@friedkiwi whenever i see that attitude i feel like the only response i can muster is just playing that old, old american public service announcement about a dad who finds his kid's weed

"why is the usa so racist"?

I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU, DAD EUROPE! I LEARNED IT FROM YOUUUUU

@friedkiwi i may have some bad news about, for instance, france's treatment of immigrants and how the legally codified islamaphobia has been laser targeted at brown people

it takes different forms, but the root sure as shit is there. crippling inequality is a hallmark and feature of the concept, after all.

@friedkiwi and yet, also a culture that has a lot of baggage from that period of colonialism still hanging around. things like the agitation for a 'burkini ban' are islamophobia going hand in hand with racism.

it's a different shape - but the root is absolutely still there, and there are plenty of PoC able to tell you about how head-in-the-sand holier-than-thou in europe is hurting them.

@friedkiwi for example, from a quick skim - https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/blackface-france-color-blind-identity/591187/

institutions arguing that blackface cariacatures is part of the culture, black actresses with a rallying cry of "being black is not my profession - i want to do more than a bit part of the 'ghetto girl' stereotype"...

you'll forgive if a southern american goes "this all seems a bit familiar", lol

@friedkiwi it's funny, though, how it seems to be defended with the same rallying cry i hear around me with every hoisted confederate flag: "heritage, not hate!"

i would urge you to not be complacent enough to take the "not hate" part at face value, and to look at how these systems can and do contribute to the "crippling inequality and extreme destitution" you claim only happens in US and UK.