Race, Prejudice And Racism In Western Europe

RACISM IN EUROPE

I have chosen to talk about racism as it is one of the most explosive topics around and one that people rarely greet with sincerity.

Racism is the belief that the genetic factors which constitute race, ethnicity, or nationality are a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that ethnic differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racism's effects are called "racial discrimination."

Racism of various forms is found in every country on Earth. Racism is widely condemned throughout the world, with 170 states signatories of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by August 8, 2006. In different countries, the forms that racism takes may be
different for historic, cultural, religious, economic or demographic reasons.

Everywhere you go, and everywhere you look, there is always somebody different. Imagine walking down the street and having people stare at you or call you names, or talk behind your back, just because your skin have a different color, or you are of a different religion. We all seem to ask ourselves the same question over and over, why do people do this? But unfortunately racism is almost impossible to stop. There will always be egotistic people who considers their race to be better then that of other’s.

Racism and prejudice have always existed in human history.
Being a taboo subject and a controversial topic, many persons have tried to explain and find the reason to such human behavior towards another group of people. Such researches are the hope of many to see the racial discrimination ending.

We all know the stories of Racism resulted in centuries past, especially in the past wars, but nowadays in Europe also we have a lot of “events” about that. For example in various places throughout Western Europe, in 2002, as Amnesty International highlights, there has been a rise in racist attacks and sentiments against both Arabs and Jews, in light of the increasing hostilities in the Middle East. Earlier in 1998, in an area of Germany a right wing racist party won an unprecedented number of votes.

In Austria, the Freedom Party was able to secure the majority of the cabinet posts. The party is an extreme far right party, whose leader, Jorg Heider, has been accused of sympathetic statements towards the Nazis. The European Union has reacted to this indicating that Austria’s participation may be in jeopardy. In Italy, there are attempts to try and deal with the rise in undocumented immigrants from Tunisia. The reactions from the right wing have been labeled by some as being “openly racist”.Into 2010 and problems of racism in Italy continue. For example, a wave of violence against African farm workers in southern Italy left some 70 people
injured.

Spain has seen increased racial violence.
The growing economy invites immigrants from North African countries such as Morocco. However, the poor conditions that immigrants have had to endure and the already racially charged region has led to friction and confrontations. At the end of the Reconquista, Panish Inquisition imposed pureza de sangre ("racial purity") against Jews and Muslims. The Discovery of the New World also led to the famous Valladolid Controversy, in which Bartolomé de Las Casas opposed Sepulveda denial of the existence of "Indian souls". Spain has attracted mixed race mulatto (African and Caucasian) and mestizo (European and American Indian) persons from its' (ex) colonies since the end of the 17th
century.

For over a decade, immigration issues have been headlines in the UK. The nature of the discussions bear a clear racial dimension as well as hostility to Eastern Europeans, such as those from Poland. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has also contributed to increasing interest in racist political parties such as the British National Party. This also, predictably, has increased as the global financial crisis impacts more of Britain’s population.

Anti immigration sentiment has also been seen in Switzerland as the country has repeatedly tightened its asylum policy due to concerns about increasing numbers of illegal migrants.

Greece has one of the worst records in the European Union for racism against ethnic minorities, according to the BBC. Anti-immigrant sentiment has long been high, especially against ethnic Albanians, who form the largest minority. Until the 1990s, the BBC notes, Greece had been an extremely homogeneous society. With the fall of communism many immigrants from Eastern Europe came to Greece. Albanians especially have been targeted by a lot of racist sentiment.

As a conclusion I can say that those examples show how this controversial already exist in those times . Maybe an ironic solution to get rid of the racial discrimination will be to make everyone happy: if everybody is happy, there will be no psychological or social reasons to be racist, and people would not care anymore about social classes if everyone lives well. Of course we can immediately see that such solutions seem for now impossible. First because even though you will try to make people happy and care about their well-being, they will anyways find a way to be unhappy and not totally satisfied, because this is the so sad human condition. And, if we had a way to get everybody to live comfortably, to be successful and have power, we would already be living that way. The truth is that this kind of society does not yet exist. These are the simple reasons why racism or prejudices will still exist.

Sources :

• European Commission against Racism and Intolerance

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

• BBC