Originally Posted by greenery
After losing my job, I decided to go on a "one in a life-time" round the world trip with my wife. We spent many hours talking to people (and visiting travel message boards) to help us decide where to visit. Many factors were considered in the determination on where to go.
Though I have to admit that RACISM has had a serious impact on deciding which countries we would visit. Spending the last 15 years living in the Washington DC area has exposed me to people from all over the world. Positive and negative stereotypes were developed through the years. Both my wife and I have strong positive and negative opinions about the culture, lifestyle, behavior and appearance of people from countries outside the USA. These "impressions" really impacted our decision making in our trip planning. The "people of the country" was determined to be more important than tourist infrastructure, costs, flight routes, and attractions of a specific nation.
Have you decided to visit (or not visit) a country because of personal racism?
You will find racists everywhere in the world (incl. USA) if you act like one.
One of the strongest criticism of americans (in various parts of the world) has been their arrogance, which it is presumed because of their dollars. If you could understand what the locals say in their language to each other, you will realize this.