RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA
While the 20th century witnessed some of the worst racist and xenophobic atrocities in history, it was also the 100 years in which the movement in favour of civil rights brought an end to racial segregation in the USA, or when apartheid was abolished in South Africa. Great steps have most certainly been taken to overcome the obsolete concept of race as the origin of inequalities and intolerance.
But despite the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) theoretically and legally anticipated this and other achievements which would still take time to occur, on stipulating that “Everyone is entitled to the same rights and freedoms […] without distinction of race or colour”, there’s no doubt that there is still a long way to go before achieving complete eradication of the racist and xenophobic prejudice still to be found, for instance, in the mistrust of immigrants. However, growing miscegenation of the globalised world (a world which has nevertheless always been a mixture of breeds) may give the final thrust to completing this task affecting all men and women.