To be shocked by the racism of some people

[frogspoon]

I was reading an article on the BBC website, which to give it credit I thought was relatively balanced and factual.

And then I read the comments. Some of them are rather vile. What shocked me the most was that the most racist and bigoted comments were the highest rated (by the public) and the most tolerant comments were lowest rated.

This isn't the Daily Mail, it's the BBC! Currently feeling ashamed to call myself British right now.

Out of interest -why are you ashamed to call yourself British?

re the article - sadly, there will always be ignorant and bigoted people, I fear. It's nothing to do with the ethnicity of the group they hate, it's about their need to hate someone. Anyone would do. they pick on colour etc because it's easy. If we were all the same colour, these people would find something to hate. height, perhaps. Eye colour. If we were all clones, these people would choose their hate based on which street you lived on!

We need to see these people for what they are. Pathetic little scrotes who just need someone to hate and blame for whatever they feel is wrong with their life.

Well said Hectate.

BBC comments section is notorious for bringing out the nutters and extremists. They're not representative of society in general. I stopped reading comments a long time ago.

Don't be depressed or ashamed. Most people are reasonable.

True, very true. you don't have to be white to be racist. You also don't have to be white to be british.

Ignorant people are ignorant people, regardless colour, nationality, etc.

It's nothing new.

The estate build where I live was started in the 1930's and expanded through the 1950's as London started to grow post war.

Most of the original residents here, came from areas like Brixton, which became settled by West Indians. I am talking about 1950's attitude here before anyone leaps on me. White people moved to get away from the ghettos that started to spring up and drive down their property prices.

It's a slow gradual process, but I'm seeing the same thing here again. that generation of 1950's immigrants have grown up, and need to buy property so they are moving out, and the white people here are on the move again - this time they are older with golden pensions and can afford to move right away to Devon and the like, rather than a few miles.

As ever, the whole thing comes back to education and social housing. I can only talk about relatively local places - so if the council decide to house eg all the Somalis in Thamesmead, another ghetto is created, ditto all the Romas in Crayford. IF they were a wide distribution pattern, ghettos wouldnt exist, people would be able to integrate more easily and thus become more easily accepted.

FWIW - I dont understand this whole Polish thing that seems to be going on. 200,000 Poles settled here after WWII - there was never any issues 80 years ago with them settling here. They were much loved and accepted into the community, they managed to establish their own churches and traditions without ostracising the local communities they moved and married into.

I think that is possibly a lot of the issues surrounding mass immigration, the ghettos. If you want to leave Somalia and settle here and become a beneficial member of British society - no problem; however if you want to some here bringing all the strife of a war torn country, with all its tribal issues and re create Mogadishu - big problem for those living in that area.

*I don't like 'ghetto' but I cant think of another adequate descriptor