Research and studies need to be carried out on some of these concealed or disguised manifestations of racism, and on their psychological sources and characteristics. Non-governmental organizations active in countering racism, and scholars and therapists who have studied the problem deeply, can play an important role in the success of the conference. The critical role of the NGOs and youth is demonstrated by their response to recent developments in Europe and elsewhere. It is important that while the Conference should address all manifestations of racism and racial discrimination, it must also not lose a focus on racism as it is most commonly understood and most widely experienced. All discrimination is unacceptable and should be addressed with concern and urgency.
Ethnic hatred is as bad as racial hatred.
Indeed, as the situation in the Great Lakes and the former Yugoslavia show, ethnic hatreds can take particularly ferocious forms, and can exhibit characteristics typical of racist discourse. Nevertheless, racism should not be confused with discrimination in general. Racism and other forms of discrimination are analytically distinct and should be dealt with separately. The immediacy of brute expressions of ethnicity should not eclipse other subtler and more psychological forms of racism. It should not be made to appear that racism today is something that afflicts Africa rather than Europe, or Asia than the Americas.