Xenophobia in Europe

It is tragic to see an increase of aversion towards foreigners in Europe. Just to see what extreme right wing candidates say and how much support they have is really disappointing in the so called civilized continent. After some time in Europe and staying for some time in three different European countries: Germany, Portugal and France, I could see that Xenophobia may come from completely different reasons:

1) In Germany, the hostility towards foreigners, specially the Turkish community, comes mostly from the unemployed, lower class Germans that think that foreigners are stealing their jobs.

2) In Portugal, there is clear the separation between Portuguese, Brazilian and Africans. The Portuguese still regard Brazilians better than Africans because Brazilians, specially in the last years, come to Portugal in more "respected" positions; for instance as Dentists, in Marketing positions; while the Africans have the less paid jobs like maids, electricians, plumbers, etc.

3) In France, it is not really more an employment issue than a class issue. More than two hundreds years after the French revolutions (1st and 2nd), the French society values more class and etiquette than education and qualification. This is why in Paris everyone is so well dressed; they want to be part of the aristocracy. So differently from Germany and Portugal, the origin of the French Xenophobia is not from economic reasons, but from cultural/historical one: the French higher class still believe that they have a different blood: le sang bleu.