With Barack Obama being sworn in today it seems a good moment to give ourselves a small pat on the back for being the least racist country in Europe and also for the House of Lords being more diverse in its ethnicity and disability than the Commons. I have always known that racism in most of Europe is worse than here since the late Bernie Grant MP said to me that if I thought things were bad here I ought to go to the continent.
Trevor Phillips head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission mentioned a number of telling statistics. 25% of Britons say they would prefer to live in an all white area compared to 37% in Denmark, 42% in Belgium, 44% in Greece and 39% in Portugal. Only a small minority of Britons (12%) would mind if a close relative married a black or Asian person.
So keep working at it folks and please encourage the political parties to put forward more ethnic minority candidates.
What’s that saying about faint praise?
I’d feel a lot better about our collective scores as non-racists if we didn’t routinely arrest people called Muhammed without charge and if the Daily Express didn’t print one fictitious headline a week about how immigrants are taking all our jobs. Better than the continent we may be, but we still have an awfully long way to go.
12% may be a minority, but I wouldn’t call it small; it’s certainly a larger number than I expected. Perhaps I’m too naive?
AngryTechnician
You probably just don’t know enough white people in Bolton or Oldham or other towns like that. Extreme racism of the kind that leads people to express opinions like that to pollsters (as opposed to the more mundane kind where people would object to inter-racial marriage but would know absolutely that this was not something one would say to any prying stranger on a telephone) tends to occur most in pockets of poverty outside major cities. Living in London or Manchester can colour your experiences.
On that note, though, I assume that when Lord Soley said “12% of Britons” he meant “12% of White Britons”. I don’t imagine many Britons of black or asian descent would have an issue with their families marrying other black or asian people. Although they might have an issue with them marrying a white person. And heaven help the Jewish men who upset their mothers by marrying Goyim ladies.
Speaking of faint praise, this quote from Mr Phillips is telling of how far there is yet to go:
Food for thought, I’d hope.
What about level of razism in Italy? I Think we are on the top of list. What do you tell me about?