Talking English in the public transport with the friends, made an older man look at us with hatred...even when he was leaving the train.
Not being able to speak local language or even German, do i trigger someone's anger living in their country?
Would my crossing the street at the red light (without causing anything) be a crime more likely more highlighted than a local person making a real crime?
Why as soon as you start speaking english, you feel like a public enemy? In Baltic countries, where i come from, as soon as we have foreigners, people start to help with more extra wish.
Does Switzerland regret for letting us here? Or thats normal?

Very basically, the Swiss are racist, have always been. An inherent character of them. They have very little tolerance with Swiss from other Cantons. And scoff at the other dialects spoken by their compatriots. Some Cantons have higher "worth" than others, depends on how old the Canton is, and how far removed from the "home" Canton.

I should imagine that upon hearing a totally foreign tongue from another country spoken brings about a perfectly natural reaction - it`s nothing personal against you - it`s just the way it is in Switzerland - made up originally from foreigners (100`s of years ago), they still stick to their own personal local identities, dependent on where their ancestors originally settled.

Remember, there are still some Swiss folk who have never ventured beyond their own villages!

While I agree that it helps, you don't need to travel in order to have an open mind. Conversely, travelling is no guarantee for an open mind either.

Some however move across half the globe and take their close-mindedness and prejudices with them.

That's astonishing. Do you have a link to an online community of such people??

The one who took my interview for naturalisation, felt racist to me xD

Racism generally doesn't bother me here, but I do see it more in CH than in other countries. No where close to majority of the population but a larger minority than other countries in my experience

Xenophobic behavior even more, and also politically incorrectness (which commonly hints at xenophobic thoughts).


Since it doesn't really bother me, I usually get a good laugh out of them, and generally speaking, such individuals are of lower education brackets, and simpler minds. Thus, if a conversation is to start up, it's very easy to mess with their heads and thoughts :P

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In which way?

Tom

It's just you.

I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the fact that you were speaking English but probably that you were talking too loud and non stop during the whole trip.

There are more of us who have never had a problem than those who have had a problem. So I'm guessing it's not "foreigners" but with certain individual's behavior.

It seems clear that could well be the case since you are so proud of breaking the small cultural norms such as crossing at the right place, because you are more important than anyone else.

It doesn't cost you more nor is it more difficult to cross the street on the light and at the appropriate place. So why can't you do that? When you don't follow the norms of a place you are basically saying that "you" are more important than "us".

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It's a perfect topic for Friday's thread. Such a shame that today it's Saturday. Therefore my answer ability to it is seriously hampered by other activities

No we were not a bunch of kids, we were speaking calm, positive and certainly not loud.
and regarding crossing the streets, i never had a feeling i did that with the importance you have mentioned. i feel equal. but i dont feel standing on a deserty place and waiting for a green light. i am not a robot. if i was the only one saving my time, i would not stand out.

I haven't even seen you on a tram. I dislike you already. It's you.

HTH

I've noticed that some Swiss, especially from rural areas, have a very unpleasant attitude to anyone who doesn't come from their own village. Couple that with a default derogatory manner that seems to be trained into any beaurocrat and I find myself losing my shit almost every time I have to deal with any public servant, only to be labelled as an unpleasant person myself :-(

Of course some of the Swiss are racists. There are racists in every country and nationality.

Xenophobic - maybe. Rasist - no. I must is a major pet peeve of mine, the misuse of the word racist.

A few thoughts:

That was just a grumpy old man. Ignore him. I sometimes get odd looks when I speak English on the train, maybe because I am talking too loud? Anyway, just memorize a few phrases like "schöne Tag" (Have a good day) to say and smile as you go your separate ways.

As others have said you'll find racist/xenophopic people everywhere. There are obviously some people here who appear to think foreigners are ruining their way of life (or something like that). The Masseneinwanderung and upcoming vote to kick out "criminals" are evidence of the fear. I'd argue some of the fear is generated by those that are putting forth the initiatives.

I accidentally crossed on a red light yesterday and nearly got flattened by a tram. It was one of those intersections where there is a light in the middle of the road as well as on the far side. I was distracted and saw the first light was green and kept on walking through the middle section. Fortunately the tram was not going fast and pinged the bells at me. I got plenty of admonishing looks from the people patiently waiting on the other side of the street. I think their first thoughts were of me being a lucky idiot as opposed to a foreigner.

That said, I don't look the least bit foreign and it's obvious where I'm from when I speak (even when speaking attempting to speak German). People treat me more like a tolerated tourist than some Auslander who is seeking to destroy the country and steal all the gold.

Seems like a very general question. Can you please list some examples of swiss racism? I didn't think they were any different than other europeans.

Thanks all. It can be a speculative talk, especially about Racism, and would like to close this matter.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and cheering up!

Really think that that is going to work, closing this subject? Whahaha

Oops, contributed to your thread before I saw this post of yours. Sorry.