Racism is an evil that we have endured for a very long time, and the least racist countries in Europe in 2017 set an example for us all to follow.
Thankfully, most people outright hate racism and speak up against it. However, things were not so favorable for the people of color in the United States. The civil war did bring freedom from the shackles of slavery for the black Americans, but the country remained racially segregated even as late as the 1960s. However, we have managed to move past all that prejudice, and we look onward to a bright racism-free future America. But, in some parts of the country racism still exists and people of color are being victimized by racially motivated groups. But that is a topic for another day, so let us focus on the topic at hand.
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One of the evilest and racially motivated organizations, the Nazis originated in Europe, but thankfully the whole world banded together to crush the group in its entirety. Since World War II, the continent of Europe has changed a lot, and some of the least racists countries of the entire world are in Europe. We did an article on this same topic a couple of years back — 6 Least Racist Countries in Europe. But, as there have been a couple of years, we think it is about time to update our list a little bit, and this is why we are going to talk about the least racist countries in Europe according to the most recent data. We recommend that you take a look at 25 Least Racist Countries in The World and 10 Least Racist Countries in Asia to acquire a greater understanding of the current racism situation in the world as well. This is not going to be a chronicle of racism in Europe vs. America, but rather a holistic look at the continent with regards to racism.
We, of course, looked at statistics of racism in Europe, history of racism in Europe and the condition of racism in Europe today. There are plenty of websites out there that helped us find the necessary data, such as the European Commission, Project Implicit and World Values Survey. However, Project Implicit, run by a group of scientists from well-known universities like Harvard University and the University of Virginia, was our primary source of data. The website is intended as an online laboratory where anyone can take a survey and find out their IAT score or The implicit-association test Score. IAT score demonstrates the strength of a person’s automatic association between mental representations of objects (concepts) in memory, and in this case, the IAT score denotes racial beliefs.
Project Implicit has made a map of the world based on Average IAT scores of countries. The lower the average IAT score of a country, the least racist the country is. One thing to note here is that an IAT score of “0” (zero) would be ideal, but unfortunately, no country has an average IAT score of zero. So we basically were able to rank our list of least racist countries in Europe in this manner. The data has been collected from 288,076 White Europeans and collected by researchers between 2002 and 2015. You can find the raw data on Github. Essentially, we will start off our list with countries having average IAT scores and move on from there to the lowest.
Without further ado, let’s get our list of least racist countries in Europe in 2017 started.
10. Belgium
Average IAT score: 0.356
We will start off our list with Belgium, a country of diverse cultures and open arms towards immigrants from all over the world. Belgians have a reputation for being racially neutral no matter whether they are in their home country or abroad. So naturally, Belgium deserves a spot in the list.
Pixabay/Public Domain
9. Sweden
Average IAT score: 0.355
Sweden is very welcoming to immigrants, and it has been for the last couple of years. However, as the immigrants from countries pour into Sweden, things may change in the future. However, for the time being, Sweden is one of the least racist countries in Europe.
Pixabay/Public Domain
8. Norway
Average IAT score: 0.349
According to our findings, Norway sits at number 8 — yet another Scandinavian country to make it in our list of least racist countries in Europe in 2017. The Scandinavian peninsula has been known as very welcoming towards foreigners and people of different racial groups. Norway is no exception either. The country is home to over 5.2 million residents, and people from various nationalities and races live in the country in harmony and enjoy a great degree of racial empathy from Norwegians.
Pixabay/Public Domain
7. Austria
Average IAT score: 0.349
Norway and Austria have identical IAT scores, so basically, the spots can be swapped between the two countries. Austria is a German-speaking country in central Europe and is very popular among tourists. The country is also quite racially neutral and harbors anti racialist beliefs and ideologies.
Pixabay/Public Domain
6. United Kingdom
Average IAT score: 0.348
With a remarkable average IAT score of 0.348, the 6th spot goes to the United Kingdom. It is only natural that one of the most developed countries in the world would harbor racially neutral beliefs and ideologies. So no surprises there. However, there are concerns about racially motivated crimes and violence to a small degree, and we can only hope that even those will cease with time.
Pixabay/Public Domain
5. Ireland
Average IAT score: 0.347
Although the country has been associated with terrorism and racially motivated crimes in the past, things have changed a lot in the past few decades. Ireland now boasts an average IAT score of 0.347 which is really good. Although, it is still far from being close to zero, what the Irish have achieved is truly amazing.
Pixabay/Public Domain
4. Croatia
Average IAT score: 0.346
We are continuing our list of the least racist countries in Europe in 2017, and next in line we have Croatia. This Eastern European country is very hospitable towards people of different nationalities and racial ethnicity. The country achieved its independence only in the early 90s, and within this short amount of time, the country has made a lot of progress.
Pixabay/Public Domain
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Average IAT score: 0.345
Bosnia and Herzegovina, more commonly known as Bosnia, is in its rightful place as the third least racist countries in Europe in 2017 with a great average IAT score of 0.345. The country has a long history of human civilization as it is one of the earliest places where traces of permanent human residence have been found. Apart from its historic significance, the country is quite beautiful and rich with diverse culture.
Pixabay / Public Domain
2. Slovenia
Average IAT score: 0.302
The neighboring country Hungary has significant racial problems, but despite this, the people of Slovenia have pretty much rejected the notion of racism as a whole. The people of Slovenia are welcoming towards people of all races.
Pixabay/Public Domain
1. Serbia
Average IAT score: 0.298
At the very top of our list, we have the least racist country in Europe according to our findings and also the findings of Project Implicit. The country is Serbia, with an average IAT score of 0.298 which is closest to zero so far.
Pixabay/Public Domain
This wraps it up for our list of 10 least racist countries in Europe in 2017.
