E/CN.4/2004/18 page 5 I. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Field missions of the Special Rapporteur 1. In his choice of missions, the Special Rapporteur placed special emphasis on the region of the Americas and the Caribbean, in order to undertake a comparative and prospective study of the responses of countries of the region to the historic legacies of the racism and discrimination generated by long periods of slavery and colonization, and hence their responses to the major challenge of transforming de facto inegalitarian and discriminatory multiculturism into egalitarian and democratic cultural and ethnic pluralism. The experiences of Canada, Colombia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, which were looked at in the course of recent missions, show that the legacy of racism and discrimination is not so much a historic inevitability as an opportunity for change. In the last analysis, it is the political will, the vision and the commitment of the political system as a whole, both the party in power and the opposition, which channel such legacies either into ethnic polarization or into interactive cultural pluralism. The Special Rapporteur’s findings, comments and recommendations are contained in the reports for each mission (Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago (E/CN.4/2004/18/Add.1); Canada (E/CN.4/2004/18/Add.2); and Colombia (E/CN.4/2004/18/Add.3)). 2. For 2004, the Special Rapporteur, in addition to racism in sport, would like to concentrate on the countries which, in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, have been most affected by the growing wave of racism, discrimination and xenophobia, related more especially to immigration, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and the caste problem. B. Participation in the work of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session 3. The Special Rapporteur submitted an interim report to the General Assembly (A/48/313). The report covered not only the main meetings in which the Special Rapporteur took part as a contribution to the implementation of the Durban Programme of Action, but also contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, particularly expressions of racism in sport. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the high standard of the interactive dialogue and discussions he enjoyed on that occasion with representatives of the member States. The General Assembly took note with appreciation of the recommendations included in the interim report and asked the Special Rapporteur to pay special attention to racism in sport. II. CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATIONS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE 4. The most significant manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance include the rejection of diversity, the growing practice of racial profiling and the resurgence of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.