Some Blind Spots and Hypocrisies of European Obamamania

This follows up our May 28 Huffington Post piece, "Obama and the Progressives: A Curious Paradox," in which we pointed out that there's something puzzling about Barack Obama appeal to some of his most ardent "progressive" supporters. Andy Markovits is currently in Europe (serving as a Visiting Professor of International Politics in Vienna and following the European soccer championship matches), where Obamamania runs rampant. There are a range of different reasons for that enthusiasm, all of them understandable and many of them admirable. But European Obamamania (they actually use the word there) also has its paradoxical aspects.

Most of the report that follows comes from Andy Markovits in Vienna (with some joint input), so now I will turn things over to him. --Jeff Weintraub

=> Andrei Markovits: Ever since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination for President, the overwhelming response from the European media and from cultural and political elites has been euphoric. In many ways I find this total euphoria wonderful. In a piece that Jerome Karabel and I wrote in December 2007, we argued that one of the positive consequences of electing someone like Obama President would be to help restore respect for America around the world -- not just because of what Obama says or what he would do, but also because of who he is, and what his election would represent about American society. It's clear that even the strong possibility of this outcome, as it has emerged over the course of the nomination contest, has already begun to have those effects on European public opinion.

At the same time, I can't help noticing some aspects of this euphoric response, especially from western European elites and from the prestige news media, that are disingenuous and even hypocritical.

In an awful lot of those responses, the basic message runs along the following lines. Now, finally, there may be a chance (a chance, not a certainty) that those American barbarians might be about to return to their senses -- which, in essence, means European senses and sensibilities. In contrast to the cowboy Bush and his dangerous supporters, Obama is practically an honorary European, who can appreciate the wisdom, virtue, and enlightenment typically monopolized by Europeans (which usually means western Europeans). This is often followed by the ultimate seal of approval -- they would be delighted to vote for Obama themselves, if given the chance.

All very heartwarming. But having followed the European media with some care since my arrival in Vienna on June 1, I have seen very little acknowledgement of one inconvenient complicating reality. Obama, or someone with Obama's social background and political style, would have a hard time getting elected dog-catcher in any of these European countries, let alone President or Prime Minister (or, in Germany, Chancellor).

There are various reasons why that's true. Despite the swooning praises of Obama from the western European chattering classes, the reality is that someone in their own countries with Obama's political style would actually turn them off. A European candidate with Obama's message of hope and idealism would make a lot of European journalists, intellectuals, and politicians roll their eyes. And in western European countries with established party systems, it would be almost impossible for a political outsider like Obama to vault over a party hierarchy so dramatically.

But the most fundamental reasons run deeper. A number of European countries have elected women to high political office, even the highest. (Score that one for the Europeans, at least some of them.) But as Jerry Karabel and I pointed out, none of them has ever elected a non-white person of any extraction to its highest political office -- that is, head of state or head of government. (Actually, no predominantly-white country in the world has ever elected a black person to its highest political office.)

OK, neither has the US so far. But the more telling point is that in none of these countries have significant numbers of non-whites risen high enough in the political system that they could even be considered plausible candidates for the highest offices.

In France (depending on how the calculations are done) roughly ten per cent of the population are of Arab or sub-Saharan African origin. But the 577 members of the Chamber of Deputies do not include a single person of color. The German Bundestag has a few members of Turkish origin, but their numbers are minimal and none of them plays a prominent role (as compared with some heavyweight African-American, Cuban-American, and Mexican-American Congresspeople and Governors in the US). And so on. One can find isolated exceptions here and there (Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the Netherlands, for example, before she had to flee the country?), but the point is that they're isolated exceptions.

Nor is this just a question of race (and racism). In comparison with the US, European societies have more ethnically restricted and exclusionary conceptions of full citizenship and of political community that make it difficult for outsiders of all kinds to succeed politically. Consider who is Governor of the largest and most important US state, California -- the Austrian-American immigrant Arnold Schwarzenegger. Is it even conceivable that a foreign-born immigrant with a funny foreign-sounding name and a heavy funny-sounding foreign accent could be elected Prime Minister of the most important German Land, North Rhine-Westphalia? (You don't have to guess -- the answer is no.) And ditto for Italy, Britain, France, and the rest.

(Frankly, it's hard to imagine someone with Schwarzenegger's career profile getting himself elected to an important political office even in his native Austria -- which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your perspective.)

The recently deceased Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary who came to the US as a child and eventually became a significant figure in national politics, used to say that a life-story like his would have been possible "only in America." Obama says the same thing, of course: "in no other country on Earth is my story even possible." This is a characteristically American line, and one that irritates some people who find it a misleading and exaggerated slogan of national self-congratulation. But in Lantos' case, at least, his claim was almost certainly correct. Not simply because he was Jewish--France, along with its bouts of intense political anti-semitism, has had several Jewish Prime Ministers, most famously Leon Blum, and even post-WWII Austria had the long-serving Chancellor Bruno Kreisky--but because Lantos was also a foreign-born immigrant.

Nor is the American system's greater openness and inclusiveness for outsiders restricted to elective office. Consider, for example, that former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright are both foreign-born, and Kissinger still speaks with a heavy German accent. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Shalikashvili is foreign born, with an exotic-sounding Georgian name. Shalikashvili's predecessor at the top of the US military hierarchy, former Secretary of State Colin Powell is not just African-American (like Condoleezza Rice) but also the son of Jamaican immigrants. In the US, figures like these have come to be considered normal, even unremarkable. Are there analogous Kissingers, Albrights, Powells, and Shalikashvilis in any European country?

Since France came up, it is only fair to add that President Nicolas Sarkozy may offer a partial exception to this European pattern, with a more "American" profile (in this and other respects). His father was an immigrant from Hungary, and his maternal grandfather not only immigrated from Greece, but was born a Sephardic Jew in Thessaloniki. Because of this background and for other reasons, Sarkozy's election was recognized as a major break with French political traditions. Furthermore, though Sarkozy has been less than welcoming to current immigration, to his credit he has appointed two women of North African origin and one from Senegal to ministerial and junior-ministerial offices. But so far Sarkozy is a unique figure, and those appointees remain -- as indicated earlier -- marginal exceptions in the French political system.

In short, the fact that an African-American like Obama is now the presumptive Presidential nominee of a major US party constitutes a new and historic breakthrough for American society. But it is also brings home some important ways in which American society itself is profoundly exceptional.

=> To be entirely fair, European reactions to Obama's victory have included some recognition of this point -- not least, it would appear, in some quarters in France. According to a prominent French Obamaphile quoted in the International Herald Tribune on Friday ("Excitement in France over Obama Victory"):

"He inspires different people for different reasons, but he inspires most people" [....] "For the French establishment, Obama represents a new chapter in the Western alliance [....] For ethnic minorities he embodies the equality of opportunity they crave." [....]

"You can't welcome it enough, especially in this era of rampant anti-Americanism," Le Figaro, the French daily, said Thursday.

"With Obama, a certain idea of America is back: that of a generous society where equality of opportunity is not an empty promise. Hope and change, key words of his campaign, reinforce this rediscovered ideal, which resonates as much inside the country as beyond." [....]

Kama Des-Gachons, a 28-year-old Frenchwoman, was one of about 600 young men and women flocking to a panel discussion in Paris on Tuesday about the "Obama Effect in France." Her eyes lit up when she spoke about Obama. Not because he is a Democrat or because he opposed to the war in Iraq. But because his father was an African immigrant, like hers.

"He makes me dream," said Des-Gachons, whose parents came to France from Mali. "I even bought a T-shirt with the American flag. America is the country where you can make it."

Des-Gachons is living the American election campaign vicariously, as if she had a vote herself. Could she imagine a French Obama?

"Not anytime soon," she said. Despite a university degree from the Sorbonne, it took her two years to find her current job in finance.

"But who knows?" she added, echoing a hope that many in the audience expressed. "If Obama is elected, maybe it will change perceptions in France, too." [....]

Could be. In the meantime, that "Obama Effect" is a reminder of the genuine and enduring reality of American exceptionalism--for good and for ill, but in this case mostly for good. Perhaps that might make some people here dream, too?

------------------------------
Andrei S. Markovits teaches political science, sociology, and German studies at the University of Michigan. His most recent book, on European anti-Americanism, is Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America (Princeton University Press, 2007). Markovits is currently in Vienna as the Dr. Elisabeth Ortner-Chopin Visiting Professor of International Relations at Webster University, teaching a graduate course on Globalization and Sports and following the European Football Championship tournament (which is being played in Austria and Switzerland).

Jeff Weintraub teaches social & political theory and political sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also blogs at: http://jeffweintraub.blogspot.com/

Comments

[Playinjured]

This article was very well-written but I must go as far as to say that too much emphasis on issues like this may cloud our better judgment. The fact America may be exceptional in the sense that someone from the groups of the disadvantaged in this country can run for high office may obscure a continued route to the solution of the problem of them being disadvantaged in the first place. Basically, we might want to quit patting ourselves on the back. To applaud America's successes, especially at a time when most in America don't feel that successful, may lead some to believe that their is not enough focus on the constant and reoccurring battle to reaffirm our ancestors sacrifices and may convince some that there is not a concerted effort to resolve all of America's unresolved issues and that, finally, there aren't very many issues that lay ahead that need much resolving. Thank you.

[zann]

After reading a blog about Israel and Palestine, and how miserably the Arabs live there, and how blindly the US supports Israel, and how Obama is attacked because he might be "secretly Muslim"... There's more fear and revulsion against Arabs and Muslims now than against African Americans.
And of course the funny thing is that Obama was raised by his white mother and grandparents with a committment to objectivity and education more common in whites.
How are they doing in Europe with Islam? How is the whole world doing with it?

[MagisterLudi]

Dude ,this thread has nothing to do with Israel. Relax.

[Dulce]

Ahem...far from me the idea of "lecturing" the "professor" on things he, more than anyone here, must be aware of, but just FYI: the United States of America is a Federation.

A Federation which includes sates such as, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and so on.

The kind of mechanics and dynamics that facilitates (or hinder, depending on the States) the election of "African-American, Cuban-American, and Mexican-American Congresspeople and Governors in the US" is dependent on the population distribution and demography of the States from which Congresspeople and Governors spring forth.

Comparing nation-states like France, England, Germany, Italy, etc. to the US Federation as a whole, is tantamount to comparing Apples to oranges. And the professor knows it, which makes the professor's article (and his book, which I have read) an exercise in demagoguery rather than a sober appraisal.

Call it "Obamamania" [sic] if you like, but, indeed, Senator Obama's campaign has been covered by the press worldwide and he is favorably viewed by many in Europe and in the rest of the world, who believe the senator has the stuff "world leaders" are made of. I see no "curious paradox" in that. Senator Obama is a charismatic candidate and his message is in sync with a new emerging zeitgeist that extends way beyond our borders---hence Obama's huge popularity with the new generation. The times they are a-changin'. Has the professor been paying any attention, lately?

[N8Ma]

But isn't Germany also a Federal system? So there it's a fair comparison. Look, many Europeans talk a big talk about how magnanimous they are compared to Yankees...how many more refugees they harbor, how much more % of GDP they give as aid, etc. Well, if Germany wants to brag about how it's now taken over as the destination of the "tired, huddled masses" of the world because it's got better human rights, foreign policy, etc. then it's fair to ask why in their FEDERAL system only a handful of Turks seem to have managed to win an election?

What is absent, though, is any mention of the growing diversity within the British Parliament. Persons of color are now frequently added to the Lords by both parties, for all sorts of reasons. And now we see increasing diversity in the Commons as well. Clearly there's progress there, and perhaps it could be argued the British Parliament is as decent a reflection of the nation's overall demographics as the US Congress (1 black senator and he's definitely on his way out!)

[Dulce]

Again: Apples and oranges, N8Ma!

Neither Germany nor any western-European nation-state have Minority-majority states like we have here. That's the whole difference. Minority-majority state is a term used to describe a U.S. state in which a majority of the state's population differs from the national majority population of non-Hispanic whites. This is what I was pointing to.

The demographics of such states and other which come close behind is without any equivalent with the demographics the professor describe in, say, a nation-state such as France where according to the professor "roughly ten per cent of the population are of Arab or sub-Saharan African origin."

Take California, for instance. California is considered one of America's first "new societies"--a society in which no racial or ethnic group predominates. Demographers have speculated that California will have a Hispanic majority by the year 2020.

[Idaho5b]

HuffPost's Pick

Excellent post! This is the kind of thing you can only find on HuffPo - a nuanced take on European sensibilities. The authors do an excellent job of first applauding Europe's embrace of Obama, but then holds up those tired old aristocratic governments to a harsh mirror. Western Europe may occasionally lavish us with praise, but an Obama presidency would shed ample light on the rigidity of their own societies.

[N8Ma]

I like your props but does HuffPost have to "Pick" a comment that basically says "HuffPost you rock!"

?

[editorjuno]

....yeah, it's pretty flagrant autobackpatting -- very tacky imo.

[CarlosDee]

Eh? It would be hard to find any aristocrats in any European parliament. Basically this is echoing Rumsfeld's "old Europe" comments. Look at America and the importance of political families: the Bushes, the Clintons, the Kennedys. In that way the US is much more "aristocratic" than modern Europe. Not that either the US or Europe are perfect. But this is silly stereotyping.

[Zenobius]

After eight years of George Bush, almost any change would look good to the Europeans. McCain is probably not seen as a change.

Obama is a very good speaker and campaigner, and even here, there is a tendency to see in him whatever you want to see. I'm not against this, since I want him to win the general election in November, but it does lead me to wonder how of this hope is actually the result of Obama, and how much of this is just European fantasies projected onto Obama.

In any event, hypocrisy in the European elite is old news, and not a major problem for the US at the moment.. I'll be happy to take improvement in our image happens as a result of the combination of European enthusiasm for Obama, of course But I don't think what the Europeans imagine about Obama is any more important than what I imagine about Manmohan Singh is.

[Debs008]

the authors should have hit the nail on the head. Obama would never be where he is now if he was a black european. As a black british woman, tThe UK where i live is the most multi-cultural country in europe but even blacks have limited success in politics. yes we do have a few MPs representing key black areas. we have non elected black peers, elected junior ministers, but no black has ever been elected into a major political post. The UK is still steeped in racism. most blacks are concentrated in the key cities. in the north of the country, most non whites are refugees and asylum seekers treated with disdain and as second class citizens. How can such white people be expected to vote a black man as prime minister. Its not going to happen, not in my lifetime. other european countries are even much worse. Germany and Portugal are some of the most racist countries on earth. they treat black people worse than dirt yet they love Obama??? Give me a break!!!!

[UKVisitor]

I agree that there is still racism in the UK, particularly towards muslims, but I take exception to your comments on the north of England. Do you live in the north of England? I do and your comment just isn't true.

I'm not going to pretend things are perfect, but I've also lived in the US and imo black/white relations are worse there than they are here.

Black people, as distinct from south Asian people, make up what 2-3% of the UK population? And we've been here at most 60 years. Compared to over 300 years and 20% in the US

I've also lived in Germany and don't remember being treated with anything but kindness there.

[Debs008]

ehn, i think most people will disagree with you there! black people have beein in the UK for much longer than 60 years. there was also slavery in the UK and slaves were also brought to the UK during the same period as america albeit in much smaller numbers. Names like Olaudah Equiano etc come to mind.

regardin the north of england. many refugees and asylum seekers are "dispersed" to cities in the north to prevent london being congested. Many of them experience a lot of racism and its well document. it is misleading to conclude that only muslims are targeted. in short, racism is everywhere....but we are diverting!!!!

[Cathexis]

I am confused as to the thrust of this article. What are the authors trying to say, exactly? Maybe I am misintrepreting, but it strikes me as trying to say "Come back to earth, folks -- Obama isn't THAT great."

After 8 years of Bush and the extremist american rightwing, I'd get euphoric about ANYONE who represented change -- the more different the better.

Re: "American sensibilities" vs "European sensibilities" -- tsk! The GOP has certainly embraced a barbarous, unilateral, coercive demanor these past two terms. Is civility and diplomacy uniquely European? I like to think it transcends nationalities. However, it strikes me that the authors may be projectingf their own insecurities, here. They fret that Europeans might feel smug that we are "coming back" to their way of thinking? Grow up, folks. I don't give a damn who claims it -- it's the right approach.

As for dismissing Euopeans' capacity for idealism ... again, this strikes me as a very subjective opinion that the authors are presenting as fact. Perhaps we all have some Nationalism to try and get past, yet, hmmm?

[conniedogs]

I believe Sen O's appeal has a lot to with our current Prez's popularity around the world.

[MagisterLudi]

Yes, Western Europeans are somewhat insular.
Yes, there's some antagonism against minorities.
Yes, some of that antagonism is justified. Hence, election of right-wingers in Germany and France is a clear proof.

BUT, Europe is THE beacon of freedom, social and cultural justice, and just plain civilized living( safe cities, great food, medical care, schools etc) in the world today.
Nothing can compare, nothing.

It's up to Europeans and the whole world to protect this precious tiny area from encroachment of American style capitalism and Muslim militant intolerance.

The obsession with Obama's skin color is a front.
Primary reasons Obama wouldn't have a chance in W.Europe is because
Obama is a Christian fundamentalist and a conservative supporter of American imperial aims.

[Marlyn]

"Obama is a Christian fundamentalist and a conservative supporter of American imperial aims." ???

Obama is a Christian, but is NOT a fundamentalist, and I don't know what "imperial aims" you think he supports.

[squander123]

You see, this is one of the very real differences between Europe and the US. In Europe, Obama's degree of religious belief and the ways it carries over into his political life would be seen, in a European politician, as religious mania, frankly. It amazes Europeans that US politicians even mention 'god', and the frequent mantra of 'god bless America' that's used in public life would be utterly untranslatable to European life. I know Obama isn't a fundamentalist in a technical, theological sense, but then here in secular Europe, it all looks a bit the same to us.

So most Europeans - even enthusiastic Obama supporters like me - think he's great in the US context, but wouldn't vote at home for a politician running on his platform, because a) he's too religious, b) even our more centre-right parties are usually more 'liberal' than the most left-wing politician, including Obama. Another reason why this article's glib conclusions just don't stand up - the differences between Obama and European politicians aren't all about race.

[MagisterLudi]

Marlyn posted:"Obama is a Christian, but is NOT a fundamentalist, and I don't know what "imperial aims" you think he supports."

Senate votes

Kerry's Anti Iraqi War Bill: OBAMA-NO.

Obama YES to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State.

Obama ENDORSED AND ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED FOR LIEBERMAN and against strong anti-war Ned Lamont .

Obama voted YES on President Bush's class action bill benefiting corporatio­ns.Opposed by most civil rights and consumer groups.

Obama YES on Bush's 2005 energy bill: giant tax breaks for oil and nuclear companies.

Obama YES: to allow credit card companies to raise interest rates over 30 percent.

ABORTION Seante Bills:
Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions
Obama: declined to vote!

Prohibiting Funds for Groups that Perform Abortions--
Obama: declined to vote.

Prohibiting U.S. Assistance for Groups that Support Coercive Abortion
Obama: declined to vote!

In July of 2004, Barack Obama told a group of reporters in Boston that the United States had an "absolute obligation" to remain in Iraq long enough to make it a success."

"The failure of the Iraqi state would be a disaster," he said at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor,"It would dishonor the 900-plus men and women who have already died. . . . "It would be a betrayal of the promise that we made to the Iraqi people, and it would be hugely destabilizing from a national security perspective."

A Progressive? Only in America.

[Solange]

True. I've lived in France, a country I love, and was living there when Obama gave his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. When I told him about Obama, a Sorbonne-educated, European-born African friend of mine told me, "This would never happen in France." Yet, Europeans do have Obamania. The US still represents the future, the land of opportunity and promise--and the democratic world (and those seeking democracy) does still look to us to break barriers--and to lead. That's what Obama, and his winning the nomination, symbolizes to people around the world--leadership and the hope and promise the US has always represented; Obama embodies it--and if he is elected President--it will resonate across the globe. In late February, after Obama won 11 states in a row--my European-born African friend told me, "Obama has already changed everything for everybody, even in Europe and Africa."

[mistyBee]

It is surprising that the main author , who has been in ONE European country for 9 days ( But having followed the European media with some care since my arrival in Vienna on June 1, ) feels he is able to comment on all European countries past and future history purely by reading a few newspapers ( he doesn't say which). If he had actually carried out some academic research ( which he purports to be) perhaps his views might have more weight . But then if he had done so some of his views would have to change. One example : in the UK until last year the leader of its second chamber ( The House of Lords) was a black woman Baroness Amos ( they get a title !) who was born in Guyana. The UK's current attorney general is also a black woman. Baroness Scotland. There are a number of Muslim MP's and members of the House of Lords. Is it perfect -no - but at least it is accurate.

The statement 'A European candidate with Obama's message of hope and idealism would make a lot of European journalists, intellectuals, and politicians roll their eyes'. Also forgets that Tony Blair- yes him -was elected on the basis that we could change the UK from an 'old' country to a cool Britiannia. With liberal social policies towards gays and minorities and... an ethical foreign policy .

[squander123]

Well said mistyBee - I couldn't agree more.

[shawshank]

Maybe it's simply that Americans have individually become less racist over time. But there was no avenue whereby this mental evolution could be expressed collectively. That's what Obama tapped into, a goldmine the msm and old politicians didn't know existed.

[Ildin]

"Bobzmcishl
Only in the U.S. has any country been able to bring together so many people from different countries and have them identify with the United States. This has not been a total success but no other country has come close"

Ahem *cough* Brazil *cough*

[shawshank]

I'm sure the natives and blacks in Brazil will scoff at your statement.

[Ceasar]

I must say that that is not exactly true. Instead of WASPs like we have here in America, they have Spanish descent Roman Catholics, but they're still the European class. . . and the blacks live in favellas and are second class citizens. It's about the same.

[Mencial]

It is true, but we are talking about nonwhite politicians going to the top, and there are many examples in Latin America, from Gilberto Gil, Chávez, Evo Morales, René Préval... And Lula, although white, shares a life story with very many Brazilian blacks.

And that would be Portuguese descent, mind you.

[BEHM777]

Guess what? Life itself is a paradox. Everyone is a hypocrite to some degree, depending on the subject, so it is not a surprise to hear the "elites" praise Senator Obama's rise to the top of the political food chain while no such thing even appears possible where they live. However, Barack Obama INSPIRES people. That is something that should not be missed. The world-at-large thought America had lost its collective mind when GWBush was elected in 2004 (they recognize, I believe, the 2000 election was stolen from Al Gore). Barack Obama represents a sea change, a complete paradigm shift from GWBush and his DNA isn't the least of the reasons why. Senator Obama doesn't act, think, speak or look like GWBush, and that is something that pleases people who have long grown weary of our President. It pleases the Europeans as well. I think that is a good thing, whether it is seen as paradoxical or not when one is assessing the true motivations of the European elite.

[NoLove4HillaryAnymore]

Truth be told...there is a lot of open mindedness in Europe but there is no country like America when it comes to embracing the differences within society in comparison to Europe or any other country in the world in general. The fact that there is not even one single person of color in the highest office of Europe's Politics tells you a lot about the make up of the country's ideology. In fact, it is a SHAME! What this tells me is EUROPE might be open and liberal but deep inside they are toxic RACISTS! Again, not all of them but the majority of them.

A good example of Europe's generosity is in the level of Aid they give to African Nations but to allow Africans in Europe is close to impossible in Legal terms so most come in as visitors and blend in illegally. I really feel there is a phobia in Europe (especially in Italy, England and Spain) of Blacks in general.

If you ask me, SPAIN is the most Racist country in Europe!!

I will take American Racism any day than Europe’s!

[Heidfeld]

Ah, yet another Obama supporter with a lack of understanding of other cultures.

These people are not racists, they simply have a different history than we in the US do. There simply are not a lot of black Spaniards, Italians and Germans. Why? Lots of reasons. Partly because they didn't rely on slavery as heavily as we didn in the US.

You know what, forget about it. Go back to the bubble you live in. I'm tired of trying to enlighten Obamabots.

[DanHasSpoken]

You miss the point entirely. It's not just a question of "black Spaniards," but of non-white citizens or resident in European countries, more broadly speaking. If you're as well-versed in European culture as you claim, you would know that there are huge populations of North African, Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, and Asian immigrants in most European countries - and there are sub-Saharan Africans, too. Remember colonialism? These people face significant barriers to equality in Europe.

[shawshank]

You don't need history to make you appreciate and respect differences in people. It's the highest ideal we as humans can and should aspire towards.

[Mencial]

Yes, Spaniards used slaves. Just not in Spain, but in Cuba, Colombia... ¿Where do you think the blacks there come from?