As humans, we have come a long way and we have overcome a lot of great difficulties. Be it war, disease, natural calamities, man-made disasters, you name it and we have crossed it. But over all these years, we seem to have missed the point that all the tragedies that we come to face with are making. It is us humans and the hate we broil so passionately within ourselves, that causes most of the destruction. All though the international community is doing its best to spread the message of love, it seems to be falling on deaf ears – rape, murders, racism, homophobia, war crimes are everyday events even today. And out of these, racism is something that no one deserves to endure. Racism is basically prejudice and discrimination against the people of a certain race. Although we have gotten over the radical racism, it still prevails in many parts of the world Here are some of the most racist countries in the world –
12. South Africa
A country can only do so much to end racism and it is a rather sad and a heart-breaking fact that racism in South Africa has out-lived Mandela, who tried so hard all his life to end racism in the country. Thanks to the Anti-Apartheid movement, the legal framework of the nation has been changed and now racism is illegal but it is still a fact of life. People in South Africa are known to be racists and in some places, rates of products and good are decided depending on the race of a person. Recently, a group of people who were inciting violence against White were caught in SA. It just goes to show that a thing like racism is something beyond a legal framework.
11. Saudi Arabia
Being a rich country, Saudi Arabia has some obvious advantages over the poor and the developing nations. But Saudi Arabia exploits these benefits to reap it all for itself. Saudi Arabia has been known to have laborers from developing countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan etc, and these people are treated and are living in sub-human conditions. Apart from this, the Saudi nationals are racist towards the poorer Arab countries and recently, after the Syrian revolution, many Syrians have taken refuge in Saudi and are treated very badly. The sad part is that these victims can go nowhere with their grievances.
10. United States of America
The land of the free and the land of the brave also happens to be the land of some of the most racist people in the world. Although the picture we see of USA is through a rose-tinted glass and it all seems flowers and butterflies, the actual case is quite different. In the Deep South and Mid-West regions like Arizona, Missouri, Mississippi etc, racism is an everyday thing. Be it against Asians, Africans, South Americans or even the actual people of USA – the Native Americans. Cases of hate and hate due to color of skin are ever-increasing and unless we change the mentality of the people, no law is going to change anything.
9. United Kingdom
We guess they probably still have superiority complex given that at one point of time in history, the British almost ruled the entire world. UK is one of the most racist countries in the world even today, especially racist towards what they call “Desi” people. This includes people hailing from the Indian subcontinent. Apart from that, they show hatred towards Americans, whom they spitefully call ‘Yankees’ and towards French, Romanians, and Bulgarians etc. Shockingly, even today, the propaganda of a political party in the UK is based on the lines of whether a person would want immigrants as their neighbors which leads to hate towards people and towards racism.A state of racism exists between some of the citizens of the United Kingdom, studies taken by the BBC in 2014 and 2015 claim racism is on the rise in the UK with more than one third actually admitting they are racially prejudiced.
8. Australia
Australia doesn’t seem like a country that can be racist but no one knows the bitter side better than Indians. Most of the people who live in Australia have migrated there from other countries. And yet, they feel that any new person who migrates or moves to Australia to make a living should return to their home countries. In 2009, there were many cases in Australia wherein Indians were targeted and harassed. Almost 100 cases were filed and in 23 cases, there were racial undertones. The laws were made stricter and the situation has gotten much better now. But such incidences only go on to show how selfish us human beings can become to satisfy our own needs while harming others.
7. Rwanda
The Rwanda genocide of 1994 is a mark of shame in the human history. It was a ghastly time where two ethnic races of Rwanda were at loggerheads and this conflict resulted in the outright and blatant slaughtering of over 800,000 people in Rwanda. The two tribes, Tutsi and Hutu were the ones involved where the Tutsi tribe was the victims and the Hutu tribe was the perpetrators. Tensions exist between the two even today and even a small spark can ignite the fore of blood and hate in the country.
Japan today is a very well developed first world country. But the fact that it still suffers from xenophobia sets it back by many years. Although according to Japanese laws and regulation, racism and discrimination is not allowed, but the government itself practices what is called “positive discrimination”. It has very low tolerance for refugees and people from other countries. It is also a known fact that Japan tries its best to not allow entry to Muslims in their country as they think that Islam is not compatible with their culture. Such blatant cases of discrimination are prevalent in the country and nothing is being done about it.
5. Germany
If you sow hate, you will only reap hate and Germany stands as the living example of what influencing people’s mind with hate can do. Today, long after the reign of Hitler, Germany remains one of the most racist countries in the world. They have a sense of hatred towards all foreigners and still believe in German supremacy. The neo-Nazis still exist even today and openly talk of anti-Semitic ideas. The believes of these Neo-Nazis can come as a rude awakening to those who think that Germany’s racist tendencies died with Hitler. The German Government and the UN are both doing their best to retain these underground activities.
4. Israel
Israel has been in the midst of controversy for many many years now. And it has been so because of the crimes committed against the people of Palestine and the Israeli Arabs. After the World War 2, a new state was carved for the Jews and the original inhabitants of the land were forced to become refugees in their own land. Thus began the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. But today, we can very well see how Israel has been ill-treating the people and discrimination on any grounds.
3. Russia
In Russia, a lot of Xenophobia and ‘nationalist’ feelings still prevail. Even today, Russians are racist towards the people whom they feel are not ethnically and truly Russians. Apart from that, they are racist towards Africans, Far Asians, Caucasians, Chinese etc. It culminates with hate and later develops into gross crimes against humanity. The Russian government, along with UN have tried to do their best to stop such incidences of racism but they still continue to take place in not only the remote places but also big cities.
2. Pakistan
Pakistan is an Islamic majority country and even then, there are many conflicts that take place there between the two sects of Shia and Sunni. There have been crimes between the two sects for ages and nothing is being done about it. Apart from that, the long war with the neighbor India is something that is known to all the world. There have been incidences of racism between Indians and Pakistanis. Apart from that, other races like Africans and Latin Americans are also discriminated against.
1. India
A land of so much diversity is also the most racist country in the world. Indians are the most racist people in the world and even today, a child born in the Indian family is taught to worship anyone with white skin and look down upon anyone with dark skin. And thus was born the Indian racism against Africans and other dark skinned people. A fair skinned foreigner gets treated like a god and a dark skinned one is treated very badly.Among Indians themselves too there are conflicts between castes and people from different regions like the problem between Marathi Manoos and Biharis. And yet, Indians won’t accept this fact and boast about the culture and diversity and acceptance. It is high time we open our eyes to what the situation truly is and take the saying “Athithi Devo Bhava” (Guest is God) in a positive manner.
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