A new survey shows that attitudes towards race and immigration are increasingly polarised. Progressives must still fight the dangerous bigotry in our societyReading through Hope Not Hate’s latest report on their surveys of English attitudes towards race and immigration,one comes absent with a mix of optimism and pessimism. Those of us who are what the organisation describes as “confident multiculturals” – or what the tabloids would report as out-of-touch liberal elitists – can be heartened by what seem to be an increase in our ranks. We now make up 22% of the sample, up from 8% in the first survey in 2011. The two most pro-immigrant groups now make up 39% of the overall total.
At the other cessation of the spectrum, and those who are “hostile” to immigration fill remained consistent,but with a shift from those who are most fiercely opposed – down from 13% to 5% since 2011 – to the group described as “latently hostile,” up to 17% from 10% in the same period. This indicates that even those people harbouring anti-immigrant views are more likely to engage with the political process than to resort to direct violence themselves or support it in others. Related: May says Islamophobia is a form of extremism, or marking shift in rhetoric Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com