There is an increase in violent racism globally according to UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diene, the JURIST is reporting. In the article, Deirdre Jurand writes:

Diene warned the UN in early 2006 about a worldwide increase in racism and xenophobia, which were no longer confined to extremist groups but had become integral to mainstream democratic systems. Diene said that the fight against terrorism and other government initiatives had led to discriminatory immigration and asylum policies and a retreat from diversity and tolerance. Diene noted that racism was “commonplace” and ethnically and racially biased stances had become increasingly legitimized in intellectual discourse by respected scholars.

[emphasis added]

What struck me here is bit I emphasized in bold, that racism is not contained in extremist groups by “integral to mainstream democratic systems.” Indeed, as Joe detailed in his post from the other day on reparations, racism is foundational to the American system. You can download the full UN report, here.