The thing people don't realize about colonialism, racism, anti-immigration, etc. Is that the Chinese and especially near easterners were literally the first civilizations. Up until the Greeks and Romans there wasn't much of significance going on compared to places like the Nile basin, Mesopotamia, and the Levant/Anatolia.
Great civilizations would eventually come to Europe as the knowledge and wealth of earlier civilizations spread across the Mediterranean. We all know the story from there, the Greeks and Romans eventually create some of the greatest empires to date, conquering the older civilizations in their expansion.
What does this mean to the french, the Germans, the British, the Nords, etc?
These people were conquered and assimilated by the Mediterranean powers and carried their customs as the Roman empire fell. This gives rise to a period in which the Chinese, Muslim Arabs/Persians, and steppe nomads had a higher standard of wealth, technology, and health pretty much up until the black death.
The silk road nations from Turkey to China then entered a period of stagnation in innovation and social ideals as they grew complacent with their system of trade and strong traditional customs that they've held since civilization began.
Now, Europe is not a weak continent at this point, but it is in disarray. Trade to the east is dominated by the ottomans, populations are groing too fast for the land, coal, timber, and good farmland to sustain itself. This begins a period of serious competition between Euro powers for better weapons, shipping, trade deals, and education. It's this period that compels Europe to discover the new world and start seriously improving weapons and technologies from the east.
This is what gave us the edge to colonize nations and civilizations that have enjoyed thousands of years of superiority over northern europe in every measure of civilization.
Continued.