Interracial relationships are very common in the UK and over the next decades it will be even more so.

However lately outside of Englands major cities white UK citizens have been complaining about too many immigrants coming into the country. They seem to think that they are "stealing" jobs and "stealing" theyre tax money. There are some immigrants that are cheating the system but most arent.

Race relations have gotten worse over the last two years. For example if they see a non white man thats under 25 in a BMW or some kind of convertible they will automatically assume hes a drug dealer.

I think jealousy has alot to do with it that immigrants can come over and then do better for themselves than the english born.

I myself love all races and cant understand why some countries can show such hatred to another human being.

Similar things are also happening in Italy, there has been around 100,000 new immigrants a year moving to Italy in the past few years, mostly from Africa - many do not speak Italian. These new immigrants are being employed mostly in manual labour jobs that Italians no longer want to do - the fact that a large number of these new immigrants are also Muslims, only adds to problems of suspicion and prejudice. The Italians fear they will loose their cultural identity - something that some commentators think has already happened in Sweden and The Netherlands.

I think countries that encounter mass migration develop these issues that live for what seems to be an eternity, but into days globalized economy, in time, I think everyone will eventually learn to just "deal with it". Perhaps that's just idealistic, a fantasy? All I know is that the world is full of people and it takes people to make things happen, good and bad.

Yes I agree with that Deutsch. I hope nobody is taking my posts the wrong way, I am not anti-anyone, I am just suggesting that multiculturalism might be a slightly Utopian concept - when you have two (or more) cultures with radically different belief systems, there is bound to be conflict and social disharmony.

I can name countless upon countless examples. However it's inevitable that as time passes we will slowly become more open minded to learning about others and in turn, accepting them as they are. This will be an EXTREMELY gradual prosess, we're just at the starting point when the Civil Rights movement began here, by the most note worthy(IMHO) individual in all of world history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His policy of non violence in getting his point across and staind up for what he believes in has had a ripple effect the world over in touching the lives of individuals such as myself, among countless others, that there is a way for a people to come together and fight injustice of any kind, the right way, w/ non violence.

That is exactly how Karl Marx felt. (Please excuse me as I steer a different direction addressing this statement.) However the less financial equality the more incentive to work harder, to create, to invent, and to think. Financial equality is something that shouldn’t be forced because it hampers the economy and the progression of technology and all those "happy" things you mentioned above. As more and more people earn money through their own work and toil, not by government grants, will society flourish.
However the "haves" and "have nots" if you will is becoming more of problem here in the states (especially in CA) not because the government isnt distributing wealth enough, but because they are, too much. Do you have any idea how difficult is to start a business in this state I live in? How can a middle to lower class citizen improve his or her life if he or she is unable to start a business without millions of dollars because the CA state gov makes so expensive causing regional monopolies. There are so many business going to Nevada or Arizona because its so expensive in taxes (you know, that overused wealth distributing method that you think will eventually create utopia) to start one here.

I know that was a huge tangent and I apologize but once the domino drops well you know what happens.

Theres a couple of things I think I should differentiate. There is big difference between multi-racial and multi-cultural. A culture can be anything from a religous suicide cult to a car forum. There are some cultures I approve and others I dont. For instance I dont approve of cultures that kill innocent people.

My extended family is multi-racial however our cultures are so similar that I never even think about that as being something that seperates us. California is a melting pot and our cultures here, even with slightly different shades are very similar to one another. Cultures can co-exist so long as the values are similar. Its all about values.

Well that is precisely what I think too Matt.

I think a major problem in Europe and Britain is many people (Muslims in particular), even after 2 or three generations, are still viewed as immigrants. In the US, people are much quicker to accept others as "real" Americans - no second or third generation American would ever be considered an immigrant -- this is not always the case in Europe. This is why many Muslims in parts of Europe are angry -- and I can fully appreciate that; in many ways, it is ironic that it is the US that is the main focus of radical Islamic anger -- the Americans are generally very accommodating to other cultures and beliefs.

Perhaps. A thought I've had for a while - of what ethnic or national heritage are you, and, in a way, what do you look like?

I ask this because I have often been asked, "Where do you come from?" I was born in Australia, but I have Chinese heritage (some people reckon I look Japanese, but that's just because I have a goatee and moustache, not a common look for the usual Chinese or Hong Kong person). I would say Bankstown (a suburb of Sydney), since that's where I first lived, and where the hospital I was born at is located, but I groan inwardly and assume that they ask because I look Asian. I force myself to say that I was born here, but that my parents come from China/Hong Kong. I would expect that an Anglo Australian wouldn't even bother to ask a British traveller, just because they look the same, but aren't I more "Australian" than a British traveller? Maybe my cynicism is showing, again. But, still, it's understandable, since humans do naturally look for differences, IMO.

Then again, if I was asked to write on a survey or application form or whatever, what my nationality was, then I'd put "Australian" without hesitation. I don't like cricket or rugby, nor do I really hang out at the beach, but I don't reckon that's what makes you Australian anyway. Sometimes I wonder how long it will take before people would just think of me as Australian as anyone else, even before I open my mouth and they can hear a local sounding accent. Or maybe it's just a little chip on my shoulder that's talking.

The point of all this is that I'm not sure about what Robert said there about Americans accepting immigrants so easily. I guess it's because, from the perspective of someone living in Australia, I can't really see any country really coming to a point, quickly, where different-looking people are counted as "our own", though America has been at it for a while. Things move slowly. I can only hope that Australia eventually gets there.