How different can your beliefs be and remain friends?

[Bideo]

I'm well known in my friendship group as a bleeding heart lefty, with the rest of them being (I thought) slightly right of centre.

Two of them went on the Tommy Robinson March last weekend. They didn't invite me (naturally), knew what I'd say if they did, but it was no secret with posts on FB etc.

Amoung our wider circle there's been a bit of a backlash. One man of Asian origin posted, not in direct response, but I expect it was in response iyswim, about how upsetting it was to see people he knows supprting this racist march. Now this is the most mild mannered man. Completely westernised in his daily life, supports his parents' customs for things like weddings and festivals. Professional job and a huge volunteer. If we talk about contribution he does much more than most.

I replied with something much more neutral than it might have been about how upsetting it is to see people being sucked in by the hate, even if they believe they were there for other reasons, the undertone is there and you can't support a rally like that without supporting the man and his ethos. It felt important to support this man who must be finding the general atmosphere where we live very uncomfortable currently.

As you'd expect it hasn't gone down well with the people who went on the march, who believe they went on the March in protest at illegal immigration and are not at all racist against anyone who is here legally.

I suspect on the surface, it will blow over, but....

Several posters have the luxury of being able to 'see past' their friend's views that 'slip into' racism. Because these views do not directly affect them.

Lucky you.
I will never accept someone who thinks that I and my children are 'less than' them because of our skin colour.

I agree with you. Everyone has their red lines - racism is one of mine. It's an inexcusable deep and serious character flaw.

Not to mention a safety issue. It would be stupid of me to be friends with racists. I just don't have that privilege.

@MNHQ I wonder if the moderators would like to comment on why people are allowed to make highly offensive remarks about older people, based on bigotry, stereotypes and prejudice, but pointing out that that is no different than acting in the same way based on race gets the comment deleted? Is ageism another one of those categories of hate speech that MNHQ do not care about?

Been thinking on what you've said.
I didn't think my post was racist but I may have misjudged mis-worded my query based on my experience with my acquaintances.
One thing genuinely confuses me - was the OP racist in her opening post. Did she need to point out that the most defamatory comment against those who went on the March was made by an Asian. Surely her point was about the comment and how it affects the group going forward- how does the race of the commenter have any bearing?

Because the marches are aimed at the Asian man. They’re hate marches that want anyone who isn’t white out for no other reason than the fact that they have a different skin colour or religion… this is why people struggle to be friends with anyone who has attended these. This is why your intelligence is questioned when you support stances like this.

As above. It has bearing because the marches are racist and are specifically aimed at Asians, Muslims and anyone with dark skin. I can't believe you couldn't work that out. Being non white in the UK is bloody scary right now.

It’s hard… one of my best friends is a raging right winging trump lover, whereas I’m a lefty.
We have lots of debates, and I enjoy it. Over the years I’ve seen new perspectives and now would say we actually agree with each other on 90% of life, we just see the path to getting there differently sometimes.
However, If he didn’t agree with my right to have an abortion, or wished harm on a minority group, or something in similar vain, we could never be friends. Everyone has a line, you’ve just got to work out where yours is drawn.
For years I thought my uncle was a racist, because he’d use words in conversation that To Me were racist. One day I came to see his band play and realised none of his friends were white..
People are odd.