> France is pretty racist and hateful in general ...
That's a separate issue from hashtags. I think that is totally irrelevant. Let's say, just hypothetically, French culture is such that the racism there is expressed through hashtags twitter. Now, let's say in the US, the culture is such that racists prefer to make disgusting racist comments on YouTube AND perform lynchings and enact legislation prevent people of the same race from drinking at the same water coolers. Does that make the French more racist or hateful? I don't really see the point.
Also, let's, for argument's sake, keep the racism discussion to Twitter. Does it really matter if the racism is in tweets or hashtags in the picture?
If you REALLY want to see examples of racism in the United States, I can produce them. But do you REALLY think I am just "hand waving" when I dispute that it's absurd to think there is no at least the same amount of racism in the US?