The state taboo against admitting racial prejudice

LINK to Guardian article, Britons need to start talking about race, by Lola Adesioye

While Americans are quite open about the prejudices in their society, we Brits like to pretend that we don't have them.

That is because in Britain everyone is under massive social, political and economic pressure to pretend that they don't have them, especially those making a career for themselves in politics or the media, who between them dominate public opinion, and where (feigned) "colourblindness" (indifference to ethnic difference) is a condition of employment. You would never gain admittance, or immediately be out on your ear, if you were to admit to any feelings of racial prejudice.

If there is one thing which characterizes human nature, however, it is prejudice. We are all stuffed full of it - including racial prejudice. But because state ideology condemns it as evil, i.e. "racist", most people suppress and deny it, even to themselves.

Very few (only those who are genuinely "colourblind") in politics or the media can afford to be honest, even with themselves or behind closed doors, about how they really feel about race and ethnicity.