Wright, now a BBC pundit, said coverage of the tournament and the issue of player releases during the European season contrasted with how Euro 2020 was treated.
“Is there ever a tournament more humiliating than the Africa Cup of Nations?” Wright said in a video posted on social media.
“There is no greater honor than to represent your country. The coverage is teeming with racism.
“We played our Euros in 10 countries in the midst of a pandemic and there is no problem. But Cameroon, a country hosting a tournament, has a problem,” he said.
Wright said he objected to players being asked if they intended to play for their countries.
“You’re journalists asking players… Players are being asked if they would respect call-ups to their national teams. Imagine if it were an English player representing the Three Lions. Would you? Can you imagine the uproar?”
Several top Premier League players are set to attend club games in January to take part in the tournament.
Second-placed Liverpool will be without Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Guinea’s Nabi Keita.
Wilfried Zaha, Jordyn Ayew and Schikou Coyote will not be at Crystal Palace, but their manager Patrick Vieira said there was no question of trying to persuade them to drop out of the final.
“I respect and understand the passion and importance of players representing their country, so I will never stop any player from playing the Africa Cup of Nations,” Vieira said.
Wright said players and countries deserve more respect.
“The best players in Europe right now are Africans,” said the 58-year-old, who played 33 matches for England.
“If we love them at the club level why can’t we love them at the international level like their counterparts around the world? Why is this tournament getting so frequent?”
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