Who should we compare America to then?
France? France is hardly a model society with its outlawed burkas on beaches and the home of the LePen family. Moreover, apparently anti-semitism is such a pressing issue that it has been outlawed in France (along with Holocaust denial) since 1990.
Greece? The Golden Dawn Party (a Neo-Nazi party) holds 18 of the 300 seats (6%) in the Greek parliament.
South Africa? The end of apartheid is barely twenty years old and racism is apparently "alive and well"[0].
Norway? In 2011 a far-right extremist group (anti-Muslim) killed 77 people and members of the UN claim the government is doing too little too combat right-wing extremist violence against Muslims.[1]
Germany? In June a poll found that more than 40% of Germans support a ban on Muslim immigration.[2] Additionally, apprently 60% of Germans believe Islam has no place in their country, and last year attacks on refugee camps increased 500%.
The Balkans? In the '90s these countries were entirely reformed through a nearly 10-year period of war and ethnic cleansing.
Sure, maybe the ideal might be similar to Canada, Australia, or Great Britain, all of which are predominantly single-race societies. But where is that shining city on the hill out there that we should be comparing ourselves to? I can't find it. Our goal can't be to become "less racist" than any of those "Western" countries listed above. It just has to be to get better.
For clarity, I'm not claiming that the U.S. is any more or less racist than any of countries above. I'm just saying they all have their problems too.
[0] http://www.relativityonline.com/home/racism-alive-and-well-i...
[1] http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYe...
[2] http://aa.com.tr/en/europe/anti-muslim-sentiment-in-germany-...
[3] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisi...