LONDON, May 28 (UPI) -- A new British Social Attitudes Report shows that one-third of people in Britain admit to racial prejudice, an increase from ten years ago.
When the survey began in 1983, 36 percent of Britons admitted to being a little or very prejudiced. That number saw a steady decline until 2001 when it was reported that only 25 percent surveyed admitted to some degree of prejudice. However over the next 12 years, the percentage spiked to 30 percent in 2013.
The numbers changed based on location, age, education level, and occupation. Only 16 percent surveyed in inner London admitted to racial prejudice compared to the 35 percent in the West Midlands. Only 19 percent of those who held a degree said they had some feelings of racial prejudice versus the 38 percent who held no higher education.
Although there is a significant gap in statistics between the educated and the non-educated, educated male professionals saw the biggest rise in racial prejudice of any group.
Related
- Mark Cuban on bigotry: 'We're all prejudiced in one way or the other'
- NBA formally charges Donald Sterling, termination vote set for June 3
- Claims of racism kill bid to name part of Lake Tahoe after Mark Twain
- Sen. Marco Rubio says Charlie Crist will embarrass Democrats
- Charlie Crist left the GOP over party's racism
- Police arrest fan accused of throwing banana at Daniel Alves
There are several factors that could be contributing to the rise. Attitudes may have adjusted in accordance with people's reaction to the 9/11 attacks. The most likely culprit, though, is increasingly bristly attitudes toward immigration.
More than 90 percent of those who admitted to being racially prejudiced to some degree said they wanted to see a reduction in the number of immigrants coming to the UK. In addition, 73 percent of people who said they weren't racially prejudiced also said they would like to see a reduction in immigration.
Penny Young, chief director of the survey company NatCen, noted the findings as "troubling" but also admitted that self-reported prejudice is "very difficult" to study in detail.
"Racial prejudice, in whatever guise, is undoubtedly still part of the national psyche," said Alison Park, co-director of the survey.
Experts in the field are skeptical of the survey as they believe the measure does not provide enough accuracy.
Director of the think tank British Future Sunder Katwala called it a "difficult measure to use" and said, "It's quite a complicated way of doing it and not a good way to track things over time."
University of Manchester Politics professor Dr. Rob Ford criticized the survey technique saying, "The problem is there is no definition of 'prejudice' offered in the question".
