Aren't We Glad It's Not That's Way Anymore

@HootyTheNightOwl The USA abolished its apartheid State laws decades ago, though still historically very recently. That swimming-pool incident was in 1958.

The difficulty is in removing generations'-worth of ingrained social attitudes among populations who on the whole, know little about the outside world; and if modern developments reinforce those attitudes they will take even longer to fade away.

The hatred of immigrants in the UK and other European nations arises by perceptions, by seeing what appears an unending stream of people who end up Goodness-knows-where but unable to find the work, housing etc. the traffickers have convinced them exist.

Despite casual racism, at least Britain never had apartheid by law.

@ArishMell We didn't have laws banning racial segregation, either - until the 1960's.

@HootyTheNightOwl No, but the problem was a lot less severe. We created laws to end such segregation; and not just against racial prejudice.

On the other hand, the USA had had to end not just prejudice, but segregation compulsory by law in some of its States in the first place. (Similarly to South Africa.)

Most European nations did not have such laws even in the era of participating in the slave-trade. They had racist attitudes but not because the law mandated that.

I know that's the sad part

@HumanEarth A couple of years ago, I noticed more black people up on the estate and I really felt sorry for them, knowing what they will have to face in this community.

There's a reason why we've stayed mostly white for so long... and that's because most of the black people in this area owned shops and travel in from the cities where black people tend to be more accepted and less of a minority than they are here.