Summary

The website content reflects the author's personal reflections on their experiences and observations regarding race and ethnicity in Serbia, detailing interactions with Romani people, Chinese immigrants, and individuals from African countries.

Abstract

The author, from Serbia, confesses a previous lack of awareness about racism, acknowledging a limited exposure to diverse populations in their country. They describe the harmonious coexistence with Romani people and the welcoming attitude towards the recently arrived Chinese community, referred to affectionately by the president. The author notes a general acceptance and appreciation for the Chinese immigrants' hardworking and peaceful nature. In contrast, the encounter with refugees from African countries and the Middle East is seen as a sad reality of people fleeing from war and persecution, often misunderstood and misrepresented by local media. The presence of Black individuals in Serbia is perceived as a positive and exciting novelty, symbolizing progress and a connection to Western pop culture icons. The author emphasizes the importance of maintaining humanity and empathy in the face of societal challenges, advocating for mutual respect and understanding among all people.

Opinions

The author views the Romani people as an integral part of Serbian society, contributing to the cultural fabric with their vibrant presence.
The Chinese community in Serbia is portrayed as diligent, quick to integrate, and positively impacting the local society, which has been reciprocated with acceptance and good relations.
There is a sense of sympathy and recognition of the struggles faced by refugees and asylum seekers from African countries and the Middle East, who are often mislabeled by the media.
Black individuals are seen with great fascination and are associated with positive change and cultural enrichment, embodying a connection to Western idols and ideals.
The author believes that the essence of humanity lies in the ability to remain compassionate and accepting of others, regardless of their background or skin color.

I Don’t Know What Racism Is…

We are all human and let’s do our best to stay that way!

Honestly, in my 37 years, I can say today that I am a rather uninformed person, because I had no idea how many people write about racism and how much of an obstacle it still creates in relations between people.

In short, I was born and raised in Serbia, in the Balkan, and the truth is that there are not many people with colored skin in our country. Most people who have darker skin and live with us are Romani ( Gypsies). There are a lot of them, I admit, but they are a cheerful people and somehow with their colorfulness and music they brighten up the grayness of wars, from which we recover every 20 years :)

Basically, we are used to them and we live great with them.

New, in our country, in the last 20 years, are the Chinese brothers. I say brothers, because our president calls them like that, whenever he mentions them publicly. We have very good state relations. They don’t bother anyone and learn Balkan languages quickly (certainly faster than they would teach me their language :)) At first, we were a little sceptical when they started appearing in smaller towns, provinces because the people who live in those places didn’t have a chance to meet people of different skin color.

I still remember an anecdote that has been circulating on the Internet for a long time, where an old man did not know that China existed, he heard about Japan somewhere and was convinced that they came from Japan :)

An ignorant man, he should not be blamed :)

Basically, the general conclusion - Smart, pleasant, hardworking and peaceful people!

And yes, they will call you on the street, wish you a good day and nodded they heads in greeting, than most of our compatriots.

And the third encounter, the sad encounter, we had and still have, with people from African countries. Most come from Syria, and the rest from Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Iraq, Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa ...

These are people who had to flee their homeland because they were persecuted there because of their religion, race, political affiliation or affiliation to a particular social group. They come from countries where a bloody civil war is raging (Syria), because of chaos and shootings in the streets (Somalia), because of violent regimes (Eritrea) ...

In the media, they are called asylum seekers, refugees, migrants ... they often confuse these terms, without informing themselves before what each term means separately (but that is the sad and shameful side of the media in our country. A long story. Not worth mentioning.)

Mostly for me, these are sad people, from war-torn countries, who are fighting for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. They do not cause problems, but they do not stay with us because we do not belong to some promising countries for life, so they are in transit.

And people with the darkest skin color ... as many say “Black people”, they are a rarity!

And it is a real joy to meet them!

I was born in the countryside and when I went to study, in the capital, I had the opportunity to meet them for the first time. I can’t describe to you how much joy they cause in our people! You wouldn’t believe it!

We look at it all differently, they give us hope that we are a little closer to America and everything new and urban. Closer to Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan ... We only watched them on TV, and the fact that some Black people live in our country is just a sign that better times are approaching.

It doesn’t matter where they came from, it is important that they are there and that they come to us as much as possible. All of them are people worthy of respect, students, basketball players, football players ... We look at them all with admiration and everyone would like to be a part of their society. I know children in kindergartens who argue about who will be their better friend

So, yes, I will not write on this topic anymore, I had the need to tell this because I read about it a lot here and it makes me very sad…

It would be better to deal with ourselves and try to stay human.

Because today has come such a time that the hardest of all, it seems, to remain what is in our nature, to be a human!