Grasscutter wrote:There's one explanation for why people in the U.S. are freaking out over the image but nobody is in Holland -- Discrimination against Blacks still happens in the U.S. to this day.
It's the same thing in Europe, although in varying degrees in different countries. Racial discrimination and social inequality between ethnic groups is a very often recurring news topic here. Steady flow of immigration for the past fifty years has made the countries of the old continent very heterogeneous places and and many large cities can easily have higher percentages of people with African ethnicity than some in USA. For example, half of the population in Amsterdam is of non-Dutch origin and a good deal of them are muslims.
The reasons what caused the French riots are not confined in France alone. They are merely an extreme example of what has happened in all of Europe. If anything, my guess is that Europeans (yes, I know it's unfair to label 450 million people like this) discrimate blacks and other non-westeners far more than USA does.
In many cases "we" continue to treat the immigrants and their children, who have lived their entire lives in their new homeland, as outsiders. Due to its historical roots as the land of immigrants, the American society should stand a better change at assimilating them. If I remember correctly, muslims in USA have higher education and better income than the national average.
Whether the immigrants or our societies are to blame - I feel it's both - the truth is there already are suburbs where some 1-10% of the residents are of local ethnicity. The remaining 90% have no homeland of their own or good future prospects. They end up in these concrete ghettos, go down the criminal path and end up joining extremist religious organizations, becoming home-grown terrorists. American blacks have done a good job at making themselves heard, blaming the slavery and whatever-whites-have-done for their misery, but they have nothing to complain compared to some of our immigrant societies. The impression what I've got is that it's far easier for blacks to climb the social ladder in USA, provided you're not a dumbass yourself, than it is for them.
I think the main reason why this ad has raised such an uproar in US, but not Europe, is political correctness that is IMHO a bit of a problem in the American media and among the Christians, whose feelings toward religion are generally much stronger than in Europe.
When you can't show naked human body, sexual intercourse or use curse words on the national television outside cable channels (but violence is ok, as long as there isn't blood spattered around), there's something weird.
I would call the ad outright racist, unless there was that other version with black-white catfight taking place. As it is, I think the only charge you can file against Sony's marketing department is "lack of tactful approach".
PS
Should this thread be in N&P rather than AMP?
