Why is it even a debate? Of course the place is racist, as a newbie to the country you work that out in your first week.

Then because you are white, skilled and British and you realise the Swiss like you because you are British you realise its not going to be a problem for you. So you stop giving a rats arse about it and get back to the important things like making money.

Whether its right or wrong is irrelevent. It just is.

or, more accurately, because you are white, skilled and British you are not accustomed to picking up the body language and other cues or reading between the lines.

The debate is not whether there is racism, existing in Switzerland or not, as there is no reason why what exists in Italy, Austria, France and Germany should not also be in evidence in Switzerland.

The debate was/is about the difference between a precise but differentiating report of that EU-man and a sensationalist article.

Racism and racist mania in Europe grew over centuries and you cannot hope to have that thing eradicated within some decades now. In case of Switzerland it sometimes is necessary to make it clear that Switzerland unfortunately is a member of that club. It did become extreme in the former GDR a decade or a bit more ago, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. More or less racist parties from the North Cape to Calabria regularily get up to 20% of the votes, and big parties with more or less racist "wings" up to 30%

Already here and now, I request you to abstain from Nicolaus tales about a U.K. where racism has fully and totally disappeared

sorry my bad...yeah the article was poor but the writing from Hammarberg was excellent! Probably Switzerland will react with "no gripen!!!!" waaahhh

I am yet to encounter self confident, perfectly sane and balanced people who would shout such things at people who seem "foreigners"... Feel pitty for her, such a miserable old woman.

It is not about lowering your head, it is about choosing your battles..

Wrong. As long as different creeds and cultures have met or even mixed there has been racism. If we weren't different colors we'd align ourselves for or against those with freckles, hair color or their breakfast cereal preference. As a race we like to "compartmentalize" everything that we come into contact with, that includes other humans. It's how we're designed. That doesn't give anyone the right to mistreat or judge other races, but we do have different mental images and that's not a big deal IMO.

There's only one race, dude.

Eh? Who cares about the UK? The report was about Switzerland, not the UK. The refreshing thing about Swiss racism is that nobody really cares about it because its far less important than making money.

OK, just testing your theory then. How much would you charge to beat the living crap out of my white neighbor and his slightly tanned girlfriend?

Yeap daed on :when I was a kid we picked on other kids with glasse and red hair .I remeber one had autisme and a clumpfoot.I still feel sorry for him

Xenophobia is the cousin of racism. In a way the same mentality behind both illnesses. In practical terms, in Zürich locally, in the 1950ies and 60ies when there were practically no "Blacks" in evidence, Italians and Turks (etc) had to take some rather harsh xenophobia. Peopole of such "looks" for instance might be barred from visiting a schoolfriend when the "lady" judged "ich will nöd das mini Fründinnen findet, min Sohn gänge mit ämö Tschingg", or that in a queue to check/listen a record one gay at the top of the queue loudly declared "Tschingge hinnä aschtaa" without being challenged and suddenly the "addressed" chaps found themselves at the end of the line. Time for both to get out of Jelmoli and move over to the competition. For the "Mediterraneans" things vastly improved with the arrival of Blacks, Tamils, etc, who then became the focus of the "pure" people

Hammarberg quite clearly pointed to legal rules (freedom to make propganda for popular votes in a style he regards as racist, for example) which ought indeed be improved, but of course without reducing democracy and freedom. Those in charge DO care about it, but for a majority of the people who are neither racists nor lawyers, there is not so much to be done.

And what about the UK ? I on this (and the other) forum "heard" Brits loudly and unashamedly declaring that racism in the UK had completely faded away into history, and generally detest adventourous stories of scarce likellihood

A camel and 20p?

Firstly i would like to point out that many Swiss people are clearly bright,kind and open to all peoples of the world.


Some Swiss (sadly quite alot in my opinion) are like backward stranger hating village idiots when it comes to accepting people,especially black people.

The general level of straightness,conservatism and anti-intergration feeling is depressing.

Some Swiss want all foriegners to know their place,speak when they`re spoken to and not to get any ideas above their auslander station.

They can be quite covert,but underneath there are some right spiteful nazi b******* amongst em.

Many of em are like scared little rabbits,terrified of non Swissness.

Some of them have a disgusting arrogance too and they tend to actually look down on auslanders.

I repeat that i do not consider all Swiss people like this,but in my opinion there are plenty.

Interesting quotes

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but as countless public votes have shown, there is a clear majority in favour of integration, of progress and of modernisation

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there in the 1930ies was a sizeable "National Front" known as "D'Fröntler". They were prohibited by law at a certain moment and by 1945 just had faded away. BUT does anybody believe they really had disappeared. So, to make it plainly clear, there were and beyond doubt still are, just as in the neighbour countries, some "eternal Nazis" by spirit around

To say it in Swiss German "Du söttisch nöd um dä heissi Brei umerede"

Not all Swiss people, but handful number of Swiss people could go to any length in relating to you as a human being and these are the handful wonderful Swiss people who have moved around the world and understand what auslander experience, because they have been in your position in the past. Also, highly educated Swiss people see no difference between them and the auslander, they just want relate to you and carry on with their business, that is all. I have experienced a lot within the last few weeks that I arrived here in Switzerland. at one occassion I had to threat to call the Police and get reference number, also threat to sue the restaurant in the Law Court. This actually made them to behave themselves and dealt with my matter very quickly. I actually promised them that I would go ahead and sue them for spoling my dinner, but how long do i have to do that, when I have tons of work to do for my living. It is just obsord and uncall for.
Do not give up, challenge any unwelcome behaviour, call the Police if necessary and make sure you have reference number from the Police. Process your complain through the company, if it is company, and if it is individual, do the same, complain to the Police in case of individual and get witness around, let the Police get the details of the third party for Court Summon.
Good luck

I am not sure if I am wonderful,but I agree with the rest of the sentence

People are people the world over, stop being such drama queens and focus on the good people.

While most people here will relate to you "as a human being" . To discuss matters with xenophobes and/or racists in restaurants however is a hopeless case. The way to deal with them is to get out of their locality and never go there again. I mean, if you have to achieve some decent behaviours from their side by the threat of legal action you cannot feel well in such a place ever. I am in favour of a pragmatic approach to such things and against trying to be a "hero". I actually physically feel xenophobism when entering such a place here and am out as fast as "Speedy Gonzalez". There are enough competitors who will welcome you in a normal way. And it may be added that xenophobe/racist places here tend to disappear within a few years. There at the corner Bahnhofplatz/Löwenstrasse where there now is a Chinese place for years was a widely popular restaurant. Then suddenly, the local "chief" gave instructions to his staff no longer to serve "Arabs etc", an instruction which was fully practiced immediately. It was reported in the media and so also a good part of the Swiss clientele aboided the place, so that it met its end within a year. There in Zch-Seefeld was a popular and well known "Wienerwald"-restaurant. But at a certain day, they started to refuse serving Blacks. I know of such an incident when they did do so, and as a result more than a dozen CH-nationals got up and left (some paid and left and others simply left). It got into the press, and the "Wienerwald" disappeared within less than two years.

If you want to report the incident, do not report to the police but send an Email (in German or English) to Blick and Tages Anzeiger and explain precisely what had happened. THIS is how to do it