A few years ago, the good doctor and I were travelling in Namibia and South Africa for a month or so.
We stayed at a neat hostel, owned by a very nice couple.
One night we were sitting around after dinner chatting with the owners and a n artist friend that lives near by, and 2 (iirc) german tourists that were staying there, all white.
Also in the room was the artists “colored” daughter.
The extremely earnest german couple were discussing the obvious, to them, “solutions” to all the problems of Namibia and South Africa (unemployment, poverty, HIV infection rate, illiteracy).
One of the owners of the hostel said
“Here, we have a joke:
Q: What is the difference between a tourist and a racist?
A: 2 weeks”
The owners and their friend and her daughter laughed a great deal. I thought it was amusing and telling.
The germans either didn’t get it, or didn’t think it was funny.
Many ex-pats (american, british, german, whatever) have been here a long time. Some of their views are interesting to listen to. I cringe when I hear some of them.
Maybe they are right and maybe when we have been here long enough, we will see that they are correct.
But I hope not.