I’m not sure how that is a response to the point I was making, which is that the citizens of a country are entitled to determine that country’s policies re: citizenship.
Absent the active or passive opposition of a majority of Americans to legal segregation, it would still be with us.
at the time legal segregation was struck down in schools a majority of americans supported it. what it requires to make a change is a large enough and dedicated enough minority or a wealthy enough minority. i don’t speak for mindysan but i expect the post you are replying to here was intended to get you to understand that distinction.
The sport and shops are just the excuse. The Swiss have a long history of refusing citizenship on the basis of skin tone.
Certainly. By posting recent Swiss political posters highlighting the racist undercurrent of Swiss society, I have clearly proven your point that my view of Switzerland being a nation with serious racial issues, a view shared by many people around the world, is uninformed. Thank you for not providing any counter argument or explanation as to why political parties are using racism as a way to gain votes in Switzerland. It’s much better to simply say “Nuh uh” and dismiss things that don’t fit your narrative than it is to actually address them. I bow to the intellect and lucidity of the superior race. I am defeated.
Not directly. But what point are you making?
Should laws be allowed that trample on the rights and safety of others?
Was it? It certainly wasn’t in the south.
To a fairly large extent this happened in Sweden too. It’s less of a problem in Norway which is stricter on where refugees can live while still being totally reliant on state funds.
I read this sentence as: segregation was supported by the majority of the public rather than the striking it down being supported.
Oh, my bad. I misread! Sorry @navarro! Thanks for the correction!
Hmmm. I’ve not read through all the comments, and I rarely comment here at all so I apologize if I’m repeating what has already been said.
As a foreigner living in Switzerland for half of my life, I kind of feel the need to point out that there doesn’t seem to be just ONE Swiss citizenship process, just as in my opinion there is not just one Switzerland. The place is absurdly complicated for such a small country. Here is my experience so far: I’ve been living in the French part of Switzerland for the last 16 years, and although I have had several instances of stupidity and/or xenophobia directed towards me, as a general rule things have been fairly civilized (disclaimer: I’m as lily-white as it gets, speak good French and have university education so I can not attest to a universal foreigner experience; I’m sure people of color or those working low wage jobs don’t have it quite as easy as I dit). I was able to obtain permanent resident status after 5 years, without any “Where do you shop” and “How fit are you” questions whatsoever. This status entitles me to pretty much the same rights as an actual citizen, apart from the ability to vote at the national level. I can, however, vote at up the cantonal level, and I could also be political candidate and be elected at a regional level if I were so inclined.
I’m currently in the very early stages of obtaining citizenship, and have talked about it with friends who have gone through the process, and others who have been on the other side, i.e. the jury. The ONLY thing that everyone agrees on is that the process is fairly long, and the types of questions you get vary wildly from one city and canton to another. However, I have been warned several times that if I do want the citizenship without too much trouble, I’d do best to stay where I am and not attempt to obtain it in one of the, ahem, moutainy-er cantons.
Also, while I was living in a small village and working a student job as a server at the local pub, I was uniformly well accepted by my neighbors. When I moved to the (very small) town 10 minutes away, I was immediatly labeled as an “other” and get looks of distrust whenever I go back. So there is definitely a strong us vs them mentality as a general rule.
In summary: yes, Switzerland can be racist, especially in small villages or agriculture-based cantons. But also, no, Switzerland is not uniformly unpleasant towards its foreigners. The big problem, in my opinion, is the casual, passive and subconscious racism of some people who have led a fairly privileged life here and are not entirely conscious of the contributions foreigners can make, or of the struggle that most of the rest of the world has to go through to live a decent life. I hope that changes, but I’m not optimistic since nationalism seems to be on the rise everywhere right now.
mayhappen i could have phrased that better. i intended the implication that a majority of u.s. citizens favored segregation at the time of brown s. board of education…
Ironically, segregation is worse currently in some states in the North. Not from a law, but just how the socio-economic borders also line up with race. And because many northern states didn’t have actual segregation LAWS, they was no forced integration.
This is pretty much what i was hoping to get some background info and context on. Thank you for taking the time to share.
The Swiss are able to pretend their national narrative of hard working self sufficiency because they were allowed to cherry pick many of the EUs advantages without participating in most of the obligations. What they tend to forget is that their success is dependent on the continued cooperation with their neighboring countries.
There is a certain similarity in the “We’re better than the rabble” attitude expressed by many Brits and Swiss. Both tend to think they’re an self sufficient island that can do without the others.
The Brexit and the Swiss immigration referendum certainly opened a few eyes in Brussels in this regard and the table was turned around in the recent EU-Switzerland negotiation - Switzerland had to cave in.
Thank you for your post. Very much everything what you wrote is identical with my observations (but I haven’t been to Switzerland for such a long time).And hell, yes, the Swiss model of direct democracy is making this country bewildering complicated. It has its merits, but it also has some very weird side effects.
Oh, and creates a feeling of identity which easily transforms into blatant intolerance, and racism.
De facto, they are allowed. See “Korea, North”.
You (or me or anyone else) has a perfect right to explain to the Swiss exactly how their national ethic on citizenship and immigration fails to measure up to our standards.
And they of course have a perfect right to respond by telling us to bugger off.
iirc, dr. king almost had his ass handed to him when he took the movement to chicago. having traveled around the country i’ve found racist attitudes almost everywhere. it’s disappointing, to say the least.
Just google Appenzell if you have the slightest doubt about the correctness of that post.
