Dear America: Racism Against Blacks

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Dear America: Racism Against Blacks

Racism against black people has been a major issue for a few years now (a few decades actually, but a few years of media attention). And I'm glad, because black lives matter and things have been going out of hand for a long while.

Which is unfortunate, since Obama had been such a good influence on a movement happening, and then the orange with a bad hairdo came to destroy so much..

But that's not the point I'm trying to make. I just wanna say something to ALL americans which y'all seem to fail to grasp.

There are other (western) countries. With different values, issues and experiences.

I live in one of them. And I have never seen racism against a black person before. Never. Not once in my life. Now, I'm aware my life isn't that long yet. But still, this is treated as a rare thing by most.. I've seen racism against middle eastern folk. Morroccans, Turks, you name it. And against white folk as well. Most of these comments are made middle-easterners - whites. There is a reason for this racism which takes too long to explain, so I won't. That's not the point, anyway.

What you seem to fail to see is that in most countries, it's not an issue to be black. Especially in my country, where there's a lot of people from Suriname and other islands close by. I grew up with black people. We grew up with mutual understanding. They embraced the Dutch culture, but still hang on to their own culture and allow us to enjoy it. For example, their slang. A lot of youths including myself understand and or use slang from Suriname. We also enjoy their kitchen, for example Roti is one of my favorite dishes. I enjoy the vibe many black people carry with them, I like the fact some have accents. Most black people in this country are warm and welcoming, and they don't turn against white people like I've seen some black americans do. Why would they? They have no reason to because most have not once in their life encountered someone that was racist towards black people.

The problem with Americans is they don't realise this. When I comment something online saying I've never seen racism against blacks or misunderstand something, people call me a fool, racist, blind and whatnot. They judge me for speaking the truth, without it occuring to them that I might have actually not seen racism to black people IRL, only in the American media.

What I'm trying to say is, even western cultures differ, A LOT. Just because your country is mostly the same everywhere, does not mean Europe is too. Keep in mind many people just don't really 'get' racism against black people, because it rarely happens here.. there are different 'minorities' everywhere and there are different ethnicies that experience racism. In a lot of european countries, those victims are middle-eastern. In america, they're mostly black. Keep that in mind when speaking to someone from a different country. We can't always comprehend 'your' kind of racism.

*I hope you don't view me as anti-american or whatever. I also hope you don't think i'm blaming it on you, understanding comes both ways which is why I try to see things from a different perspective. I just don't see americans doing the same.

Dear America: Racism Against Blacks
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