U.S. President Donald Trump prohibited the entrance of Muslims to prevent terrorism. His scheme regards particular races as terrorists, which is definitely racit. Such discrimination has always existed within society. What sorts of racism are occurring in the world? The Argus explored racism in a variety of countries.

“They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” The United States President Donald J. Trump declared that rapists and criminals are flowing from Mexico to America and proposed the building of a wall on its border. He also pushed forward with prohibiting the entrance of Muslims into America in the name of preventing terrorism, putting Islamic people and terrorists in the same category. With this racism issue rising, what kind of racism are the multiracial nations facing and how are they striving to solve it? The Argus interviewed four foreign students interested in racism each from a different country.

The Argus:  Please briefly introduce yourself.
Natasha: I am Natasha Andrieska from Macedonia. I am an exchange student at HUFS now.
Angela: Hello, my name is Angela Meyer from the United States.
Juan: My name is Juan Miguel Rodriguez Salomon. I am from Mexico.
Kana: I am Sim Kana, a Korean-Japanese living in Osaka, Japan. I was an exchange student at HUFS before.
 
The Argus: How diverse is your nation?
Natasha: Most of the people living in Macedonia are Macedonians, but there are also Albanians, Turks, Greeks, Gypsies (a.k.a. Romans) and so on. Albanians were first a minority, but they increased in number and sought their own rights in our country by making the Albanian language a second language in our country.
Angela: Most people in the United States are mixed race. I would say about 50 percent are Caucasian, 20 percent African-American, 20 percent Hispanic and the last 10 other races such as Asian.
Juan: Mexico is a multicultural nation consisting of Spanish people and natives, and so on. You can also find Latin Americans, Europeans and Asians. The majority have light brown skin from the Spanish pedigree, and the minority have dark brown skin from the indigenous pedigree.
Kana: In Japan, the majority of people are Japanese with some natives and foreigners. What I mean by natives is the aboriginal people such as Ryukyuan people and Ainu people each living in Okinawa and Hokkaido, both annexed into the nation of Japan. Officially, the natives are Japanese, but they are still discriminated against. As for the foreigners, there are lots of long-term Korean residents called Zainichi whose origin lies in Koreans taken during Japanese colonial rule. Almost one million Zainichi live in Japan, yet they receive the harshest discrimination.
 
The Argus: What kind of racial discrimination is there in your nation?
Natasha: In our country, there is great racial discrimination towards Albanians in Macedonia. Macedonians and Albanians go to the same schools, so the teenagers from both countries often take sides by race and fight each other. Teenagers from both sides scribble graffiti on the walls to express their hate. As for Romans, most of them are poor and homeless and give people the impression of being ‘dirty people.’ So, it is not like they receive a lot of hatred, but most people just look down on them and badmouth them.
Angela: People of all races experience racial discrimination in their everyday lives in different ways. In most cases, white people are regarded as a superior race and the other races are less valued. For instance, Caucasian police officers are more likely to shoot, arrest or pull over African-Americans.
Juan: After the Spanish invaded Mexico, Mexico no longer stayed a single race due to an influx of the Spanish. And the discrimination towards the native Mexicans by the Spanish began. The natives were treated the worst and were robbed of all natural resources. Now, in big Mexican cities, there are a variety of races with different skin colors, so racial discrimination is not that common. However, small cities have lots of light brown colored people with little diversity, so people there tend to be conservative in cultural thoughts and acts. They insult the darker-colored, indigenous people.
Kana: There is a lot of discrimination towards people from pre-poor village and Zainichi. There once were villages consisting of the lowest farmers in Japan. Now, the status system is long gone and the people there are no longer economically inferior, but they are still suffering from discrimination. Simply living in that area incurs racism.
As for the Zainichi, the government is taking the lead on racism itself. The Japanese government wants to erase the history of the Japanese colonial era and is discriminating against its victims, the Zainichi. The most representative example is the free education of high schools. When Japanese high schools began to provide free education, the Japanese government gave subsidies to all the foreign schools in Japan too, except for Korean schools where the Zainichi went. There was a four-year-long trial about this, but recently, the verdict stood on the government’s side. Furthermore, there is a racist organization called ‘Zaitokukai’ (Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi). This organization uses hate speech towards Zainichi in front of Korean schools and protests in front of the Korean embassy every Sunday.

 
The Argus:  Is race an influential element in getting a job?
Natasha: Most Macedonian companies are either Albanian-dominant companies or Macedonian-dominant companies. People seek companies or employers with the same ethnicity when getting a job. Albanians find Albanian companies and Macedonians find Macedonian companies. The employers have a tendency to hire people of the same race. There are exceptions as well.
Angela: Historically, people that appear to have whiter looking skin had more success and money in America. That is because African-Americans were slaves forbidden from receiving education. Even if you knew nothing about people’s background, if they were African-American, there was prejudice that they were not educated. This kind of perception created stereotypes, one of them being that Caucasians are smarter and better educated than other races. This thought on race was passed down from generation to generation, corrupting people’s minds. Many people deny racism in the job force, but it is difficult for African-Americans to get out of this stereotype. Caucasians are regarded as superior and smarter and have a better chance at being hired.
Juan: Skin color and blood can influence jobs.  People with the dark skin and the native blood are considered inferior and usually get unpopular jobs.
Kana: People from the pre-poor villages and Zainichi are discriminated against in getting jobs, too. I heard there are companies that deny interviews with someone who submits a resume with an ethnic name, not a Japanese name.

 
The Argus:  What measures does your nation take against racism?
Natasha: The government does not really do anything. All they do is to put other races, such as Albanians, in high-ranking posts. However, there is huge dissatisfaction and complaints from the Macedonians. Racism is not being solved at all. The police are not notified of these discriminatory issues either.
Angela: You cannot deny someone service at a restaurant based on their skin color. That is against the law. However, the servers can still be racist to customers and not receive a legal punishment as long as they are providing service. There is no real sort of punishment if someone makes racist comments because we have the freedom of speech by law. There is a law against racist organizations, but committees such as the Ku Klux Klan still exist due to the freedom of speech. There are a few organizations against racism, but they are all minor and insignificant.
Kana: It is troublesome that the Japanese government is doing nothing about racism. The governmental administration is continually discriminative and brings up freedom of speech when making racist comments. The people suffering from discrimination have to fight for their rights by themselves. For instance, America set up a military base in Okinawa. The American soldiers conducted war practices and committed violent crimes, which often injured the Ryukyuan people there. The army base still exists and the accidents and the crimes continue, yet the Japanese government ignores that and even refuses to investigate. The Ryukyuan minority has long been discriminated against by the government who is, even now, not taking responsibility for the Ryukyuan. Therefore, the natives are alone in fighting against discrimination. Some Japanese citizens with high awareness are carrying out countrywide movements and creating organizations against racism. However, most citizens are not interested and the organizations are too small to be influential.

 
The Argus:  Have you experienced racial discrimination in Korea?
Natasha: Generally, Koreans are friendly to foreigners. Though, there was this time when I went to a hip-hop club with my friends. They first said the entrance fee was free. Then they told us that it was not free for us because we were foreigners.
Angela: I feel more racism in Korea than America. The old ladies seem to give me these mean stares, so it feels weird. Also, from the way Korean guys treat me and look at me, they seem to think foreign girls are “easy.”
Kana: When I was here as an exchange student, a HUFSan teased me about my clumsy accent. The guy probably thought it was not a big deal. Still, I do not think it was nice to be teased.
In addition, the Korean government has never really helped Zainichi regarding racism. The Korean government implemented policies that did not take responsibility for their compatriots taken to Japan. President Rhee Syngman, Park Chung-hee, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye did not inform Koreans that Zainichi were being discriminated against in Japan.

 
The Argus:  How shall we solve racial discrimination?
Natasha: Discrimination will always exist; it is impossible to exterminate it. Still, we can attempt to reduce it through the education of youngsters. The education the youngsters receive is important. If parents or teachers do not teach them well and give them the wrong ideas, it will be difficult to change their opinions even if they attend campaigns later. However, if the kids learn to avoid racism from the start, racial discrimination will decrease in the future.
Angela: In order to solve racism, people should experience foreign culture. It would be nice to create open minds for everyone. Also, young children should be taught that everyone is equal. If a person treats another person differently because of their skin color, they should be punished or counseled.
Juan: In the Mexican Constitution, Articles 4 and 19 ensure the rights of the indigenous people, but it is all talk and no action. In order to eradicate racial discrimination, people should conduct campaigns against racism.
Kana: Racism is not being punished because people are rationalizing it. It is a problem that those interested in racism issues must solve by communicating the right viewpoints to oblivious people. 

Reporter of National Section