PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT. Our own Aeronmelon is going through some shit at the moment and could use some help. Check it out here and consider an upvote or a comment to push it into activity. Sorry, not something I do often or will be spamming. But I care about my friend and if I can get a couple more eyes on his situation then I’m going to try to do what I can. (Last one I promise. Just twice. Not going to spam but dude is a big part of the Lemmy community, especially with Trek, and he deserves the help. And to the mods, if this doesn’t fit and you want to remove? Go for it. I completely understand it and I am sorry)
Edit: Oh wait I’m the mod here. Well, I say it is fine
A similar one I used to see a lot on Reddit was Europeans saying racism is bad except when it’s against Romani people. Like people would unironically just say shit like “no, they’re actually all bad.”
Yeah I had a conversation with a redditor where they were all like “You don’t understand what it’s like to actually live near them” and it just made me feel like I was talking to Uncle Cletus about Dominicans or some shit. It’s all the same mind virus everywhere.
Two groups of people I can’t stand: people who judge someone purely for where they’re from, and the Dutch.
schreeuwt in nederlands
the I’m not racist but…
A problem with those discussions is a lack of nuance and knowledge.
You’ll get Americans, who’d hear some western Europeans complain about ‘gypsies’, assume they’re racist against the Roma, not realising they’re often talking about Irish travellers who aren’t Roma at all. Not sure if the latter is racism, in the strictest sense. Invariably still bigotry though.
You’ll get Eastern Europeans complaining about Roma like they’re all the criminals, who are entirely oblivious to the fact that they themselves interact with Roma on regular basis without any issue. If you spend a bit of time in Eastern Europe, you’ll soon realise that a lot of Roma pass as non-Roma. They often aren’t considered Roma or don’t openly call themselves Roma, so much so that some will even vote for a virulent racist like Orban.
Then there’s the Western Europeans, who may have had bad experiences with a Roma gang (which unfortunately is a thing), who become incredibly defensive when you point out they shouldn’t stereotype all Roma and end up pretending anti-Romani racism isn’t a huge problem. Anti-Romani racism like when a member of Orban’s Fidesz party comes out with statements calling Roma animals and describing them as a problem that needs to be solved by any means (I’m quoting almost literally).
In my experience, European racism and bigotry really is far more complex, due to the lack of a melting pot, especially outside larger cities. Far more intersectionality and added classism, nationalism, regionalism, etc. Sometimes people will hate you if you’re from the wrong side of the river, and I’m only half joking.
I’m so tired of it, that once my parents die, I’ll be moving to a large cosmopolitan city. Things are better there. Suppose that’s not so different in the US.
Sorry for the long comment.
Yeah, that always blew my mind. I guess it because Americans dont care to educate themselves on European culture, so Europeans just kinda have free reign to be racist and generally not be judged online as long as the Americans don’t know ehat they’re talking about. Thats just my guess though, im a stupid american who doesnt know european culture lol
A lot of it is the language barrier. Your idiots speak English. Ours often don’t or not well enough for you to understand their stupid comments. The idea that everyone in Europe speaks good english is a myth. Our idiots can often barely speak one language let alone two.
However, racism and bigotry in Europe is often different to US racism, so you can end up looking like a fool if you wade in to the discussion without knowing the details. There’s no point arguing with pigeons anyway, you may win the argument, but you’ll still end up with shit in your hair.
Also: even if you did have a phD in European bigotry, as an American you’re not going to win hearts and minds lecturing non-Americans on racism, democracy or free speech. Especially now when the boil of American predjudice has been popped and poured into a seat behind the Resolute desk.