On Radio 5 yesterday they were doing a vox pop of attitudes towards living within diverse communities. The general consensus was that people like to live with others like themselves.
This shouldn't really be a surprise. Many/most/significant numbers of people don't like change, and they like to live where they feel they can trust or be trusted.
I grew up in an Italian immigrant family, yet my Mum was English. When I look back I get the vaguest sense that my conscious approval/disapproval of cultural and ethnic differences came from her. It wasn't her fault, she was formed by a totally different time with long outdated attitudes. I'm different. I grew up when the UK was dramatically altering its ethnic balance. So I was educated to appreciate the checks and balances. As far as I know, my Dad wasn't racist. He was a couple of unfortunate things, but not that. My Mum was [is, she's still kicking], I believe, but she kept it largely to herself. I have always believed that I am not racist, but if I'm brutally honest with myself I have to say that I am, because I see the differences first before my rational, educated side takes over. Like me, my sister sees the differences [we talked recently about this] and feels the same way. We are slightly ashamed of ourselves because we thought we were better than that. Our younger generation do not see the differences. They grew up in a culturally diverse world and we didn't pass on any taint of what was inadvertently programmed into us. So they are entirely free of it.
This wrangling with attitudes to ethnicity is going to die out in time with the generations. I would have hoped by now that it was over, but it seems we have to go the long route. As comedian Jim Jefferies said rather well a few years back, society only progresses at the pace of the slowest person. The fastest ones show the way. As it happens, I would have no problems with living in a diverse community, yet I largely don't, although I'm the ethnic minority here. Is that an accident.?
