Racism has been a longstanding problem within the United States with roots as far back as before the country had even been formed and appears to be a mostly “American” problem. In current day, it is undeniable that racism still has a place in American society and looks to be growing, even within the immigrant community. As immigrants come to America, they seem to adopt the same racism that most people already have causing historians to believe that immigrants become racist once they arrive in order to assimilate into American culture. However, what if immigrants were already racist before arriving on our shores? With the spread of Western culture throughout the world— made possible through entertainment and social media platforms— it is quite possible that the immigrants that consume American entertainment and interact with American celebrities on social media had inadvertently adopted racist beliefs. Compounded by the lack of diversity in Eastern countries until recently, in comparison with the United States, citizens of other nations may be exposed to American racism but not the actual minorities that are being targeted. This problem could potentially be even a combination of both: immigrants were exposed to racism and were encouraged to retain those beliefs in order to assimilate. Either way, there could be numerous causes to the acceptance of racism by immigrants, aside from or including a want to assimilate.
Racism has been a longstanding problem within the United States with roots as far back as before the country had even been formed and appears to be a mostly “American” problem. In current day, it is undeniable that racism still has a place in American society and looks to be growing, even within the immigrant community. As immigrants come to America, they seem to adopt the same racism that most people already have causing historians to believe that immigrants become racist once they arrive in order to assimilate into American culture. However, what if immigrants were already racist before arriving on our shores? With the spread of Western culture throughout the world— made possible through entertainment and social media platforms— it is quite possible that the immigrants that consume American entertainment and interact with American celebrities on social media had inadvertently adopted racist beliefs. Compounded by the lack of diversity in Eastern countries until recently, in comparison with the United States, citizens of other nations may be exposed to American racism but not the actual minorities that are being targeted. This problem could potentially be even a combination of both: immigrants were exposed to racism and were encouraged to retain those beliefs in order to assimilate. Either way, there could be numerous causes to the acceptance of racism by immigrants, aside from or including a want to assimilate.