In my Intercultural Communication class last Wednesday, we watched a video about discrimination and then talked about it for a few minutes afterward. The video was made in America, and one of the Dutch students spoke up to say that, in her opinion, discrimination is worse in the U.S. than in Europe. I couldn’t think of anything to do other than just look at her. I wasn’t the only one that had this reaction; I saw some people rolling their eyes, and even the professor looked disturbed. A Brazilian student spoke up and said, pointedly, that some people wouldn’t be able to recognize true discrimination unless they actually experienced it for themselves.
Discrimination happens everywhere. In the U.S., we mainly hear about race. Since I’ve been in Europe, the contentious issues are focused mainly on immigration policies, and who should be allowed to become a citizen of—or even just live in—a particular country. A few weeks ago, right here in Amsterdam, a well-known Dutch filmmaker was murdered because of his religious beliefs. His name was Theo van Gogh (a distant relative of Vincent), and he (loudly) spoke out against Islamic practices that he didn’t agree with. Not everyone shared his beliefs, and some of what he said made certain people angry, but his freedom of speech ended when he was killed on November 2nd. It’s been called the first Muslim-extremist terrorist act in Holland.
As a result of the killing, a popular Dutch politician is calling for a five-year halt to non-Western immigration to the Netherlands. He believes that all foreigners should be “forced to integrate.”
If we aren’t fighting about immigration policies or racial prejudice, then there’s always religious conflict and ethnic clashes to fall back on. Not so widely publicized, discrimination based on class status is perhaps the most common of all. We give people respect based solely on their occupation or the amount of money they have; the right schools, the right brand names—who has it, and who doesn’t.
So no, discrimination doesn’t just happen in the U.S.
2 Comments
I agree. And where I used to live I didn’t see too much racial discrimination. But I did see a fair amount of religous discrimination.
Now that I live in Hawai’i, I’m on the receiving end of “Politically Correct Racial Discrimination.”
This past Mayoral Election in Honolulu, there were two main candidates. One a Caucasain, the other an Asian. The Asian ran with the campaign slogan, “Our Town, Our Mayor.” Guess who won?
discrimination? i thought everyone who has ever come to this country was primarily victim’s of discrimination….yeaaaaa, let’s hear it for the good ole USA…..if there’s a ass to kick…please bite mine…i mean kick.