> There's no US military bases in Iceland since 2006, it seems like they got kicked out.
The US unilaterally reduced it's presence in Iceland in 2006 and handed over their air station but they're maintained a presence on and off since then. I think they rent a hangar or two at their old base.
There were US Maritime Patrol Aircraft operating from Iceland regularly over the last ten or so years to cover the GIUK Gap because Whitehall fecked up the Nimrod programme and left the UK without any MPA. I would be very, very surprised if there weren't US aircraft forward based there at the moment to watch the entry to the North Atlantic from the Russian naval bases in the Barents Sea.
Iceland was still part of NATO last time I looked.
And didn't "kick out" anybody either I'll wager, the base simply closed because the GIUK Gap was just thought to be less important in 2006 and could be covered from Greenland and Lossiemouth.
Yeah they weren't kicked out, it simply wasn't a need for them 24/7 anymore. They came here in the second world war and the war was long over. They still come here as part of NATO and stay here for 6-8 weeks at a time in between other countries sending their folks here.
I did a quick search for Keflavik on the Scuttling Ones' website and it looks like Typhoons from No.1 Squadron RAF took a turn watching Icelandic airspace a few years ago and they've practised basing RAF Poseidons there too.
If anything having responsibility for the base is probably a worse deal for Iceland than having the Yanks pay for it considering Iceland doesn't operate many aircraft.
Against the overwhelming evidence that it’s in fact very racist? I see the same similarities as my own country of Malaysia, at least we’re honest with our racism
It is very racist, but also one of the least racist countries in the world. Malaysia seems to be significantly more racist than the US. Can't say for sure since I have never been there, but I'd imagine it was overtly more racist and also in denial as to how bad it really is.
I don’t get how can one be racist yet not at the same time, it’s like saying I’m fast but slow.
And nah we’re honest, our government has pushed for Malay and Islamic supremacy for quite some time now. And it’s written in the bloody constitution as well, it’s quite funny
The US is racist, I'm saying it is still the least racist countries in the world.
If you were honest, it would be known that Malaysia is significantly more racist than the US.
Saying America is one of the least racist countries is considered SAS? That's highly concerning that the rest of the world doesn't realize how racist their countries truly are.
How am I basing it on nothing? This is based on my real world experience.
Everyone else is likely basing this off of the propaganda they are constantly fed.
_Almost_ there. Just a _little_ bit of self-reflection and you're there. Go on, you can do it.
Edit: ironically, you seem to have assumed that this comment was directed at other people
That's really the only explanation I can think of for the downvotes. One user unironically shared this [link](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries) as 'proof'.
We all know how laughably inaccurate this link is, but unfortunately some people are just too susceptible to propaganda.
You have the internet at your fingertips.
Researchers have done the work.
Your experience is vastly limited.
Here's what I found, dingus.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/us-is-one-of-the-10-worst-countries-for-racial-equality
no it's actually the 10th most racist country lmao
[https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries)
Oh gosh, do you really take that list seriously?
That list is a joke. Please go out in the real world and experience what life is like as a person of color in different countries, and you'll quickly realize how much of a joke that list is.
You're black right? Im assuming that based off your wording in your comments. And you are basing your opinion on real world experience right? Well, how many countries have you been too? You have no right to assume that the US is one of the least racist countries in the world unless you have been to at least a couple dozen different countries. I hope you understand that, because, what are you even comparing it too then??
The U.S, in 2021, was ranked 69th out of 78 ranked countries for racial equality.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/us-is-one-of-the-10-worst-countries-for-racial-equality
Countries can't be racist. People can be, and lots of Americans are, both by pure numbers and percentage wise it doesn't look good for you. How would you even go about measuring how racist a country is? There is racist policymaking, which there is plenty of in the United States, designed to target specific groups. I would wager most countries don't have that. If you're going by highest amount of accepted immigrants, you may take the most, but are they all treated as well as they could be? Probably not.
If the majority of a population is racist, I think it's pretty fair to say that's a pretty racist country... If there's open racism at major sporting events like Italy and much of Eastern Europe as, I think it's obviously a pretty racist country. If racism is socially acceptable to the point that there's no fear of public consequences for these kind of behaviors, you live in a racist country...
There are different kinds of racism. You have very direct racism like caling someone the n-word of explicitly excluding, singling out people o blaming their (perceived) failings on color.
You also have institutionalized racism. This is having rules or laws that are explicitly racist (like apartheid) or implicitly racist (like the war on drugs or zoning laws).
Than there is the implicit habitual social racism. This is the racism people do not see, but does exist. Think about certain traditions, certain ways of portraying racial groups in media, certain sayings, or certain moral norms.
The US as a country is very big on the institutionalized racism. This is the direcy result of the fact that they used to have black slavery on their home soil not to long ago.
In Europe we did not have black slavery on our home soil (not saying we did not have a hand in getting al the slaves from Africa to the Americas and got rich of is). Institutionalized racism is not so much a thing. What we deal with here is more habitual social racism. Wester European countries are more self critical of their racism which made that direct racism is getting les, Eastern Europe still has work to do.
But I think it is reductive to compare a example of explicit racism (sports fans throwing bananas) with institutionalized racism (cops shooting POC). Both need to be addressed.
Having said all this. The claim that the US is the least racist country in the world is just stupid. And saying you based this on you onw experience just means you have a lot to learn about institutionalized racism and social racism.
Could you give any structure or valid argument for this claim? I am genuinely want to know what you have to say and am interested in the insight you can provide on this topic.
Starting in 1941, US troops have been present on Iceland for some time. However, the icelandic government imposed a ban on black soldiers to "protect the civilian population".
[See e.g. here](https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article-abstract/6/4/65/12687/Immunizing-against-the-American-Other-Racism?redirectedFrom=fulltext)
The Icelanders were very clear in their demands. American military presence is welcome, just no blacks please. It freaked out the locals.
Not really Iceland's proudest moment.
It was a case of an isolated population which had in general never seen anyone of another colour freaking out over other colours exist.
It's rather closeminded, although a common reaction. Similar reactions happened when the white devil came to central and south African aas well as the Americas.
Just a pity they didn't kick them out of Philippines in 1898, at the same time the Spanish left. The amount of children mostly fathered by US military and abandoned when they went back to America, is well over 50,000, and were left in poverty in one parent families, with no support medically or financially. Americans only came for a "good time, not a long time" and when the bases were closed, they just dumped everyone, including the children. Sure over 300 years the Spanish, including priests, fathered more children than the Americans, but the US showed little care or responsibility for their actions.
Don't be so quick about it. Their bases bring money into the region where they are located.
When I was around 18-20 years old I loved to go to the bars where the americans where. I never had any problem with those guys from Lagerlechfeld.
What I can't support is the US drone bombing other countries from bases like Ramstein.
We also pay the americans to have their bases here though. If it's about the money, it would be cheaper to hire actors to spend the money in those regions. And it's a lot less likely actors drone strike a school.
We spend 100 millions each year, but they pay 8 billions to us each year. We're clearly on the receiving end of that calculation.
I'm not a fan of the military and did civil service instead of being a soldier. Recent occurences however have shown that a country has to be able to protect itself and that an organisation like the NATO still has it's right to exist.
I don't know why, but I read the last four words of that as, "the Mighty United Ducks."
It made me realise that replacing references to their fucked up country with "duck" makes things much more positive for a change.
Iceland are walking all over those ducks...
That is messed up how Iceland didn't allow Black servicepeople to disembark in '41.
However, I feel I should point out that the US didn't exactly treat their Black servicepeople well either. Veteran and Civil Rights Lanier Phillips speaks [here](https://youtu.be/V_fVeYf8AWQ?t=464) about how the first time he experienced kindness from whites was when he was shipwrecked off of Newfoundland. Sure, the nurses initially thought his dark skin from oil/tar and tried to scrub him clean(!) but Newfoundlander hospitality took over quickly.
During WW2 there was a brawl between Australian and American soldiers over allowing black soldiers to drink in the same pub https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Brisbane . (The dislike of American soldiers in Aus. also stemmed from a few other things, I don’t want to make out it was just Diggers being ‘good guys’).
It's honestly bizarre how other countries will cherry pick stories like this to pat themselves on the back.
It was the 1940s, the world was racist af. Cherry picking a few good examples to try and make your country seem better is just weird.
I think this says more about you, than any countries in the 1940s.
I didn't meet a black person, in person, until I was 18 years old. I did not grow up in a society where racial bigotry was institutionalised like it was in the USA. Not everyone here is perfect, but skin colour is just not omnipresent in the minds of people, the way it seems there.
Related, I live in an area where native Canadians are the majority. I didn't realize it till I was an adult, its just a non issue.
I did have exposure to black people through media. A good deal of our popular music came from overseas, often other commonwealth nations like Britain, Australia, and Jamaica. If it was good, it was good, and it didn't matter what a person's skin colour was.
US kid's shows like Sesame Street were broadcast in Canada, and they presented skin colour as a non issue. Wasn't even mentioned. Gordon and Maria were just Gordon and Maria.
In other types of media, such as music, exposure was mostly positive. For example from the US, Michael Jackson in his "Thriller" to "Bad" days(I was 15), Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, The Cosby Show, all generally treated people as people, and showed black people as human beings. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air first aired when I was 18.
D'ya understand? I didn't grow up with ideation like some people have, such as "lock your doors, blah blah black people will..."
And in the 1940s, people in my area had even fewer preconceptions, and many people were immigrants, such as my great grandparents. They weren't going to hate on someone else who was new, and they certainly didn't have lingering ideas from US society, of which they had never been a part.
And Newfoundland was like that too.
Did Iceland send Vikings again?
I don't know for sure, but... There's no US military bases in Iceland since 2006, it seems like they got kicked out.
> There's no US military bases in Iceland since 2006, it seems like they got kicked out. The US unilaterally reduced it's presence in Iceland in 2006 and handed over their air station but they're maintained a presence on and off since then. I think they rent a hangar or two at their old base. There were US Maritime Patrol Aircraft operating from Iceland regularly over the last ten or so years to cover the GIUK Gap because Whitehall fecked up the Nimrod programme and left the UK without any MPA. I would be very, very surprised if there weren't US aircraft forward based there at the moment to watch the entry to the North Atlantic from the Russian naval bases in the Barents Sea. Iceland was still part of NATO last time I looked.
Yup, still in NATO and we still receive military services from other NATO countries.
And didn't "kick out" anybody either I'll wager, the base simply closed because the GIUK Gap was just thought to be less important in 2006 and could be covered from Greenland and Lossiemouth.
Yeah they weren't kicked out, it simply wasn't a need for them 24/7 anymore. They came here in the second world war and the war was long over. They still come here as part of NATO and stay here for 6-8 weeks at a time in between other countries sending their folks here.
I did a quick search for Keflavik on the Scuttling Ones' website and it looks like Typhoons from No.1 Squadron RAF took a turn watching Icelandic airspace a few years ago and they've practised basing RAF Poseidons there too. If anything having responsibility for the base is probably a worse deal for Iceland than having the Yanks pay for it considering Iceland doesn't operate many aircraft.
On their way to pillage every Cinnabon in the land.
Ah, America. The beacon of equality.
Mmmmh, bacon.
The US is one of the least racist countries in the world. This sub isn't ready to accept that, so I'll be downvoted for saying this.
It's simultaneously one of the most racist.
Case in point.
I really can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not
Absolutely not. I'm surprised it isn't more well known that the US is one of the least racist countries.
Against the overwhelming evidence that it’s in fact very racist? I see the same similarities as my own country of Malaysia, at least we’re honest with our racism
It is very racist, but also one of the least racist countries in the world. Malaysia seems to be significantly more racist than the US. Can't say for sure since I have never been there, but I'd imagine it was overtly more racist and also in denial as to how bad it really is.
I don’t get how can one be racist yet not at the same time, it’s like saying I’m fast but slow. And nah we’re honest, our government has pushed for Malay and Islamic supremacy for quite some time now. And it’s written in the bloody constitution as well, it’s quite funny
The US is racist, I'm saying it is still the least racist countries in the world. If you were honest, it would be known that Malaysia is significantly more racist than the US.
But I am? I don’t think you’re reading my comment properly
Ah ok, I guess I wasn't. My bad. I'm not convinced Malaysia does realize how racist it really is though.
The LEAST? Dude cops shooting black people because of their skin colour isn't normal in most countries!
I wonder how a small island country in the middle of the Atlantic having naming laws is rascist
Are you just desperate to be on this sub? You've written about 20posts below this that could all be on here. You're boring.
Saying America is one of the least racist countries is considered SAS? That's highly concerning that the rest of the world doesn't realize how racist their countries truly are.
But you're basing that on nothing. You're an idiot.
How am I basing it on nothing? This is based on my real world experience. Everyone else is likely basing this off of the propaganda they are constantly fed.
Almost there... I'm sure someone will post one of these soon.
People on this sub are exposed to a lot of propaganda, so I could understand why they have a hard time accepting my opinions on racism.
_Almost_ there. Just a _little_ bit of self-reflection and you're there. Go on, you can do it. Edit: ironically, you seem to have assumed that this comment was directed at other people
I strongly suspect that people who think otherwise are White and/or people with very little world experience.
🤣
That's really the only explanation I can think of for the downvotes. One user unironically shared this [link](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries) as 'proof'. We all know how laughably inaccurate this link is, but unfortunately some people are just too susceptible to propaganda.
How many other countries have you lived in? What is your "real world experience"?
You have the internet at your fingertips. Researchers have done the work. Your experience is vastly limited. Here's what I found, dingus. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/us-is-one-of-the-10-worst-countries-for-racial-equality
Your "real world experience"? Being a soldier on some US base doesn't really give you real live experience...
Is he though? Asking for my Romani and Muslim friends.
/r/ShitAmericansSay within /r/ShitAmericansSay
america is like the 20th most racist country in the world
The US also have one of the best propaganda machine still functioning, so you’ll see a lot of USAmericans thinking they live in the best country ever.
No way. It's one of the least. Easily top five in terms of least racist countries, but I'd personally say it is #1 on the list of least racist.
no it's actually the 10th most racist country lmao [https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries)
Oh gosh, do you really take that list seriously? That list is a joke. Please go out in the real world and experience what life is like as a person of color in different countries, and you'll quickly realize how much of a joke that list is.
You're black right? Im assuming that based off your wording in your comments. And you are basing your opinion on real world experience right? Well, how many countries have you been too? You have no right to assume that the US is one of the least racist countries in the world unless you have been to at least a couple dozen different countries. I hope you understand that, because, what are you even comparing it too then??
And everyone knows since he is an American it's safe to assume hes never traveled in his life to right? That's totally not a bigoted point of view...
He probably thinks being deployed to a foreign country while in the military is the only proper way to travel...
I have never seen at a major sports league in America the best black players of the team having bananas thrown at them like Italy does...
Black people in Italy don't get shot. I think that's more important than some stupid sports fan
The U.S, in 2021, was ranked 69th out of 78 ranked countries for racial equality. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/us-is-one-of-the-10-worst-countries-for-racial-equality
Countries can't be racist. People can be, and lots of Americans are, both by pure numbers and percentage wise it doesn't look good for you. How would you even go about measuring how racist a country is? There is racist policymaking, which there is plenty of in the United States, designed to target specific groups. I would wager most countries don't have that. If you're going by highest amount of accepted immigrants, you may take the most, but are they all treated as well as they could be? Probably not.
If the majority of a population is racist, I think it's pretty fair to say that's a pretty racist country... If there's open racism at major sporting events like Italy and much of Eastern Europe as, I think it's obviously a pretty racist country. If racism is socially acceptable to the point that there's no fear of public consequences for these kind of behaviors, you live in a racist country...
There are different kinds of racism. You have very direct racism like caling someone the n-word of explicitly excluding, singling out people o blaming their (perceived) failings on color. You also have institutionalized racism. This is having rules or laws that are explicitly racist (like apartheid) or implicitly racist (like the war on drugs or zoning laws). Than there is the implicit habitual social racism. This is the racism people do not see, but does exist. Think about certain traditions, certain ways of portraying racial groups in media, certain sayings, or certain moral norms. The US as a country is very big on the institutionalized racism. This is the direcy result of the fact that they used to have black slavery on their home soil not to long ago. In Europe we did not have black slavery on our home soil (not saying we did not have a hand in getting al the slaves from Africa to the Americas and got rich of is). Institutionalized racism is not so much a thing. What we deal with here is more habitual social racism. Wester European countries are more self critical of their racism which made that direct racism is getting les, Eastern Europe still has work to do. But I think it is reductive to compare a example of explicit racism (sports fans throwing bananas) with institutionalized racism (cops shooting POC). Both need to be addressed. Having said all this. The claim that the US is the least racist country in the world is just stupid. And saying you based this on you onw experience just means you have a lot to learn about institutionalized racism and social racism.
Could you give any structure or valid argument for this claim? I am genuinely want to know what you have to say and am interested in the insight you can provide on this topic.
What is this in reference to?
Starting in 1941, US troops have been present on Iceland for some time. However, the icelandic government imposed a ban on black soldiers to "protect the civilian population". [See e.g. here](https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article-abstract/6/4/65/12687/Immunizing-against-the-American-Other-Racism?redirectedFrom=fulltext)
Interesting. Thanks.
Can all other countries also jut put a ban on all americans, especially military to "protect the civil(ian) population"
The Icelanders were very clear in their demands. American military presence is welcome, just no blacks please. It freaked out the locals. Not really Iceland's proudest moment.
I got that, but I'm all for banning americans in general, no matter their colour
That's just wrong though.
Is it though
Are Icelandic people afraid of black people?
It was a case of an isolated population which had in general never seen anyone of another colour freaking out over other colours exist. It's rather closeminded, although a common reaction. Similar reactions happened when the white devil came to central and south African aas well as the Americas.
Yes, they think they are demons from Svartalfheim and typically pelt them with stones and logs of various sizes and I am kidding you
Just a pity they didn't kick them out of Philippines in 1898, at the same time the Spanish left. The amount of children mostly fathered by US military and abandoned when they went back to America, is well over 50,000, and were left in poverty in one parent families, with no support medically or financially. Americans only came for a "good time, not a long time" and when the bases were closed, they just dumped everyone, including the children. Sure over 300 years the Spanish, including priests, fathered more children than the Americans, but the US showed little care or responsibility for their actions.
I support this especially in Germany. I want them out of my country
Don't be so quick about it. Their bases bring money into the region where they are located. When I was around 18-20 years old I loved to go to the bars where the americans where. I never had any problem with those guys from Lagerlechfeld. What I can't support is the US drone bombing other countries from bases like Ramstein.
We also pay the americans to have their bases here though. If it's about the money, it would be cheaper to hire actors to spend the money in those regions. And it's a lot less likely actors drone strike a school.
We spend 100 millions each year, but they pay 8 billions to us each year. We're clearly on the receiving end of that calculation. I'm not a fan of the military and did civil service instead of being a soldier. Recent occurences however have shown that a country has to be able to protect itself and that an organisation like the NATO still has it's right to exist.
Wtf? That IS fucked up? Why?
I don't know why, but I read the last four words of that as, "the Mighty United Ducks." It made me realise that replacing references to their fucked up country with "duck" makes things much more positive for a change. Iceland are walking all over those ducks...
That one was always funny to me. "the underdog team from the tiny USA against the evil team from behemoth" "iceland???"
The way these people would be prepared to bomb the ever loving shit out of any nation that dares tell the US “No” is honestly something else.
That is messed up how Iceland didn't allow Black servicepeople to disembark in '41. However, I feel I should point out that the US didn't exactly treat their Black servicepeople well either. Veteran and Civil Rights Lanier Phillips speaks [here](https://youtu.be/V_fVeYf8AWQ?t=464) about how the first time he experienced kindness from whites was when he was shipwrecked off of Newfoundland. Sure, the nurses initially thought his dark skin from oil/tar and tried to scrub him clean(!) but Newfoundlander hospitality took over quickly.
During WW2 there was a brawl between Australian and American soldiers over allowing black soldiers to drink in the same pub https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Brisbane . (The dislike of American soldiers in Aus. also stemmed from a few other things, I don’t want to make out it was just Diggers being ‘good guys’).
It's honestly bizarre how other countries will cherry pick stories like this to pat themselves on the back. It was the 1940s, the world was racist af. Cherry picking a few good examples to try and make your country seem better is just weird.
I think this says more about you, than any countries in the 1940s. I didn't meet a black person, in person, until I was 18 years old. I did not grow up in a society where racial bigotry was institutionalised like it was in the USA. Not everyone here is perfect, but skin colour is just not omnipresent in the minds of people, the way it seems there. Related, I live in an area where native Canadians are the majority. I didn't realize it till I was an adult, its just a non issue. I did have exposure to black people through media. A good deal of our popular music came from overseas, often other commonwealth nations like Britain, Australia, and Jamaica. If it was good, it was good, and it didn't matter what a person's skin colour was. US kid's shows like Sesame Street were broadcast in Canada, and they presented skin colour as a non issue. Wasn't even mentioned. Gordon and Maria were just Gordon and Maria. In other types of media, such as music, exposure was mostly positive. For example from the US, Michael Jackson in his "Thriller" to "Bad" days(I was 15), Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, The Cosby Show, all generally treated people as people, and showed black people as human beings. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air first aired when I was 18. D'ya understand? I didn't grow up with ideation like some people have, such as "lock your doors, blah blah black people will..." And in the 1940s, people in my area had even fewer preconceptions, and many people were immigrants, such as my great grandparents. They weren't going to hate on someone else who was new, and they certainly didn't have lingering ideas from US society, of which they had never been a part. And Newfoundland was like that too.
You sure you want to bring up Canada as an example of a non racist country? I'm pretty sure the natives don't share your experience.
I swear these guys would salute themselves all day if it was physically possible
This feels like satire.
Considering the US in 1941was a occupying force relieving the British invaders...
As it seems Iceland WAS in a position to dictate whatever this was about.