“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it’s faced.—James Baldwin, American writer and civil rights activist
Western nations have long prided themselves on being a “melting pot” of society, assimilating various cultures into a cohesive whole that works to ensure equal opportunities for all. A hard-fought fight, equality for all was achieved by ending segregation and altering social norms, making it acceptable for various ethnicities and races to intermix without fear of persecution. However, recent years have seen a backslide, with states known as “champions” of civil rights increasingly witnessing unrest calling for the ouster of immigrants, a rise in hate crimes, and policy rollbacks, showing the decaying structure that still exists underneath.
According to the FBI, the U.S. saw an 11.6% increase of racial and ethnic hate crimes in 2022, with black individuals accounting for over 30% of incidents based on race. It said hate crimes targeting Asians rose by 33%, partly fueled by anger over the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased by 20% and anti-Semitic acts by 25%, making up 63% of all religiously motivated hate within the country. A 2023 study by the Center for American Progress found 45% of black Americans and 30% of Hispanic Americans reported discrimination when applying for jobs or promotions.
Similar trends can be observed in neighboring Canada, where a report found a 47% boost to hate crimes targeting Asians; 28% black individuals; 71% Muslims; and 18% Jews. At the same time, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reported that 1 in 3 people of African descent had experienced some form of racial discrimination within the last 5 years, while 80% of Roma communities continued to live below the poverty line, with limited access to education and employment. Within Europe, France has seen Muslim women facing a disproportionate number of Islamophobic crimes, while two-fifths of German immigrants reported trouble accessing higher education.
A key reason for the rise in such crimes is political trends, with populist leaders often attributing economic failures to minority communities and painting rosy pictures of prosperity sans fresh immigrants. From Donald Trump in the U.S. to the National Rally in France, the AfD in Germany and the Freedom Party in Austria, rightwing leaders have seized on the disenfranchisement of communities by giving them a mutual enemy—the immigrant. To achieve this, politicians point to outliers such as Asian Americans tending to be richer than their white counterparts, ignoring the data showing a large majority of minorities in Western states actually earn far less.
Various surveys have found that black households generate just 61% and Hispanic Americans just 74% of a white family’s income. The U.K., similarly, has black workers earning almost 10% less per hour than their white counterparts. This is reflected in policymaking, with minority communities often receiving less funding for development projects, hampering them from accessing adequate healthcare and education.
Popular media plays its own unfortunate role in triggering prejudice, with minorities only recently getting their due as protagonists rather than antagonists shrouded in stereotypes. For decades, the film and TV industry portrayed non-white characters unfavorably, and news reportage routinely downplays crimes committed by white individuals while disproportionately highlighting crimes committed by persons of color. While much has been done to correct this on screen in media, representation behind the scenes continues to lag. In the U.K., South Asians account for just 2.4% of off-screen roles, compared to making up over 4.9% of the national population.
The systemic shortcomings have given rise to various civil rights movements, such as Black Lives Matter in 2020 and Stop Asian Hate in 2021, not to mention various indigenous rights movements. For anti-minority voices, however, these movements only fuel further hatred, as they blame any unrest on entire communities rather than misguided individuals.
“The rise in discrimination and hate crimes is a clear indication that minority rights are under threat,” warns sociologist Jane Smith, who specializes in race relations. “It is imperative that we address these issues through policy reforms and societal change. It is imperative that the West acknowledges such symptoms as the result of a greater illness. Solving these issues will need thorough action on both a systemic and societal level, otherwise; all the progress we made in breaking down barriers of discrimination may just wither away before our very eyes.”