Interesting reading. But as a citizen of the US, I must say that there is a lot more going on over here in terms of racism, then just the black/white thing. I will mention that I live in the southeastern part of the USA, and until recent decades, it was indeed pretty much just a black-white thing here, but with more people of different skin colours and cultures moving in, I see more of the different types of racism that you are talking about. Jews are considered as "rich", therefore a target; Hispanics are mostly thought to be illegal (the fact that there are at least 20 million illegal immigrants in the US makes this worse) and most citizens and legal immigrants (espcially the legal Hispanic ones!) want them out of here; Muslims by and large are looked upon with fear and loathing (because of 9/11), even when it's obvious that they left a horrible place for some peace; and Asians look so different that again there is a problem in perception.
I think that the biggest problem though (besides the intense dislike of illegal immigrants, at least half of whom came here legally, but now have expired green cards or expired student IDs) is that all these new people pretty much keep to themselves, refuse to learn English, want signs and government forms in their language, keep to their own cultures, and quite often live in what amounts to ghettos, meaning that pretty much no other people of a different culture or race live in the same neighborhood. And in recent years, blacks have tended to stay within black neighborhoods and are now calling for segregation in schools. (Considering that in the metro areas of the SE, most public schools have as a majority black students, this call seems strange. At any rate, many white and Asian parents send their children to private schools which provide a better education, supposedly. Public schools here are seen quite often as catering to those who don't care to learn.)
All these newer people would meet with less racism if they embraced more American ideas, I suspect. My ancestors, even those who immigrated to this country less than a hundred years ago, came here for freedom, and were quite happy to embrace American ideas about freedom, whilst still keeping some of their old country's cultural ideas. Many of the newer immigrants are seen as not being interested in the ideals that this country was founded upon, but only in making money. (My grandfather was keen to become a citizen, but many people who come here are not interested!) Not there's anything wrong with capitalism, per se, but many of these newer people are interested only in the almighty dollar, and refuse to accept/understand that it is the ideals of this country that allow capitalism to flourish.
I must think of the Chinese in this context. They still claim to be Communists, but the economics of their country scream capitalism. Their communistic ideals are being eroded, and so the gov fights even harder to hang on to them, but it's a losing battle.
re: International Blog Against Racism Week: Central European perspective
I think that the biggest problem though (besides the intense dislike of illegal immigrants, at least half of whom came here legally, but now have expired green cards or expired student IDs) is that all these new people pretty much keep to themselves, refuse to learn English, want signs and government forms in their language, keep to their own cultures, and quite often live in what amounts to ghettos, meaning that pretty much no other people of a different culture or race live in the same neighborhood. And in recent years, blacks have tended to stay within black neighborhoods and are now calling for segregation in schools. (Considering that in the metro areas of the SE, most public schools have as a majority black students, this call seems strange. At any rate, many white and Asian parents send their children to private schools which provide a better education, supposedly. Public schools here are seen quite often as catering to those who don't care to learn.)
All these newer people would meet with less racism if they embraced more American ideas, I suspect. My ancestors, even those who immigrated to this country less than a hundred years ago, came here for freedom, and were quite happy to embrace American ideas about freedom, whilst still keeping some of their old country's cultural ideas. Many of the newer immigrants are seen as not being interested in the ideals that this country was founded upon, but only in making money. (My grandfather was keen to become a citizen, but many people who come here are not interested!) Not there's anything wrong with capitalism, per se, but many of these newer people are interested only in the almighty dollar, and refuse to accept/understand that it is the ideals of this country that allow capitalism to flourish.
I must think of the Chinese in this context. They still claim to be Communists, but the economics of their country scream capitalism. Their communistic ideals are being eroded, and so the gov fights even harder to hang on to them, but it's a losing battle.