In recent years, racism in the United States and Europe has been a hot topic in the press. In the United States, President Donald Trump's anti-immigration measures include the refugee application system for immigrants.tighteningand victims of crimes committed by immigrants.Set up a hotlineThe topic of increased restrictions on immigrants as "enemies," such as Discrimination against blacks has also been a hot topic: in February 2019, the music video (MV) for Childish Gambino's song "This Is America," which has attracted attention for its many scenes reminiscent of assaults and other racist incidents against blacks in the United States, won the Best Music Video Grammy Award in the category.winning (a prize)The fact that the United States has become the world's largest immigrant market in recent years is also a testament to this. In Europe, clashes caused by the increase in the number of immigrants and refugees have become a problem, and the popularity of right-wing parties in many countries hasriseand increasing populist tendencies.

Such incidents and policies have been widely reported, but is this really a comprehensive and objective reflection of the current state of racism in the world by the media? We would like to take a closer look at the issue of racism in the world and the coverage of racism in Japan.

People with Nazi flags in the United States (Photo: Moses Apostaticus [CC BY 2.0])

Overall picture of racism and xenophobia in the world

What exactly is racial discrimination? The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial DiscriminationDefinition.According to the "National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)," "racial discrimination" means "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent or ethnic or tribal origin, which has the purpose or effect of preventing or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal footing in political, economic, social, cultural or any other sphere of public life. (2) "has the purpose or effect of preventing or impairing the enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal footing in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other sphere of public life". In other words, racial discrimination is not univocal; there are many different backgrounds that are subject to discrimination, such as skin color, ethnicity, class, nationality, etc., and any difference can be a factor in discrimination.

Recent media reports may give many people the impression that racism is on the rise. In fact, experts and UN officials have also noted that exclusivism is "all over the world."It's getting stronger.There are those who say that it is. But can it be said that exclusivism is actually growing "in the world"?

It takes place all over the world.surveyand others indicate that racism is on the rise in Europe, except in the North, but not necessarily on the rise worldwide, and in many areas where it is decreasing. However, it is also true that there is insufficient data to provide a comprehensive view of the world.

In addition, racism is more prevalent in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, rather than in the West, where it is the focus of much attention.dataalso exist. For example, in South Asia,Approx. 260 millionare affected by discrimination based on caste, and there are many areas where discrimination is more severe than in the West.

This image of racism and the reality ofgapWhy is it that the "Mere Old Man" is born? Is there a problem with the news reports that shape our image? To find out, let's take a closer look at what kind of racism is reported in Japan, based on actual data.

Racism in the Press

We analyzed (*1) the Asahi Shimbun's coverage of "racism" over a 20-year period (1999-2018). As can be seen from the graph below, as well as the image of growing racism, the amount of coverage of racism surged around 2015, when the increase of immigrants and refugees in Europe, the rise of Trump, and the rightward shift in European politics occurred.

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We also categorized the amount of coverage of this racism by country. As can be seen from the graph below, only the amount of coverage is extremely high in the West, particularly in the United States. Despite the fact that there are many other areas of the world besides the U.S. that should be reported on, about half of the racism coverage is concentrated in only one country. After the U.S., France was the next most common country, accounting for about 10% of all news coverage. Coverage of right-leaning politics within France and its immigration policies were very prominent. Other European countries also appeared prominently in the top 10, with about a quarter of the overall coverage coming from Europe. South Africa also made the third highest number of appearances, with many feature articles on its history, including its apartheid policies, and on the World Conference Against Discrimination held in South Africa.

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Thus, the bias is so apparent that Western countries account for more than 75% of the countries that appear in the racism coverage. So what types of racism are reported in racism-related news coverage? The graph below shows the content of racism coverage, categorized by victim subject.

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As can be seen from the graph, throughout the entire report, blacks (*2) were the most frequently mentioned victims of racism in 120 articles (about 35%). Of those reports on discrimination against blacks, the U.S. appeared in 82 (about 68%) of the articles, showing a large bias. In addition, in recent years, with the arrival of President Trump and the rightward shift in European politics, 54 articles (about 16%) were written about immigrants as victims of discrimination. Of those 54 reports on discrimination against immigrants, a whopping 51 (about 94%) were from the U.S. and Europe.

In terms of religious discrimination, Muslims were the most frequently mentioned victims of discrimination in 30 of the 51 articles (about 59%), nine of which were in the United States. Also, of the entire world's population0.2Fewer than 20 articles (about 6%) featured Jews as victims, which was a large amount of coverage for the population. 

As described above, racism reports in Japan are mainly Western-centered, with the spotlight on discrimination against people with different identities such as "race," "nationality," and "religion. In other words, it is extremely likely that our image of racism in the world is created by Western-centered international news coverage. Behind this reporting bias is the fact that, as a strongly developed country with close ties to Japan, we usually take up a large part of Western reporting.Japanese MediaThere are influenced by the American media.trendtoo, and even poorer countries.ignoreThe current state of the Japanese media can also be mentioned.

Migrant workers and their families returning to Sudan after fleeing the conflict in Libya (Photo: UNAMID) [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]. )

Unreported Racism

What kind of racial discrimination goes unreported in Japan? We would like to take a closer look at an example of an area where discrimination is widespread but rarely reported.

South Asia

South Asia has long been home tocaste systemA social and economic way of governing exists based on the rules and customs of the The caste system divides people into four classes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, and is based on the discrimination that not only social status but also occupation and marriage partners should be determined by class.Rooted.In addition to the four classes, there are also the "Dalit," the lowest class of people, who are called "untouchables," and are forced to perform menial tasks such as disposing of corpses,atrocityThe company is subject to the

Currently, the South AsianApprox. 260 millionare reportedly affected by caste-based discrimination, which violates civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. These discriminations are also against Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and Sikhs.It's spreading.The Despite this situation,Previous GNV articlesAs we have shown in the following section, there is a paucity of coverage that focuses on these current situations. In the data collected for this study, South Asia was featured in four of the 347 articles on racism, three of which were related to politics in other countries, and none of the articles covered caste issues or religious discrimination within each country.

Dalit women asserting their rights (Photo: UN Women Asia and the Pacific's shotostream) [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]. )

Middle East and North Africa

According to the data collected in this study, the Middle East and North Africa are347Twenty-five of the articles discussed discrimination against Arabs or Jews, mostly in relation to Israel-Palestine. However, in addition to Israeli discrimination against Arabs and Palestinians, there are many other discrimination-related issues in the region. In particular, discrimination and abuse of migrant workers and refugees who come to the Middle East as construction workers or domestic servants is particularly serious.migrant workerare reported to be paid extremely low wages and forced to work like slaves, which they have not consented to at all. Also, during the construction of the 2022 Qatar World Cup,More than 4,000Some predict that low-wage workers will die in the

Also,Saudi ArabiaIn the following section, discrimination and oppression against non-Sunni Muslim believers is very strong. Blasphemy and conversion to non-Islamic religions aredeath penaltyThe legal system is designed to punish the following.

Much racism remains in North Africa. In Egypt, discrimination against ethnic minorities such as Nubians, migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa, and refugees is severe, and the darker the skin, the more severe the discrimination.It's been said.The following is a list of the most common problems with the

In Libya, the slave trade is once again being conducted due to increased migration, with 150,000 people attempting to cross from Libya to the Mediterranean in the three years from 2014-2016 without risk, and Libya has become a transit point for migrants and refugees, many of whom have been interdicted and detained there, but who are "slave marketThey may be bought and sold at auction as slaves and forced to work in the "Mere Old Man".

Thus, despite the existence of tragic racism in Middle Eastern and North African countries, the Middle Eastern and North African25None of the articles on racism in the case mentioned these circumstances.

Migrant workers at a construction site in Dubai (Photo: Imre Solt) [CC BY-SA 3.0].)

Central and South America

Latin America has a history of people being brought here as slaves in the past, and there are many descendants of African descent living in the region. Even in Latin America, where such blacks comprise a large percentage of the population, racial discrimination remains a problem. In Brazil, based on the perception of national self-identity, the population50.7% (50.7%)are black or mixed-race people including blacks, but have higher levels of education and wages than whites.Low trendThere is adiscrimination on the basis of raceIt is clear that the

Even in Colombia, people of African descent are among the poorest compared to other racial groups.manyIn addition, many people of African descent have been subjected to degrading treatment, including forced evictions during conflicts. In Guatemala and Bolivia, people of African descent and indigenous peoples are also reportedly discriminated against in comparison to Caucasians in terms of economy, education, and employment. This phenomenon seen in Latin America is calledPigmentocracySome researchers call it a "change in social status based on skin color," referring to a change in social status based on skin color.

In response to these discriminations, policies to improve living standards and legislation to eliminate racial discrimination have been implemented in various countries, but discrimination against people of African descent in Latin America in economic, educational, and other areas still remains, and it may be said that the problem of racial discrimination is more serious than in the United States. However, while discrimination against blacks in the U.S. was mentioned in 82 out of 120 articles (about 68%) of all reports of discrimination against blacks, discrimination against blacks in Latin America was mentioned in only one article.

Boys in a poor Brazilian neighborhood (Photo: Zé Carlos Barretta) [CC BY 2.0]. )

As described above, there still remain many racism issues in the world today that are not reported in Japan. Despite this situation, due to the bias of the Japanese press, the image of racism in the "world" has been formed by the image of racism reported in the "West," and we are only able to learn about racism issues mainly in the West. In regions that are not reported, discrimination awareness is even stronger than in the West, and tragic events are taking place there. Clearly, a gap exists between the information we usually see and the reality, but is this situation going to remain unchanged? In order to eradicate racism, we need to start by reporting objectively and comprehensively on the current state of racism in the world and by turning our attention to the problem.

1: Calculated from the results of a search in "Monzo II Visual" using the search word "racism," the paper: international page, the publisher for [this paper] and [regional page] was selected as [Tokyo], and the period: 1999-2018.

2: The terms used to describe race in this article are from references in the Asahi Shimbun article.

Writer: Yutaro Yamazaki

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