discussion Was this racism or am I overreacting?

[Into The Void]

I don't think Day 1 was racist those service workers are rude to everyone 

 

Day 2 and 3 are though 

[Into The Void]

1 hour ago, Dephira said:

A lot of German service workers are just extremely rude to everyone. Number 3 sounds like potential racial profiling, number 2 is just straight up racist 

Service workers in general lol. Go to the local municipal center no one is the least bit respectful

[ScorpiosGroove]

10 minutes ago, Tropez said:

Actually they do. We’ve had this discussion before on Atrl. The main difference is Americans oftentimes acknowledge their race issues and at least try to make amends. Europeans tend to ignore it by saying it’s not racism, and then claim it’s not like the US. 

who’s "they” ? the few gays having a discussion on ATRL ? that hardly represents the entire European population and what they think 

 

literally everyone knows there’s huge problems with racism, homophobia etc in Europe, especially in places like France, Italy or Spain… it’s just not THEE reigning topic like it is in the US, most people have bigger fish to fry here

[Zaram]

1 hour ago, Cleanromantic said:

I'm in east Germany. 

10 years ago you would have a different experience, but nowadays east Germany is a very vocal right wing area. In the west you probably would have a lot less encounters of these kind.

Sadly I would say that all three are racial motivated  Why cant ppl be decent for once.

[Power love]

1. I think the women was just having a bad day

 

 2. Perhaps the guy was just trying to let you know his favorite movie is The Lion King 

 

3. i think this was just a miss understanding.

[What_A_Mess]

7 minutes ago, Cleanromantic said:

That's where the only school that accepted me is, unfortunately. 

 

Do they teach class in English at least? Is studying uni for international students free?

[Cleanromantic]

1 hour ago, What_A_Mess said:

Do they teach class in English at least? Is studying uni for international students free?

Yeah it's in English. Uni is relatively inexpensive and the tuition fee is pretty affordable.

[DougAF]

1 hour ago, ScorpiosGroove said:

absolutely nobody claims that 

Europeans always downplay the racism problems in their own countries wym 

[ICLDXU4HS]

1. a rude ***** who needs to get her **** sorted out. They treat fellow Germans the same, though. Very common.

 

2. a racist.

 

3. I honestly don’t see the big deal. I’ve been asked to show my bag/backpack at retailers too and think it’s completely reasonable if you walk in there with a bag, like? They’re technically not allowed to check unless they have reason for suspicion, but it won’t kill me and only takes 10 seconds. Who cares if you don’t have anything to hide?

[blown away]

The first one wasn't racism per se. Service workers are rude a lot of the time, no matter who you are.

 

The second one is a very blatant example of racism.

 

I see the third case as racism/racial profiling as well.

My sister had a similar situation to this. She (half-Ghanian) went to a store with her (white) friend and the friend actually put stuff in her purse. When they were leaving the store my sister had to show her bag, while her friend didn't have to.

[ScorpiosGroove]

2 hours ago, DougAF said:

Europeans always downplay the racism problems in their own countries wym 

no one does that besides out of touch boomers  the same kind who’d say

"i don’t see color" if they were american 

[Riverbank]

Number 2 was the most blatantly racist one

[Asscatchem]

racism in europe?

 

[rzal]

6 hours ago, Cleanromantic said:

I'm in east Germany. 

oh girl i'm so sorry

#2 100% racist, #3 probably 

#1 is not completely innocent either. they hate all foreigners there, you're gonna hear a lot of "das ist deutschland" and stuff if you don't speak german 

[Theshigo Washidu]

23 hours ago, ScorpiosGroove said:

who’s "they” ? the few gays having a discussion on ATRL ? that hardly represents the entire European population and what they think 

 

literally everyone knows there’s huge problems with racism, homophobia etc in Europe, especially in places like France, Italy or Spain… it’s just not THEE reigning topic like it is in the US, most people have bigger fish to fry here

Is racism and homophobia not considered bigger fish?

 

OT: Yes it was, more so Day 2 and 3.

[ScorpiosGroove]

5 minutes ago, Theshigo Washidu said:

Is racism and homophobia not considered bigger fish?

 

OT: Yes it was, more so Day 2 and 3.

not when most people are worried about where their next meal comes from, no

[Tropez]

2 hours ago, ScorpiosGroove said:

not when most people are worried about where their next meal comes from, no

Poverty and hunger in Europe are rather low. However you can try to fight multiple things at once.

 

People who say "x is more important than fighting racism" tend to always find something else to focus on because they don't care about racism. Not only that race and class tend to be linked. So if you want to fight poverty like ensuring people have a meal, then you need to fight racism as the people in that position tend to be the racial/ethnic minority of a country.

[Antikythera]

I'm european-brazilian. I lived sometime in Europe and sometimes people would treat me badly because I didn't know the idiom, I don't think it was because I'm mixed, I think it was because I was there to take their jobs or something like that. I feel like some people treat eastern europeans like that in places such as Germany. A lot of Polish for exemple, I feel they were treated as badly, because they didn't know the language and still they wanted to work and be part of the system and some people treat them as pesants.

 

My experience in Germany is that they can be nice, but they are very "serious" and they are more closed than the Dutch for example, the Dutch looove to speak in English... I've been in Germany trian to catch a train to the airport and asking info for people at the station and they just didn't bother, I was look a foreigner told me something.

 

Now, I can't say people would treat me bad at a gay bar or at a fast food.

 

I know people that work in stations are a lot of time swamped with questions and they can be bitchy because they are stressed. In Belgium people would not speak English on the French part... some were nicer trying to speak slow and others tried to speak super fast just so u don't understand.

 

I think people get tired of feeling oblidged to speak English in their country.

 

In shops one time the owner asked me to go away if I was not buying, this was a food shop and I had little money, I think he could read me as poor.

 

A remember another, one time I went to the Airport terrace to take some pics (a hobby) and I saw a passport reader machine and went to look how it worked cause i wanna gonna travel in a feel days. Soons there is a police person not wearing police clothes, telling me they sall me at the camera trying to use the passport machine, and they wanted to know what I was doing there. I had to explain a lot, he checked my ID, he checked were I lived. I feel like he treated me as a terrorist. He also said I was drunk, I was not. Finally he let me go.

 

I also was taken off a bus by an officer who searched my bags and checked my ID. This time I think it was more to do with having long hair and walking with a guitar, I think he was sure I would have drugs. I didn't and he let me go, but the whole bus saw it lol

 

All of these happen in a span of 5 years and different countries. I also have one thousand stories about walking at night in "bad places" and no one ever bothered to do or say anything to me. Once again I have mixed heritage (my great grandpa was black) but I'm white (the major difference to europeans is I have big full lips). Once u don't speak the language, it can make people think less of you.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Antikythera
adding facts

[A.R.L]

All of the three are racists shits, I am more concerned about 3 and somehow 1 because 2 was drunk and sounds like a fool anyway, 1 and 3 are terribly disgusting.

 

One was also racist because she ignored you for 5 minutes looking at her computer, that's more than just having a bad day, like why you gave her 5 minutes of waiting, you should have asked her again for assistance because she is there to help you one way or another, I also know that most Germans speak English fluently. But you can always make some attempts to speak the local language, maybe that will also help change her behavior towards you especially if we are talking about a non-tourist area.

 

I always think that only broken people are the racist ones, so don't give them the time of the day, and if it escalates, the best solution is always to call the police.

Edited October 8, 2023 by A.R.L

[Maroonx]

Most Germans tend to be careful about racism/discrimination due to their history. So day 1 seems like it was some rude worker, but the other two can be considered racism. Sorry you went through this babes.

 

In the US you can actually sue someone for falsely accusing you of stealing. That's why some shops are careful about bag searches.

[Alldeezy]

Day 2 definitely day 3 sounds like it but they even check bags on rebel looking people so it's a bit 50/50 there.

 

People are so rude though wtf

[kataraqueen]

I'm so sorry you went through that. #2 is a loser with nothing going on in his life, but to imagine #3 where you're just doing an innocently cute, mundane thing and get treated for a delinquent for it... Smh. All I can say is, you presumably have a much bigger path in front of you than these pathetic losers and never lose sight of that path because of them.

 

Keep being awesome and stay true to yourself 

 

On 10/7/2023 at 5:56 PM, ScorpiosGroove said:

who’s "they” ? the few gays having a discussion on ATRL ? that hardly represents the entire European population and what they think 

 

literally everyone knows there’s huge problems with racism, homophobia etc in Europe, especially in places like France, Italy or Spain… it’s just not THEE reigning topic like it is in the US, most people have bigger fish to fry here

Also innocent children aren't being shot on the front of someone's porch over here, so it's a bit dystopian to me. Anyone who's denying racism in Europe is obviously an idiot, but somehow I doubt the discussion is that simple?

 

I'm also kind of tired of this American vs European thing when Europe has a sh.te ton of cultures that don't relate to each other whatsoever. Ironically, the same goes for America. Like I can call America a bigoted place, but I would never be talking about California. And literally, America is just a slight off-spring of the Europeans  Like what does this discussion even entail

 

I will say generally though, I think there's a slight dissonance with the way Americans and Europeans talk about things, very generally speaking. Exaggeration, oxymorons, etc. I feel like Americans take things a bit literally and heavy when it comes to these political discussions, meanwhile Europeans don't mind keeping it funny and light.

Edited October 9, 2023 by kataraqueen