Swedish Prejudice

There was a huge snowstorm closing in on the East Coast a few days ago. Luckily, New York City only experienced a couple of inches of snow. It is really cold these days though and I believe there is more snow coming in later this week.

It is funny how intensely Swedish newspapers cover events in the United States. Every time something in regards to stormy weather or craziness happen, Swedish news channels are all over it. Sometimes, I even read about something in New York in a Swedish newspaper before I hear about it in the local news.

I do not know if this is good or bad but I do feel that Swedish newspapers are drawing an unrealistic picture of the United States. People in Sweden only hear about the very unique news and I have definitely noticed an un-American opinion that is based upon this.

Many Swedes see themselves as very open-minded people. The truth is, many times, the opposite. While it is considered racism to say anything negative about minorities, it is generally accepted to publically claim that Americans are stupid, fat, or crazy.

This is probably the number one thing that bothers me about many Swedes. What these types of prejudiced people do not realize, is that much of what they claim is based on the flow of information from news media, which in general is very anti-American in most of Europe.

The hate against America grew even further after SAAB got into trouble. SAAB employs thousands of workers in Sweden but has, for many years, suffered net losses. This caused GM to consider terminating its subsidiary. However, a possible deal with Spyker may keep SAAB alive. Many Swedes are still furious on the way GM handled the situation. Most people are not considering the possible threat of competition and the sharing of valuable technological standards.

I do not care whether Swedes have a negative opinion towards certain decisions. After all, everyone should be allowed to express their free opinion. However, narrow-mindedness, anti-Americanism, and straight-out racism is not acceptable. Many Swedes need to wake up and consider reversing their standpoint on stereotyping people.

I actually believe that most of these Swedes do not realize that they are being judgmental. Over the years, it has almost become acceptable to stereotype Americans and to be prejudiced against them. This can, most likely, be explained by the social democratic media and other general biases.