One in Four British Persons Admit to Holding Racial Prejudices

By Little India Desk | October 1, 2017

One in four British people and one-third of Brexit Leave voters admitted to holding racially prejudiced views. As many as 22 per cent of them admitted that they would mind if a close relative of theirs is about to marry a person of black, West Indian or Asian origin, a survey showed.

World Advances, Racism Prevails

The survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and Runnymede among 2,200 people showed that 26 per cent of the participants described themselves as being “very” or “a little” prejudiced towards people of other races.

While 34 per cent of the Leave voters admitted to holding racist attitudes, 18 percent of Remain voters held similar views. Men were found to be more likely to be racially prejudiced than women.

The study also found that the acceptance of same-sex marriages has increased quickly in the last four years, especially among Christians.

The Racial Prejudice in Britain Today study has been conducted since 1983. The number of people saying they are racially prejudiced has never fallen below a quarter ever, peaking at 39 per cent in 1987 and hitting 37 per cent in 2011.

“These numbers provide clear evidence that a significant minority of people in Britain feel prejudiced towards people of other races,” Nancy Kelley, the deputy chief executive of NatCen, said. “Prejudice on this scale is something we as a society should be concerned about, not least as there is a significant body of evidence that even subtle racial prejudices contribute to racial inequality in areas such as education, employment and in the criminal justice system.”

Dr. Omar Khan, the director of Runnymede, said that the findings of the study are deeply concerning. “This matters because the picture across society is one of the unequal outcomes for BME citizens. People are consciously and unconsciously making decisions that impact negatively on black and Asian communities. We have been far too complacent about a rising wave of tolerance leading to a less prejudiced society,” he said.

“While it is true that a majority of the public do not consider themselves racially prejudiced, a considerable minority describe them as prejudiced, and there are sound reasons to believe both that the actual prevalence of racial prejudice is likely to be higher, and that some of this prejudice is of a very significant nature, such as believing that some races are born less intelligent,” the report said.

Profiling of Muslims and Arabs Receiving Support

The attitudes in the United Kingdom toward the Arab world earlier indicated that more than half of the British population support the profiling of Muslims and Arabs, citing security reasons.

The study revealed that more than 80 per cent of the Leave voters believe that the Arabs and Muslims who migrated to the United Kingdom live in isolated communities and have failed to integrate with Western societies. On the other hand, 45 per cent of the Remain voters held similar beliefs, getting the average to 60 per cent.

Only 28 per cent of British people believe that migration of Arabs and Muslims will benefit the nation.