Is France less racist than other European countries?

Question

Is France less racist than other European countries?

Answer 1

England is a paradise compared to France. On the contrary France by far, is the most racist one.

p.s It's different to be proud of what you are and have complexes. (id est being racist)

Answer 2

In fact France is more racist than any other European nation. In fact they have a system in France where by they pay foreigners to go back home. Jean-Marie Le Pen, right wing National Front Party.

Answer 3

i dont think so.  It may be a bit less racist than, for example england, because england gets lots of immigrants.  This annoys the british so they make rasist comments to get revenge

Answer 4

Who said other European countries are racist? If at all, France is one of the most racist, proud to be French and all that. Which is no bad thing.

Answer 5

I don't know of a comprehensive and simple "racism-o-meter" out there to answer this question with a yes or a no. Depending on the choice of anecdotes, facts, historical or not, tales, personal experiences, interpretations, motivations, etc., that one uses to form his/her opinion, any answer is possible. A fair answer would also require all the European countries to be compared within the same reference environment (population distributions, history, economy, religions, etc. - all of these which can make one more or less susceptible to racism), which is not true.

Are there elements of racism in France? Yes. Less so or more so than any other European country - or any other country, including the US? Again, all answers are arguable.  

There are many organizations, or simply studies, out there dealing with racism, xenophobia, and the likes in Europe (and the US).  Among the material accessible in English are, in no special order:

1 - http://fra.europa.eu/fra/index.php

2 - http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fromswastikatoji...

3 - http://www.irr.org.uk/europe/

4 - http://www.globalissues.org/HumanRights/...

Answer 6

That is a difficult question as there are various aspects of racism and comparing them between countries to determine which country is "more" racist involves its own value judgments.

I can give you some facts and you can judge for yourself.

There is no person of colour representing any part of Metropolitain France in the French Chamber of Deputies. Contrast this with the United States where there are Congressman of every race and creed inlcuding Black, Asian, Hispanic and Muslim.

In the last administration, the only non-white in the Chirac cabinet was in charge of affirmative action. contrast this with the United States where Condi Rice and Alberto Gonzales are two of the most powerful people in Bush's cabinet. There has never been any non-white in French government to equal this.*

Until very recently there were no non-whites working as a TV news anchor anywhere in France. Today there is one. Its difficult to turn to the 6 o'clock news anywhere in the United States and not find at least one non-white on camera personality.

Unemployment amongst non whites is more than double that of whites. In this respect France and the United States are not much different except that overall unemployment in the United States is less than half what it is in France.

A study by the French government concluded that the treatment of non-whites by the police was frequently racist. Again, that may not be that different than in the United States.

Finally, I think you would agree that overt racism in the United States or even the suggestion of racism is the subject of almost universal condemnation. By contrast, in France Jacques Chirac publically stated that saying that non-whites smell bad is merely a statement of fact and not racist.

* An interesting aside is the fact that I've actually had several Frenchmen tell me that Sarkozy, the new President is not white. He is of Hungarian descent and to them this meant he was a non-white.

Answer 7

I don't think it's more or less racist than any other nation, but I do think there is a difference between being racist and being xenophobic.

I am multiracial, and I get a lot of stares and rudeness here in the US because I "look foreign", which is hilarious coming from someone of Northern European descent.  

In Paris, I noticed a lot more multiracial people so I blended in.  I dressed low-key and was respectful of the customs as I best as I understood them, and I fit right in.  We stayed in a part of the city where a lot of immigrants resided and I felt no hostility.

However, I've seen many visitors, a lot of them American, who were loud, disrespectful, and impatient.  It didn't matter what race they were, the prevailing attitude was one of disdain towards them.

Also, I think it depends on what part of France you go to.  I mainly visited Paris, which is no more or less racists than any urban area used to the influx of different cultures.