I've been thinking about this for the last few days, but I couldn't get to a conclusion to why (most) people from the United States are so racist. Racism seems to be embedded in US's culture. I say that as a Brazilian that has already lived in the US and experiences the country's culture almost daily.
Brazil and the United States have very similar historical backgrounds. Both were inhabited by natives before the Europeans arrived in the first half of the 16th century and have a history of slavery, where in both countries it was abolished in the second half of the 19th century. Today, however, while Brazil is known for its miscegenation of natives, africans, europeans and asians, the United States seems to have mostly maintained the division that existed before the Emancipation Proclamation.
For example: In Brazil, there are no such things as "black neighborhoods". Yes, in some places some ethnicities are more prevalent (that has to do with the lack of support the government gave to the ex-slaves once slavery was abolished and the recency of that event), but no one thinks of these places as "where black people live". There are no words that can only be used by one ethnicity, such as the N word in English. Also, "white culture" and "black culture" aren't really a thing. While rap in the US is mostly viewed as black culture, in Brazil it's simply culture. Some of the most important samba and funk singers are black, but that doesn't mean it's black culture. We see it as Brazilian culture.
I don't know, Brazil just seems much more integrated and patriotic than the United States in that regard (yes, I just said the United States is not very patriotic in a way).
This also has nothing to do with Democrats and Republicans. It has nothing to do with left or right-wing. It affects both sides. You know, all of those BuzzFeed videos such as "White Parents Who Raise Black Children" or "Things Our Black Moms Would Say" only exist because they think of black and white people as being fundamentally and culturally different. In Brazil, a video titled "Things Our Black Moms Would Say" would make no sense, because being black has nothing to do with the way you act.
I'm not calling you racist for being American. You are not guilty for doing things the only way you know to do them. I'm just trying to show you a different vision of the world and hopefully make you reflect about it.
EDIT: In this text, I used the word "racism" meaning "the act of diving people into races". It was the best word I could find to describe it.
EDIT2: I switched the word "racist" in the title for "segregationist" because most people are not reading what I wrote and therefore getting the wrong idea of what I'm trying to say.
Last edited by Lucca - on 15 March 2018
