwise.

If you want proper racism go to the Middle East. Saudi or Israel.

"The difference is that *we* don't claim to be otherwise."

Is that supposed to make it better?

No, just less hypocritical

I think, in Europe it's a bell curve. You have the vocal minority which is openly and actively rasist, and it's not that small a group.

But it's on a personal level, there isn't so much of an institutional racism like you'd (presumably) see in America. So socially, there isn't such a Pavlovian reaction to the loons as a threat. Non-white Europeans seem secure enough in the fact that for all the important intents and purposes there's no difference between them and the whites.

Then again, I live in a pretty much white-only society, so take that with a grain of salt. Blacks on the street still attract curious looks.

Do people say Americans are racist? Not sure about that. They do say that they are culturally unaware of things outside their own borders.

Yes, Europeans are racist, despite our governments telling us not to be. France would be the most rascist, seeing as their extreme-right party gets 10% of the vote. East Europe is particularly bad, they've not really caught up with modern society there yet.

Institutional racism, Flasher?  It seems unlikely, given the laws.  There's plenty of racial problems certainly, and you can trace a whole lot of those back to economic problems.  The economic problems won't be going away any time soon since the U.S. isn't a society that believes in economic equality.

It would be unlikely though to see someone denied admission to a university because their skin was too dark.  They might be denied because their education up to that point hasn't been good enough, and that could be a result of the fact that they grew up in a neighborhood with crappy schools which was predominantly of one race.  But you can trace that back to poverty more than skin tone--the white folks in the same neighborhood are just as screwed.

Yeah, the US are racist against anyone on the south of the continent. Or Asians. Or Australian kangaroos. Or african people. Or black people. Or european.

Ohh I forgot the canadians!

"Institutional racism, Flasher?  It seems unlikely, given the laws."

Not governmental, social. It's entrenched behaviour. Profiling and all that. (FWIW I've seen profiling as a fundamental policy in Israel, and it seems to allow a high-security environment to run smoothly.)

Europeans are, in my experience and understanding, less likely to draw the line of "us" vs. "them" over skin colour. Those who do, do it vocally, and the system tolerates it. But racial antagonism is not a part of the greater European mentality in the same way that it is in the American mentality - where people are either mildly, semi-consciously racist or militantly unracist, both of which are sides of the same coin.

All this, of course, to the extent that you can even speak of Europeans as a single society.

"It would be unlikely though to see someone denied admission to a university because their skin was too dark."

On the other hand skin tone partially compensates for lacking test scores to allow you to get into university, which is an aspect of institutional racism.

Big governments usually put more money on propaganda. It works - people under constant propaganda will believe what they were told, despite that the facts are opposite.

I am in Canada and I know this practice works very well. Many CBC programs are designed to pour pure progpaganda. I remember one called "Continental Divide". The program tells several selective facts and the conclusion is "We are liberal and good, they are religious and bad".

<<They all say how racist we Americans are but whenever I go to Europe I see way more openly racist remarks then I do here. >>

we're all in denial of our ignorance.

Flasher's argument makes me recall a conversation with a Chinese friend.

In China, it is legal to put gender requirements on the job ads. During a conversation I brought that up and I said that it is a kind of discrimination. The Chinese friend replied - "No, it is not. We are just doing the same thing as you. If you does not consider gender as a hiring factor, why all the receptionists here are all female?"

Exactly. :)

Because women work for less.  Duh.  ;-)