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europe 's divided racial house
a common feature of europe 's extreme right is its racism and use of the immigration issue as a political wedge .
the lega nord in italy , the vlaams blok in the netherlands , the supporters of le pen 's national front in france , are all examples of parties or movements formed on the common theme of aversion to immigrants and promotion of simplistic policies to control them .
while individuals like jorg haidar and jean @-@ marie le pen may come and ( never to soon ) go , the race question will not disappear from european politics anytime soon .
an aging population at home and ever more open borders imply increasing racial fragmentation in european countries .
mainstream parties of the center left and center right have confronted this prospect by hiding their heads in the ground , hoping against hope that the problem will disappear .
it will not , as america 's racial history clearly shows .
race relations in the us have been for decades - and remain - at the center of political debate , to the point that racial cleavages are as important as income , if not more , as determinants of political preferences and attitudes .
the first step to address racial politics is to understand the origin and consequences of racial animosity , even if it means uncovering unpleasant truths .
this is precisely what a large amount of research in economics , sociology , psychology and political science has done for the us .
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