1 | 1 | | There can be no arguments for racism, but does it still exist? Does it depend on |
| 2 | | what area you live in? Has society become less or more racist over the years? Four Just |
| 3 | | Seventeen readers gathered around the table to discuss these issues and more. Hannah |
| 4 | | and Nicole are black, James is coloured and Pam is white. |
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2 | 5 | | How would you define racism? |
| 6 | | Pam: I'd say it was judging people by the colour of their skin, not necessarily in a bad |
| 7 | | way - but just taking them at face value, and making a judgement because of their skin |
| 8 | | colour. |
| 9 | | Nicole: It's not always about the colour of their skin, is it? I mean I think jokes about the |
| 10 | | Irish are really racist, too. |
| 11 | | Pam: But usually, don't you agree that racism in the first place is associated with skin |
| 12 | | colour? I take your point, Nicole, but it doesn't automatically come to my mind that I |
| 13 | | was being racist if I told an Irish joke. |
| 14 | | James: Also, I think there's a fine line to racism which comes down to knowing when |
| 15 | | you're insulting someone. Some Irish people may find an Irish joke funny and some Irish |
| 16 | | people would find it offensive - you have to be careful who you're saying things to, and |
| 17 | | you should know a person really well before you do say something that could be taken as |
| 18 | | racist. |
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3 | 19 | | Do you think you may have been racist in the past without knowing it? |
| 20 | | Hannah: I think I probably may have been racist in the past, but I'd never mean to be. |
| 21 | | It's just things like music for instance; if I heard a white person say 'Oh yeah, I was |
| 22 | | listening to Maxi Priest the other day ... I really like reggae,' I'd probably think, 'Is that |
| 23 | | her idea of reggae? She probably doesn't understand it,' and I'd probably assume that |
| 24 | | that was because she is white. |
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4 | 25 | | Do you think racism still exists in Britain? |
| 26 | | James: I think a lot of it depends on the area. I mean it's definitely not as bad as it used |
| 27 | | to be in places like London, where there are lots of different ethnic groups. But if you go |
| 28 | | up to the North in the countryside, where there are hardly any black or Asian people, |
| 29 | | then people are more racist. |
| 30 | | Nicole: I don't think that you can say that because often it's just that people probably |
| 31 | | haven't really seen many black people in their community, so they stare at you. They're |
| 32 | | not necessarily anti-blacks because they are looking at you. |
| 33 | | Pam: I think the more there are things on national TV that are not putting black people |
| 34 | | into situations where they are criminals and the like, then people will be more prepared |
| 35 | | to accept black people as individuals like any other people, what ever area they live in. |
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5 | 36 | | Do you think the media encourage racism? |
| 37 | | Hannah: Well, if you think about it, you hardly ever see a black person advertising a car |
| 38 | | or video on TV. |
| 39 | | Nicole: That's right. According to advertisers, black people don't have washing machines, |
| 40 | | they don't use Persil, they don't have families. In fact, the only black people that are |
| 41 | | actually on the telly in adverts are babies. |
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6 | 42 | | Do you think racism will in the end disappear completely? |
| 43 | | Hannah: Weil, it can only get better. |
| 44 | | James: It's definitely getting better. |
| 45 | | Nicole: But plenty of people are still racist, so why should it ever change? |
| 46 | | James: Yes, but it's not people of our age who are racist. |
| 47 | | Nicole: Oh, I don't know about that! |
| 48 | | Hannah: I think it's getting better because children are growing up with different views |
| 49 | | because they are growing up with kids who are from different racial groups. |
| 50 | | Nicole: Yeah, but kids can have racist parents and if they put racist attitudes into their |
| 51 | | kids, then racism will always be there. |
| 52 | | Pam: But do you think our generation will do that to their children? |
| 53 | | Nicole: Yeah, because their parents have already done it. |
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| | | from 'Just Seventeen', December 7, 1988 |