Measurement devices would be lovely here. Measurement devices would always be lovely.
On the other hand, we have some data, even if we don't have much in the way of measurement. And from that data, I have a hypothesis.
Places with very low penetration of other races have very low racism. Europe in the '80s was like this. No racism, and no (appreciable quantities of) other races.
Places where there is very low unemployment have comparatively low racism. Houston is like this.
Places where the races are not competitive with one another, or are required to work together in order to solve problems (Koreans(?) own many of the laundromats in California, few people care).
Places where
Aretae's 1-stop hypothesis shop says:
Race relations are bad when there is substantial inter-racial competition for positions AND positions are relatively scarce....OR when there is substantial inter-group money-transfer.
Prediction...IT workers have more issues with Indians than with Blacks, because there's no black competition in the IT space.
Prediction...self-employed people (minus construction contractors) are less racially motivated than others, as they are not usually competing against minorities.
Prediction...the better the (city or nation) economy, the smaller the racial issues.
Prediction...California smaller town, middle-class, upper-middle IQ (110) whites are more likely to be anti-asian than anti-black. Asians take college slots from the middle class kids. Blacks don't
Prediction...Affirmative action should be especially reviled by the folks it impacts most...which are blue collar workers. It combines both transfer and competition.
Prediction...Affirmative action should be especially favored in areas where there is little threat of a minority taking "your" position. Academia tops this list, with tenure rules, and very low minority penetration.
Prediction...High welfare mixed race cities will have a lot more racial tension than low-race mixed race cities. Correlary: European welfare states (with poor job creation, and which are developing large arabic islamic minorities who are both massively underemployed and largely on some public assistance) will encounter anti-arab racial tensions within 20 years that make US racial tensions look tame.
Prediction...cutting tax (especially business tax) rates and eliminating minimum wage laws are the top effectiveness activities for improving racial harmony.
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7 comments:
I think in general your thesis is correct. However.
1) I've never really seen any racism from white middle class folks against Asians. Asians are generally seen as "different looking white people"
2) Europe already has anti-arab tensions that make the US white/black look like a picnic. Unless riots in France don't count.
3)Re Academia: consider Law School, where affirmative action is a big deal. I think there is no disputing that AA in law school means less qualified Black students taking positions that would otherwise go to more highly qualified white or Asian students. As such this is a source of friction.
Echoing what Mark Horning says, I see little racism against Asians, or Indians, in the tech fields, whereas I feel more in restaurant settings.
And speaking of restaurant settings, when I worked at El Torito, the Hispanics were very prejudiced against Blacks (apparently they don't tip as well on average), even though I don't think there was much of a class or work conflict.
I think your data about Europe is quite suspect. There has been a substantial presence of black/dark people in both England and France for a long time. Both countries had colonies or colony-type outposts in the Caribbean, and residents thereof had British or French citizenship (I think) and certainly freedom to move to the "home" country. France has had strong ties with, and lots of people from, Algeria for a long time.
Ty,
I think we have to talk about what we mean by lots. By lots I mean...>10% of a specific minority.
This suggests that while there are colonials...the actual distribution is awful small.
~8% on a glance, of all non-white minorities put together. This does not constitute lots. Houston has ~30% black, 30% hispanic. Much of the CA coast is 20% East asian. Chicago is mostly 35-30-20 Black/White/Hispanic. England demographics for foreigners are TINY.
I have seen roughly zero racism toward Asians — whether East Asians (Chinese, Korean, etc.) or South Asian (Indians, Pakistanis, etc.) — in IT or in school.
I think you make a mistake in characterizing most racism as resentment over competition. (Resentment over affirmative action does confuse things though.)
The "classic" racism of whites vs. blacks, for instance, is typified by fear of the criminal element, not competition for jobs.
Looking at it that way, we should expect more racism near, say, public housing projects and other "bad" neighborhoods.
Isegoria,
I suppose that I haven't seen much anti-asian prejudice either. But, I have seen some substantial, more than warranted complaints about offshorers...the people not just the practice.
On the other hand...I remain convinced that the competition component is essential. May be that the competition which favors locals generates problems as per Paris. I probably need to refine. My basic Thesis stands though.
Offshoring is economic. Most people don't really care if their job is transfered to India, China, or Ireland. As a result it's the corporate bigwigs who get the brunt of the hatred, not the folks filling the job slots.
Isegoria has a good insight regarding crime as well. Our crime statistics here are way down since the economic slump has caused a large decline in illegal immigration.
Correlation is not causation, but the link seems inescapable.
Despite what the media would like folks to believe the furor over illegal immigration is not "racial". The most ardent anti-illegal-immigration folks I know are all hispanic.
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