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| Can you really be 'a little' prejudiced? | Can you really be 'a little' prejudiced? |
| (2 days later) | |
| This column doesn't try to make things simple. Diversity in the UK isn't simple. The landscape has many shades. | This column doesn't try to make things simple. Diversity in the UK isn't simple. The landscape has many shades. |
| But you can take the nuance thing too far and I have started to wonder about one of the findings of the latest British Attitudes Survey. Overall, it said, we're becoming less religious; less fussed about gay relationships and gay marriage. This is good. | But you can take the nuance thing too far and I have started to wonder about one of the findings of the latest British Attitudes Survey. Overall, it said, we're becoming less religious; less fussed about gay relationships and gay marriage. This is good. |
| Respondents were also asked how they would describe themselves in terms of their view of other races – very prejudiced, a little prejudiced or not prejudiced at all. Seventy two per cent said "not at all prejudiced" and, pleasingly, just 2% said "very". Poor Nick Griffin. All that and for what? | Respondents were also asked how they would describe themselves in terms of their view of other races – very prejudiced, a little prejudiced or not prejudiced at all. Seventy two per cent said "not at all prejudiced" and, pleasingly, just 2% said "very". Poor Nick Griffin. All that and for what? |
| But then we come to the 24% who self-described as "a little prejudiced". Can you be a little prejudiced? Isn't it like being pregnant? Either you are or you aren't. | But then we come to the 24% who self-described as "a little prejudiced". Can you be a little prejudiced? Isn't it like being pregnant? Either you are or you aren't. |
| There is a commonly expressed view that might explain this. It says that everyone has an innate affinity for their own and therefore can only have a secondary level of affinity for other groups. But is that a sustainable explanation? And does it equal prejudice? I take soundings. "You can't be a little prejudiced," says Harmit Athwal of the Institute of Race Relations. "This is those people who will declare that they can't be racist because they have a few black mates. Prejudice is prejudice. There isn't really a middle option." | There is a commonly expressed view that might explain this. It says that everyone has an innate affinity for their own and therefore can only have a secondary level of affinity for other groups. But is that a sustainable explanation? And does it equal prejudice? I take soundings. "You can't be a little prejudiced," says Harmit Athwal of the Institute of Race Relations. "This is those people who will declare that they can't be racist because they have a few black mates. Prejudice is prejudice. There isn't really a middle option." |
| Rob Berkeley at the Runnymede Trust gets the drift. "There is a line in the musical Avenue Q that says everyone is a little bit racist. But what does this mean? Does it mean: 'I like black people but not Muslims.' I suppose you could say: 'I am not as prejudiced as Hitler' or 'I am not violently prejudiced'. But even non-violent prejudice is prejudice." We can't accept even low-level prejudice, he says. "Accept that and you never move forward." | Rob Berkeley at the Runnymede Trust gets the drift. "There is a line in the musical Avenue Q that says everyone is a little bit racist. But what does this mean? Does it mean: 'I like black people but not Muslims.' I suppose you could say: 'I am not as prejudiced as Hitler' or 'I am not violently prejudiced'. But even non-violent prejudice is prejudice." We can't accept even low-level prejudice, he says. "Accept that and you never move forward." |
| But it's complicated. I consult the Conservative activist Harry Phibbs. "I think it's explicable," he says. "You might have someone who isn't racist but has a fear of the unknown. You might have someone who sees difference and then displays what George W Bush called the 'soft bigotry of low expectations'." That can be just as damaging. | But it's complicated. I consult the Conservative activist Harry Phibbs. "I think it's explicable," he says. "You might have someone who isn't racist but has a fear of the unknown. You might have someone who sees difference and then displays what George W Bush called the 'soft bigotry of low expectations'." That can be just as damaging. |
| Harry says he would have declared himself not at all prejudiced. As would most of us. We express hope as much as anything else. | Harry says he would have declared himself not at all prejudiced. As would most of us. We express hope as much as anything else. |
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