Have you ever been discriminated against in your travels because of your race, religion or nationality? If so, where? What happened in your situation and what makes you sure you were being discriminated against?

I was just talking to some black Canadians who told me they found Spain to be a very racist country, but France just liberal and open to them, interestingly I would have thought they'd find the opposite to be true.

[This message has been edited by bluewatersail (edited Mar 05, 2004).]

[This message has been edited by bluewatersail (edited Mar 05, 2004).]

Yes. (Nationality)

USSR.

I was restricted as to where I could go. And, while I am not *sure* I was discriminated against, the people following me everywhere in their little teeney cars was a dead giveaway...and this while accompanied by a field grade Soviet officer. Go figure.

(BTW, this was pre-1989, while there still was a USSR)

Oh yes, and how! In Switzerland. Because of a family name having the "wrong" ending. Every single day with a stubborness that could make one sick.

When I've been in Argentina in July I've seen quite a few clerks becoming friendlier when they noticed I was Canadian. They all were surprised I wasn't American.

1. In Mexico. When the Mexicans found out I was from Europe and could speak some Spanish, they were so much friendlier.

2. In most of Asia. When we travelled as poor backpackers many moons ago, we could enter 5 star hotels, go to the bathroom, and freshen up without any problems. We were let in just because we were white. Poor locals were stopped by security.

3. In Yemen. I definitely got the feeling that most Yemenis hate *all* Westerners. Perhaps it didn't help that we were visiting just after the first Gulf War.

They like Moroccans... far enough West?

That said, I think you are pretty much correct.

Belgium: racist (from immigration to hotel security) and somewhat hostile.

India: very racist -- in ways you would not imagine -- place historically although not hostile.

Sweden: racist although not hostile.

Brazil: racist although not hostile.

Russia: racist and hostile.

Kuwait: racist.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I find Argentina to be amongst the least racist places around along with the UAE. In the US, racism is very much on the decline, although there are significant pockets of it here and there.

I worked in Jamaica as a consultant for the World Health Organization, and as such had diplomatic immunity. I ran into a fair amount of discrimination, but I was not sure if it was

Anti-American -- it seemed that Jamaican dislike America, but love American culture (music, film, etc)
Anti-white
Anti- diplomat

The first time I went to the Maryland
eastern shore I was prevented from using
the bathroom in the local department store
(a Sears or Ward's in Crisfield) because it
was supposed to be for whites only. It is not
that long ago where racialism was the rule of
the day here in lots of places in the US.

It is said that I broke the color bar in my
high school ... but it isn't true; there had
been a part-Asian student who graduated a
couple years before I arrived there.

Currently? Austria is the worst. Great Britain
a close second: my friend D. and I took
her (half-white) daughter to lunch at the sitdown
restaurant at the National Gallery in London,
where the waitress told me that she didn't
want to serve us, and we should go back where
we came from. Then, when the bill came, she
added an arbitrary tip, which I asked to have
taken off, owing to her attitude; she refused
- I asked for the manager, and she said he
was out. So I said, okay, we'll sit until he
arrives, which he did half an hour later.

He offered to give us the meal free. I said,
no, all I want is an apology from the
waitress. She was summoned. I recounted the
entire meal in detail, expecting her to say,
that's not true at all. Instead, she went on
another tirade about how coloreds shouldn't
be allowed in the country (we're both quite
Far Eastern in appearance) and refused to
apologize. He offered to sack her on the
spot! To which I said, at this point, just
take the service off the bill and we'll be
on our way. Never been there to eat again!

I had the same thing in 1985. We did manage to sneak out at night and trade some Levi's for military medals and black Russina caviar

Redbeard911's post reminds me that I should have added that the Russian people themselves were very nice and surprisingly candid to me. to them.

It was just the government "suits" who made me feel rather claustrophobic.

In Quebec, I have been ignored by waiters and generally treated with disrespect by shopclerks because I did not speak French. I have not been back since 1978.

Edited for spelling and to add that I've been made to feel uncomfortable in North Wales by folks who stop speaking english when the shops close and switch to Welsh in the pubs. But, I'd go back a hundred times before I'd step foot in Quebec again.

[This message has been edited by BamaVol (edited Mar 08, 2004).]

I sure have. But you can add another category: sex. A few too many times when I travel and go out to dinner alone, the maitre d seats me far back at a table by the kitchen. Why? Because a single woman dining alone does not look good to a few restaurants; I've been told that blatantly. Whenever this happens, I request to be reseated at another table of the same size in a better location. Then I never return to that restaurant. It's 2004----what is up with these restaurant managers?

Violist, does Austria surprise you as such? After all, today's news has the cannon-mouthed right-wing Freedom Party figure Haider winning a regional election there. He is an anti-semite, racist self-labelled lover of populist tyranny and dictators.

Your treatment in London is shocking and surprising. I do not think it the norm there and the manager's resolution to the matter is clearly indicative of such.

The Eastern Shore of Maryland and even Baltimore itself is quite famous for having a highly racist attitude historically, so your treatment there does not shock me as much.

Despite our race problems in the US, I think we are best situated to transcend bigoted stupidity in the long run. It may take generations for such discrimination to be exorcised completely but it will largely go. The Civil Rights movement has benefited from sensible leadership on the right and left (despite the political bickering) which puts more value in an American ethos of Constitutional liberalism, a melting or mixing pot, and a land of opportunity for all who accept America's proudest legacies. A fantasy-laden attachment to the nostalgic legacy beloved of racists and their ilk has little place left in modern America and it shows every day.

As a traditional Englishman, guess where I've met it:

Scotland
Ireland
Quebec
Miami

And in each case I wasn't really concerned. Things like this happen anywhere. Didn't hate the whole country as a result. Not justified at all. Usually the next person along was the opposite.

I do get a bit fed up with those who are constantly on patrol for any slight to their group. And likewise with those who feel any past history of discrimination against their predecessors entitles them to any special treatment nowadays. It doesn't.