Is everyone a little bit racist?

[Crimson Dynamo]

Are you?:nono:


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[Crimson Dynamo]

http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1401203197769/Racial-Prejudice_2805.svghttp://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1401199500998/Racial_Map_2805.svg

The proportion of Britons who admit to being racially prejudiced has risen since the start of the millennium, raising concerns that growing hostility to immigrants and widespread Islamophobia are setting community relations back 20 years.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/27/-sp-racism-on-rise-in-britain

[Cherie]

No not at all, I can actually never understand why people are judged by the colour of their skin or where they come from and not for the person they are. Writing off people because they come from a certain country/area/council estate and stereotyping them is just ignorance in my view.

[thesheriff443]

we are bombarded with images not all of them show different cultures in a good light, these images stay in our subconsciuos.
we are warned of dangers like areas that are not safe at night and the people that live in these areas.
i am not a racist but sometimes my mind has thoughts that i think are racist.

[Cherie]

we are bombarded with images not all of them show different cultures in a good light, these images stay in our subconsciuos.
we are warned of dangers like areas that are not safe at night and the people that live in these areas.
i am not a racist but sometimes my mind has thoughts that i think are racist.

that's a bit different though isn't it, that is self preservation not racism.

[joeysteele]

No not at all, I can actually never understand why people are judged by the colour of their skin or where they come from and not for the person they are. Writing off people because they come from a certain country/area/council estate and stereotyping them is just ignorance in my view.

This is where I stand on this matter too. It mystifies me the racist attitude I have come across from others.
I find no rational reasoning for it. If anyone does anything wrong,then no matter who they are by all means be against those individuals then.
To look for bad or wrong in anyone to the point of prejuduce against them just for their colour or nationality for me is one of the worst wrongs anywhere

[thesheriff443]

that's a bit different though isn't it, that is self preservation not racism.

I was trying to give an example of some thing that's stay in your head and makes you think of a certain group of people in a certain way.

[Nedusa]

No.......I do not think people are inherently racist. I think the problem is more of Cultural Xenophobia whereby we feel uncomfortable mixing with people for whom we do not share a large amount of common factors like skin colour, language, religion, cultural , pastimes, hobbies etc..

The migration of people across the globe has continued for thousand of years and continues today, as such many peoples and many cultures meet and the demographic is constantly changing.

Many people through ignorance and indoctrination fear change , so to be forced to embrace a fast changing multi cultural society can be quite fearful to a large number of people. This results in nationalism and racism which can be exploited if not addressed.

I think the main problem at the moment is the rate or degree of change, ie is it too quick and does it lead to this irrational fear.

I think with the sudden removal of all controls to immigration especially across Europe the climate has been created for people to allow the fear of change to show itself as racism.

But as I have said I do not think people are born racist.

[Josy]

No. We aren't.

[arista]

No

[Crimson Dynamo]

Distrust of strangers and people who are different is hardwired into us.

[HD]

I'm not racist because my best friend is black and I like noodles and Chinese stuff x

[Pete.]

I tell you know that most of the forum are far from racist

[Ninastar]

No.

I believe everyone is a little judgemental, despite what people like to say.

[thesheriff443]

No. We aren't.

thats a a weeping statement, of course there are peple that are racist.

thats why its called a race crime.

[Niamh.]

thats a a weeping statement, of course there are peple that are racist.

thats why its called a race crime.

The question was also sweeping so it needed a sweeping answer, Is everyone a little bit racist..........No everyone isn't a little bit racist :shrug:

[Josy]

thats a a weeping statement, of course there are peple that are racist.

thats why its called a race crime.

See Nimah's post

[Gypsy]

everyone is a lil bit racist

[thesheriff443]

See Nimah's post

i did, but the op and your post are sweeping comments.

[Niamh.]

i did, but the op and your posts are sweeping comments.

Actually, answering no to the OPs question is the only way to not make a sweeping generalisation as you're disagreeing that everyone thinks/feels the same way about other races

[Josy]

i did, but the op and your posts are sweeping comments.

The OP asks 'Is everyone a little bit racist?' I answered 'No.We Arent.'

I know for a fact I'm not racist, so no everyone isn't racist, hence my answer being correct from my point of view, sorry if that confused you.

[smeagol]

everyone is a little recist. people pick and choose their levels and ideas on whats racist or not.
one person will swear they are not racist then in the next breath say something dodgy about some one from a different culture,
most of the races you expect people are racist towards are racist towards other races themselves. its a long merry go round.
personally i think its a stupid word. plenty of races are not keen on eachother.

[thesheriff443]

The OP asks 'Is everyone a little bit racist?' I answered 'No.We Arent.'

I know for a fact I'm not racist, so no everyone isn't racist, hence my answer being correct from my point of view, sorry if that confused you.

on reflection i can see your point:shocked:

[Vicky.]

No I don't think so. I know I blame the rags for a lot but I do believe that the papers (especially the right leaning papers) are responsible for a lot of the racism/xenophobia in this country.

[Zzz]

Do people think alot about race in their daily lives?

[Livia]

I believe many people are a little racist. Not all... but a lot. I can understand it. People don't want to see what they've worked for and contributed to handed out to people who've never paid in. I'm talking about the world... not just this country.

[Nedusa]

everyone is a little recist. people pick and choose their levels and ideas on whats racist or not.
one person will swear they are not racist then in the next breath say something dodgy about some one from a different culture,
most of the races you expect people are racist towards are racist towards other races themselves. its a long merry go round.
personally i think its a stupid word. plenty of races are not keen on eachother.

But is that not more Culturalist ? Are we mixing up race with culture.

[Jesus.]

I believe many people are a little racist. Not all... but a lot. I can understand it. People don't want to see what they've worked for and contributed to handed out to people who've never paid in. I'm talking about the world... not just this country.

I wouldn't say hating the corporate, and wealthy individual tax avoiders who collapsed the world economy was racist.

Although I do hate black people as well.

[Vicky.]

I believe many people are a little racist. Not all... but a lot. I can understand it. People don't want to see what they've worked for and contributed to handed out to people who've never paid in. I'm talking about the world... not just this country.

I don't get how that would be racism?

[Nedusa]

I recently stooped for a drink in a Pub in rural Sussex called the Labour in vain. I pondered over the name for a few moments but it was not until I was leaving when I looked up by the sign and saw a small picture of a black boy in a washtub being furiously scrubbed by the white housekeeper.

Is that a bit racist ?

[Jesus.]

I don't get how that would be racism?

I think it's inferring that the dwindling resources for the increasingly large poor population, combined with the issues and demonising of immigration, is viewed as the cause for any financial crisis we have, so reawakens inherent and underlying racism.

[Vicky.]

I think it's inferring that the dwindling resources for the increasingly large poor population, combined with the issues and demonising of immigration, is viewed as the cause for any financial crisis we have, so reawakens inherent and underlying racism.

Oh right, that makes total sense then. I read it as basically thinking those who had never pad in shouldnt take out was racism. Think I need to wake up properly or somthing :laugh:

[Black Dagger]

Not in the slightest.

I don't know if I come across as slightly patronising in the sense of loving practically every Asian person I see on television idk. But I have no issues with anybody in regards to their nationality and skin colour, it's what they're like as a person.

[InOne]

At school I was probably a bit racist because me and people I know were constantly getting jumped by and fighting with people of Pakistani decent. I hated all of them at that point but as I've got older and mixed properly with them in general society it's fine. Taxi drivers are the best to chat with because they known the score and can see both sides.

[Kizzy]

No not at all, I can actually never understand why people are judged by the colour of their skin or where they come from and not for the person they are. Writing off people because they come from a certain country/area/council estate and stereotyping them is just ignorance in my view.

This, many here are guilty of having an 'island mentality' though and are wary of cultures that differ from their own, it is ignorance but it comes across as racism imo.

[Kizzy]

I don't get how that would be racism?

It's not, that's a debate on immigration a totally separate issue.

[Livia]

I wouldn't say hating the corporate, and wealthy individual tax avoiders who collapsed the world economy was racist.

Although I do hate black people as well.

You know that the top 1% of earners pay a third of all tax in this country? They're not all the tax avoiders you would have us believe. Anyhoo, back to the topic in hand...

My grandparants and the few other assorted family members that were left, came to this country after the war as refugees and arrived with absolutely nothing. Although they were welcomed by some, they were treated with suspicion and sometimes openly accused of taking handouts that they weren't entitled to. That was in the 1940s, when there was barely anything to hand out. My family understood, the people had been through a war and had nothing themselves. Not that much has changed in some areas, I suspect. Areas where people from other backgrounds and cultures are a novelty and foreigners are treated with suspicion.



I don't get how that would be racism?

I meant non-indiginous people arriving and claiming stuff. I think that's already been answered though.

[Nedusa]

Why doesn't anyone just come out and say it.........???

Mass immigration and Multi-Culturalism have been a disaster for this Country.

Bottom line, the immigrants DON'T want to integrate into British culture , never have not really , they prefer instead to build little enclaves of their own culture and drive out the majority of people who were living there.

You only have to look around at vast swathes of England and cities like Birmingham,Bradford,Rochdale,Leeds and a hundred other places were you could be fooled into thinking you were living on the Sub-Continent.

there is no real integration Cultural or otherwise. some cultures just don't mix and don't want to mix that's the plain truth.

Mass immigration has not helped nor has the social stigma which labels people racist if they even try to have an honest debate. Add to this positive discrimination and Politicians hell bent on sustaining economic growth at all costs then you have your answer.

Are we all a little bit racist ?

Well for some people it's hard NOT to be.

[smeagol]

But is that not more Culturalist ? Are we mixing up race with culture.

nah i used culture to represent race rather than name each one but culture as in nationality is part of racisim.
people tend to think racisim is only againgst if you are black but there is plenty of racisim by those who think they are not againgst others,

[Nedusa]

nah i used culture to represent race rather than name each one but culture as in nationality is part of racisim.
people tend to think racisim is only againgst if you are black but there is plenty of racisim by those who think they are not againgst others,

Hating someone because they have different colour of skin is just simply ridiculous, if you do then you are certainly a racist.

Hating or disliking someone who is from a different culture which could have at it's heart a different religion is also wrong as it shows only ignorance and stupidity.

But if your elected leaders have sold your own culture down the river and forced you to embrace another culture or become a minority culture in your own locality, is that racism ? Would you not under those circumstances feel aggrieved ?

if you spoke out about this would you be labelled a racist ?

[Crimson Dynamo]

Hating someone because they have different colour of skin is just simply ridiculous, if you do then you are certainly a racist.

Hating or disliking someone who is from a different culture which could have at it's heart a different religion is also wrong as it shows only ignorance and stupidity.

But if your elected leaders have sold your own culture down the river and forced you to embrace another culture or become a minority culture in your own locality, is that racism ? Would you not under those circumstances feel aggrieved ?

if you spoke out about this would you be labelled a racist ?

I doubt anyone here would want to live in Bradford or any of the other ghettos like in Brum and London. I know I wouldnt

[Kizzy]

nah i used culture to represent race rather than name each one but culture as in nationality is part of racisim.
people tend to think racisim is only againgst if you are black but there is plenty of racisim by those who think they are not againgst others,

Then in the real sense of the word that isn't racism.

'Ethnic identity is acquired, and ethnic features are learned forms of behaviour. Race, on the other hand, is a form of identity that is perceived as innate and unalterable. Ethnicity may be transient and even superficial. Race is thought to be profound and grounded in biological realities. Ethnocentrism is based in a belief in the superiority of one's own culture over others, and it too may be transient and superficial. Racism is the belief in and promotion of the racial worldview described above. Ethnocentrism holds skin colour and other physical features to be irrelevant as long as one is a member of the same culture, or becomes so. The racial worldview holds that, regardless of behaviour or cultural similarities, a member of an inferior race (who is usually perceived to be so by means of physical features) can never be accepted. Race is an invented, fictional form of identity; ethnicity is based on the reality of cultural similarities and differences and the interests that they represent. That race is a social invention can be demonstrated by an examination of the history of the idea of race as experienced in the English colonies.'

http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-234663

[smeagol]

Then in the real sense of the word that isn't racism.

'Ethnic identity is acquired, and ethnic features are learned forms of behaviour. Race, on the other hand, is a form of identity that is perceived as innate and unalterable. Ethnicity may be transient and even superficial. Race is thought to be profound and grounded in biological realities. Ethnocentrism is based in a belief in the superiority of one's own culture over others, and it too may be transient and superficial. Racism is the belief in and promotion of the racial worldview described above. Ethnocentrism holds skin colour and other physical features to be irrelevant as long as one is a member of the same culture, or becomes so. The racial worldview holds that, regardless of behaviour or cultural similarities, a member of an inferior race (who is usually perceived to be so by means of physical features) can never be accepted. Race is an invented, fictional form of identity; ethnicity is based on the reality of cultural similarities and differences and the interests that they represent. That race is a social invention can be demonstrated by an examination of the history of the idea of race as experienced in the English colonies.'

http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-234663

racisim is not just a colour though. its like saying the welsh are all sheep shaggers or the ozzies saying the english are pommie beep beep lol
yet if you said anything similar towards other races you would be slaughted as a racist. yet its all the same thing.
skin doesn't matter , the problem with racisim is its so selective and people really do choose whats right and wrong, but only the person who screams the loudest will be right.

racisim is whatever you want it to be these days, unfortuantly. to whoever it suits best at the time.

[smeagol]

Hating someone because they have different colour of skin is just simply ridiculous, if you do then you are certainly a racist.

Hating or disliking someone who is from a different culture which could have at it's heart a different religion is also wrong as it shows only ignorance and stupidity.

But if your elected leaders have sold your own culture down the river and forced you to embrace another culture or become a minority culture in your own locality, is that racism ? Would you not under those circumstances feel aggrieved ?

if you spoke out about this would you be labelled a racist ?

you would indeed be labeled a racist. i was chatting with a group of people the other week. and someone mentioned immigration etc and it was funny everyone gave their view beginning with i'm not racist but..... lol cause people are so scared to have a opinion now for fear of the label.

i hate racists of any kind .i hate panic of the p.c brigade just as much. just need to look at bb. they cant say anything innocent anymore and it shouldn't be that way.

[Kizzy]

racisim is not just a colour though. its like saying the welsh are all sheep shaggers or the ozzies saying the english are pommie beep beep lol
yet if you said anything similar towards other races you would be slaughted as a racist. yet its all the same thing.
skin doesn't matter , the problem with racisim is its so selective and people really do choose whats right and wrong, but only the person who screams the loudest will be right.

racisim is whatever you want it to be these days, unfortuantly. to whoever it suits best at the time.

Race is your colour though...

It's ethnicity that is everything in between, the correct term as it stands is BME ( Black, minority ethnic) which covers many minority groups (including now the Cornish)
Prejudice is what you want it to be, and as UKIP are screaming the loudest at the moment many appear to be accepting their skewed opinion as gospel.

[smeagol]

Race is your colour though...

It's ethnicity that is everything in between, the correct term as it stands is BME ( Black, minority ethnic) which covers many minority groups (including now the Cornish)
Prejudice is what you want it to be, and as UKIP are screaming the loudest at the moment many appear to be accepting their skewed opinion as gospel.

it maybe was in the beginning but its not now. if a american said he hates all japanese thats racist yeah
if a american said he hates all african people thats racist yeah
but if a scottish person says they hate all english people is that not still racist.
or if iranians said they hate all americans etc etc
why would one be racist yet the other isnt.

thats the problem its only swinging one way. the correct answer should be all are. at least to me lol

[Kizzy]

it maybe was in the beginning but its not now. if a american said he hates all japanese thats racist yeah
if a american said he hates all african people thats racist yeah
but if a scottish person says they hate all english people is that not still racist.
or if iranians said they hate all americans etc etc
why would one be racist yet the other isnt.

thats the problem its only swinging one way. the correct answer should be all are. at least to me lol

That's because we aren't different races?... :conf:

[Jack_]

What Livia described and what you two are discussing is known as xenophobia, not racism.

Being Polish is not a race, it's a nationality.

[Livia]

What Livia described and what you two are discussing is known as xenophobia, not racism.

Being Polish is not a race, it's a nationality.

That's true, Jack. But it's lumped together under the banner of 'racism'. I'm sure Joe Public wouldn't be so stringent about the description of the word. Xenophobia, racism... same meat, different gravy.

[smeagol]

What Livia described and what you two are discussing is known as xenophobia, not racism.

Being Polish is not a race, it's a nationality.

but being african or pakistani is a race , thats the problem with the label it only works one way.
hating the polish is considered ok hating those i listed is called racisim lol
when does one become something else.

[Marc]

Yes everyone is

[King Gizzard]

If you were born without media/papers/general outside influence etc etc on a remote island with different coloured people and races you wouldn't know any better and thought it normal. So people aren't born racist

[King Gizzard]

same with any prejudice really, it is learned

[Braden]

I watched a C4 show not that long ago, which covered this topic. It was a very interesting watch, I was surprised with how much it exposed.

It's on YouTube, I'd recommend anyone to watch it:

6MYHBrJIIFU

[Mystic Mock]

I love my Black and Asian girls a little too much to even try to be racist.

But I've got tbh until I was in year 3 of Primary School I was a little racist because I actually never bothered to speak to any of the ethnic students (which I know was my own fault) but in the end once I got to know some of them I had an Asian best friend and I used to play a lot of Sport with the Black students but I was never as close with them though as they loved smoking Cigarettes at my School so it took me until Secondry School to get black friends that didn't want me to smoke Cigarettes and had more in common with.

[Me. I Am Salman]

no. even being remotely racist makes you a horrible person

when I say that though I mean people who see other races as inferior/view them with disgust etc. not necessarily someone who's anti-immigration for example

[Kizzy]

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, 1910:

''Why, even 'ere in Mugsborough,' chimed in Sawkins,`We're overrun with 'em! Nearly all the waiters and the cook at the Grand Hotel where we was working last month is foreigners.'

'Yes,' said old Joe Philpot, tragically, 'and then thers all them Hitalian horgin grinders, an' the blokes wot sells 'ot chestnuts; an' wen I was goin' 'ome last night I see a lot of them Frenchies sellin' hunions, an' a little wile afterwards I met two more of 'em comin' up the street with a bear.'

And so the talk continued, principally carried on by Crass and those who agreed with him. None of them really understood the subject: not one of them had ever devoted fifteen consecutive minutes to the earnest investigation of it. The papers they read were filled with vague and alarming accounts of the quantities of foreign merchandise imported into this country, the enormous number of aliens constantly arriving, and their destitute conditions, how they lived, the crimes they committed, and the injury they did to British trade. These were the seeds which, cunningly sown in their minds, caused to grow up within them a bitter undiscriminating hatred of foreigners... The country was in a hell of a state, poverty, hunger and misery in a hundred forms had already invaded thousands of homes and stood upon the thresholds of thousands more. How came these things to be? It was the bloody foreigner! Therefore, down with the foreigners and all their works. Out with them. Drive them b--s into the bloody sea! The country would be ruined if not protected in some way...It was all quite plain - quite simple. One did not need to think twice about it. It was scarcely necessary to think about it at all.''

[Livia]

no. even being remotely racist makes you a horrible person

when I say that though I mean people who see other races as inferior/view them with disgust etc. not necessarily someone who's anti-immigration for example

That's a great post Salman, and an important distinction to make. I think the fact that people haven't been allowed to express their worries about immigration for fear of being labelled a racist has made some people feel a little oppressed and to an extent fuelled UKIP's success.

[Nedusa]

This is a very difficult subject to discuss because many prejudices are grouped together under the banner of racism.

In my opinion as has been said earlier nobody is born racist it is a learned prejudice. however fear of strangers or xenophobia or religious ignorance or aversion to other cultures have all to a certain extent been grouped into this common racism banner.

Nobody should view other races or religions as inferior but they do perhaps through the prism of modernity whereby some of the practices are a little outdated in a modern world.

To an extent we all have a fear of change and are unsettled by rapid mass immigration as opposed to the normal age-old migration of peoples and cultures. Does this make us racist if we voice these perceived fears ?

My concern is that we have not be allowed to debate any of this for decades not since the first large influxes from the West Indies or Kenya, no real debate has been allowed and the stifling of this debate coupled with the rise of Nationalist parties like the National Front and the BNP have not helped either.

Only now with more moderate parties like UKIP highlighting immigration as part of a wider European agenda are we at last able to talk about this subject without the immediate label of racist being levied.

[bananarama]

This is a very difficult subject to discuss because many prejudices are grouped together under the banner of racism.

In my opinion as has been said earlier nobody is born racist it is a learned prejudice. however fear of strangers or xenophobia or religious ignorance or aversion to other cultures have all to a certain extent been grouped into this common racism banner.

Nobody should view other races or religions as inferior but they do perhaps through the prism of modernity whereby some of the practices are a little outdated in a modern world.

To an extent we all have a fear of change and are unsettled by rapid mass immigration as opposed to the normal age-old migration of peoples and cultures. Does this make us racist if we voice these perceived fears ?

My concern is that we have not be allowed to debate any of this for decades not since the first large influxes from the West Indies or Kenya, no real debate has been allowed and the stifling of this debate coupled with the rise of Nationalist parties like the National Front and the BNP have not helped either.

Only now with more moderate parties like UKIP highlighting immigration as part of a wider European agenda are we at last able to talk about this subject without the immediate label of racist being levied.


At last a post that explains the reality of human thought. The word "racist" is used in a careless way as is the the word "love".

Being against another persons culture is not racism it is basically a personality clash of opposing beliefs. Being against another belief is not being "phobic" either its simply a fact people have different viewpoints.....Because people have different beliefs should not mean they should be labelled either with the word racist or phobics.......

To label people in such a way is ignorance by those using such labels and such people need to take off thier self installed halo and remove their goody goody two shoes from their feet.....

Racism is about disliking some one because of their colour or nationality and no other valid reason.......

For example would it be fair to call someone a racist if they are opposed the the genital mutilation of girls that some cultures practice. Or would you call such a person "phobic". Of course not .......

So people when you are using the word racist stop and think what it really is........If you do that you can safely assume that most people are not racist.

[Ammi]

This is a very difficult subject to discuss because many prejudices are grouped together under the banner of racism.

In my opinion as has been said earlier nobody is born racist it is a learned prejudice. however fear of strangers or xenophobia or religious ignorance or aversion to other cultures have all to a certain extent been grouped into this common racism banner.

Nobody should view other races or religions as inferior but they do perhaps through the prism of modernity whereby some of the practices are a little outdated in a modern world.

To an extent we all have a fear of change and are unsettled by rapid mass immigration as opposed to the normal age-old migration of peoples and cultures. Does this make us racist if we voice these perceived fears ?

My concern is that we have not be allowed to debate any of this for decades not since the first large influxes from the West Indies or Kenya, no real debate has been allowed and the stifling of this debate coupled with the rise of Nationalist parties like the National Front and the BNP have not helped either.

Only now with more moderate parties like UKIP highlighting immigration as part of a wider European agenda are we at last able to talk about this subject without the immediate label of racist being levied.

..I agree with the first part of your post Nedusa...people aren't born with prejudice, it's a learned thing and only education can unlearn it and begin to change views...I don't think it's anything to do with politics though, I don't think opinions are going to be altered at all there, I think it's something that has to be addressed at a very young age and through education but that can only happen if all influences are co-operative because it's often learned in the home and in the general environment etc of that person...I think to a certain extent, some older people's views will never change because they're so instilled in them from childhood and through life so in a way, they can't help it and don't often realise that they're saying racist things or being racist but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't always be pointed out to them because it should but their 'influences' are also their peers who are often like-minded to them so it's hard for them to actually see it...anyway, with children, I know some people feel that religion shouldn't be taught in schools/has no place in schools...but I think it's only through teaching/educating and understanding different religions/cultures etc that we can teach children to be tolerant and unprejudiced which will carry on into adulthood...religion in schools isn't about, oh let's learn about God today...it very much focuses on different faiths/beliefs/cultures etc and learning about them...

[joeysteele]

..I agree with the first part of your post Nedusa...people aren't born with prejudice, it's a learned thing and only education can unlearn it and begin to change views...I don't think it's anything to do with politics though, I don't think opinions are going to be altered at all there, I think it's something that has to be addressed at a very young age and through education but that can only happen if all influences are co-operative because it's often learned in the home and in the general environment etc of that person...I think to a certain extent, some older people's views will never change because they're so instilled in them from childhood and through life so in a way, they can't help it and don't often realise that they're saying racist things or being racist but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't always be pointed out to them because it should but their 'influences' are also their peers who are often like-minded to them so it's hard for them to actually see it...anyway, with children, I know some people feel that religion shouldn't be taught in schools/has no place in schools...but I think it's only through teaching/educating and understanding different religions/cultures etc that we can teach children to be tolerant and unprejudiced which will carry on into adulthood...religion in schools isn't about, oh let's learn about God today...it very much focuses on different faiths/beliefs/cultures etc and learning about them...

I agree with all you have said above,great post and a good post again from Nedusa too.

However,I do in part blame politicians too,for too long now the issue of immigration for example has become a tug of war and competition between the parties.

No moreso than these last few years with 2 main parties at it and then UKIP going on and on about it which all helps fuel suspicion and dislike of different races and cultures.
Until politicians 'grow up' and remove immigration from party politics and agree on a set plan as to the issue then you will always have our rotten media printing over the top stories on immigration,with the governing politicians and other parties handing the ammunition to the media.

This all then results on people of different races and culture being blamed for near all ills in the UK and fuels racism, it's time the politicians woke up to that fact.

I do agree with you Ammi that more needs to be done in schools to combat racism in any form and I also don't believe people are born racist, it is as many have said a learned thing.
That issue being dealt with in schools could help in the racism that is instilled in the home by racist people who likely near brainwash their children into thinking the way they do.
Will such a day come, I doubt it, not while we have these main parties looking for scapegoats to blame for all their mistakes and the ills in the UK.

At a stroke the parties at Westminster could do a great deal to help with racism of any kind by taking the issue of immigration 'out' of politics altogether.
Then start acting like decent grown ups by building concensus policies as to the issue of immigration particularly.

[Kizzy]

At last a post that explains the reality of human thought. The word "racist" is used in a careless way as is the the word "love".

Being against another persons culture is not racism it is basically a personality clash of opposing beliefs. Being against another belief is not being "phobic" either its simply a fact people have different viewpoints.....Because people have different beliefs should not mean they should be labelled either with the word racist or phobics.......

To label people in such a way is ignorance by those using such labels and such people need to take off thier self installed halo and remove their goody goody two shoes from their feet.....

Racism is about disliking some one because of their colour or nationality and no other valid reason.......

For example would it be fair to call someone a racist if they are opposed the the genital mutilation of girls that some cultures practice. Or would you call such a person "phobic". Of course not .......

So people when you are using the word racist stop and think what it really is........If you do that you can safely assume that most people are not racist.

No they are ignorant, and it doesn't excuse it for me to say they have always been ignorant or their friends/family are ignorant for me.
We live in a multicultural environment, there are many diverse communities I'm not accepting of any groups or individuals who can't or won't integrate due to inherent prejudice, or worse spread their message of fear and mistrust based on bigotry.

[Nedusa]

No they are ignorant, and it doesn't excuse it for me to say they have always been ignorant or their friends/family are ignorant for me.
We live in a multicultural environment, there are many diverse communities I'm not accepting of any groups or individuals who can't or won't integrate due to inherent prejudice, or worse spread their message of fear and mistrust based on bigotry.

You make a good point Kizzy and I agree fear, ignorance and mistrust all play their part in creating prejudice against people(s) who are different in race creed and/or colour.

However I still maintain that the forced rate of change in our Society which has been engineered by Politicians over the last 50 years has been far too quick and has resulted in stoking the fears of vast numbers of people who for generations had no multicultural exposure.

People generally do not like change and certainly not change that is perceived as rapid and life altering.

Mass immigration in my opinion in this Country has been uncontrolled and unplanned and badly executed and as a result we are now in the mess we are in.

[Glenn.]

On scale of Martin Luther King to Justin Bieber I'd say I was a Martin.

[Kizzy]

Globalisation allows people to move about, and they do.
Expecting differing cultures to assimilate is a long shot but it can be done I hope with mutual respect. From a sociological perspective it will take a long period of adjustment but the socio political message of UKIP et al is really counterproductive for any kind of integration.