It took a well-known footballer to not only highlight the vile racial abuse black footballers are suffering, week in, week out, at the hands of supporters, but also to rebuke the media for the way it treats black players differently from their white colleagues and to prompt a necessary public debate on the issue. Raheem Sterling, who plays for Manchester City and the English national team, was on the receiving end of some ugly verbal abuse from Chelsea supporters in a recent match, but he has also not been spared from a barrage of press criticism throughout his career. However, the overt racism that is demonstrated during football games is just one facet of that revolting phenomenon in our societies. It tells only part of the story of this prevailing and cancerous attitude in Britain and many other countries; some of it deliberate, some of its subconscious. The latter is no better, nor can it serve as an excuse, since it indicates the extent to which racism is ingrained in individuals and groups. Racism can manifest itself in a formal way, such as the British government’s policy of creating a “hostile environment” for migrants, which was conceived in the prejudiced, bureaucratic minds of Home Office officials not so long ago, when current Prime Minister Theresa May was Home Secretary. This is a policy that, among other unfortunate effects, resulted in the ongoing Windrush scandal, in which people who arrived in Britain long ago as children from the Caribbean, and whose parents had been invited to the country to supplement its post-Second World War workforce, were suddenly and without warning deported in large numbers to the countries their parents originally came from, even though they themselves have only the faintest connection with those places. Racism can also take a less formal guise, demonstrated in comments to British-born members of ethnic minorities, such as “Where do you really come from?” or “When do you plan to return home?” A recent ICM Unlimited poll on behalf of the Guardian newspaper portrays a disturbing picture of the bias and prejudice that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people face every day in Britain. Among the 1,000 BAME people interviewed, a majority (57 percent) said that they have to work harder to succeed in Britain because of their ethnicity, and more than two-thirds (69 percent) thought that Britain today has a problem with racism. As the survey clearly indicates, people from ethnic minorities have a strong sense of being stereotyped and discriminated against in ways that are detrimental to their standard of living and quality of life, and also have an adverse impact on their identity and how they feel about their country and their non-BAME compatriots. There are those in Britain who have never been in favor of its diverse and multicultural nature. Especially following the Second World War, their tolerance of immigrants was down to a reluctant recognition of the need for incoming labor from abroad to rebuild the country and support its economy thereafter; or, even less positively, considered as a price to pay in order to be part of the EU. They never expected nor wanted such immigrants to stay and become part of the social fabric. Their attitude derives from an unholy combination of fear of the other, fear of change, and sheer xenophobia, most of it fueled by ignorance. And, as the social makeup has changed before their eyes, they have resorted to racism and sought “evidence” to confirm their prejudices. Ethnic minorities feel under constant pressure to prove to the rest of society that what it thinks about them is not a true reflection of who they are, and that the way they are being treated is plainly wrong and hurtful. Yossi Mekelberg Hence, as shocking as the results emerging from the ICM/Guardian survey may be, they should come as no surprise, as we are seeing ample evidence of racism in all walks of life. The Brexit debacle, for example, is about xenophobia more than any other issue; it is immigration that most bothers those who support Britain’s departure from the EU. For years the fight against racism has been slow, half-hearted and less than convincing in its sincerity or resource allocation. There is no escaping the evidence from the ICM/Guardian survey: Ethnic minorities feel under constant pressure to prove to the rest of society that what it thinks about them is not a true reflection of who they are, and that the way they are being treated is plainly wrong and hurtful. How can we expect BAME people in Britain to feel an integral part of society if more than two in five of them say that they have been snubbed in a job or promotion application process “in a manner that felt unfair?” These figures are double the proportion of white people expressing a similar sentiment. This sense of discrimination in the workplace is bound to have long-term implications and create huge frustration for the large number of people who know there is a social and economic glass ceiling that they cannot break merely on account of their religion or the color of their skin. Another issue which should make all of us very uncomfortable, if not ashamed, is when members of minorities report that a quarter of them have been refused entrance or asked to leave a restaurant, bar or club for no apparent reason, or that a majority of them have been on the receiving end of abuse or rudeness in public from a stranger. Similarly insulting, and bound to leave long and terrible scars, is when minorities are treated disproportionately as potential shoplifters. This all means that living in Britain as one of a minority group is a different experience, and a very negative one, compared to that of one’s white fellow countrymen and women. It adds to what we learnt from last year’s “Race Disparity Audit,” which showed that Asian and black households were more likely to be poor and most likely to suffer from persistent poverty, were less likely to stay in education after the age of 16, and consequently tended to suffer from higher levels of unemployment. This growing evidence of discrimination against minorities calls for an urgent and comprehensive approach from all sectors of society. Britain, as much as anywhere else, needs to be cleansed of racial and religious discrimination through education, legislation and increased awareness. Racism in any form or place is objectionable, immoral and damaging for society. • Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view