Ill-informed Americans, especially those of a liberal bend, will often refer to Europe as the pinnacle of refined civilization. "Oh, the BBC is so much better than our sensationalist, biased media," I've heard plenty of times. Also, "Europeans recycle so much more!" I usually forgo a retort to these kinds of assertions, knowing that many times in my travels to Europe I have been struck by explicit, unapologetic racism. So much for civilized.
Anecdotes aside, according to a new report out in Germany, racist violence and crime increased 15% from 2005 to 2006. Der Spiegel reports on the phenomenon (there were 17,597 incidents in 2006) and follows up with an interview with a "racism expert" explaining that the problem is getting worse, and it's not so easy to write off increased numbers as shaded reporting.
Though, as it is very clear in the US, hate crimes may be terrible, but the systemic, tacit racism that keeps people out of jobs can be far more devastating. Remember those French ghettos?
