African American
In reply to the discussion: Black history that doesn't make it into the history books v2.0 [View all]BlueMTexpat
(15,502 posts)corner the market on racism. Most early settlers in the Americas (both North and South) were descendants of western European peoples. An overwhelming belief in the superiority of European peoples was part of their make-up, I am sorry to say, and that belief came to the New World intact. Interestingly, however, those of Latin heritage, e.g., French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese nationalities seem to have assimilated more rapidly - both with the native populations and later, with the "forced immigrants" (i.e., slaves) from Africa.
After first enslaving the native peoples with limited success and often destroying their cultures (e.g., Aztec, Incas, etc.) as well, the early settlers began importing slaves from Africa. Africans were generally deemed to be better workers. Africans also seem to be more successfully integrated among the Central and South American populations today. That likely has a lot to do with the fact that there were far fewer Anglo-Saxons in those areas.
There is something about the Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon mindsets that have made those nationalities among the most racist in the New World - and per the Nazi Reich especially, also in the Old. I trace much of my own heritage to such, but like to hope that I am much more enlightened and humane here in the 21st century.