I think the Asian girl was possibly a little too young to admit her own fallibilities, as I'm sure I was then. It still made for fascinating viewing. The older lady, and both men the night before fully acknowledged that they had so many prejudices and preconceptions about what they might encounter that they were more open to being proven wrong.
Both shows were encouraging, in that even if racism was suspected, it wasn't rampant. What was so interesting to me was the paranoia that can develop when you are aware of being a minority. It must be so scary, but it makes me question my own attitudes more. I go to Brixton quite a lot, and as a white person I can feel quite self-consious and ultra-aware of myself. I'd always felt quite ashamed of this, because being a minority on a bus doesn't compare with being a minority in your school, work-place or country.
This program has taught me that I need to relax, those feelings are daft, but quite natural. If another ethnic group seems shy, quiet, or surly, it may be because they expect a certain behaviour from me, and I should take responsibility for showing them otherwise.
Another learning point was that all the individuals featured were different. We can't extrapolate from their experiences to the general population, but have to remember that we're all individuals. I hope they do more shows of this type, because I'm sure we could all learn so much more.
It did make me slightly paranoid. A black man asked me for bus advice this morning, and although my advice wasn't wrong, I realised he could have got where he was going by a much more direct route after he'd left. As I gave 100% accurate bus advice to a white woman yesterday (I have an approachable face) I fear comparisons could be made!
