Online poll respondents admit to racism and intolerance

The onslaught of illegal immigration has touched a raw nerve compelling 22 per cent of respondents to an online poll by The Times to admit they are racist and another 28 per cent to acknowledge their intolerance.

The remaining 50 per cent of those who took part in the poll - which cannot be considered as a scientific exercise - denied they were racially prejudiced.

The votes were logged over a seven-day period in response to the question Do You Consider Yourself A Racist?

The majority of comments posted were made by those who admitted they were racist or intolerant as they felt the need to explain why they had answered in this particular way.

A small number questioned the "relevance" of this "ridiculous poll" especially on such a sensitive issue and at this particular point in time.

"This is highly irresponsible on your part and does nothing to resolve what is indeed an unacceptable level of prejudice in Maltese society," one respondent pointed out.

Another felt that the poll should have posed the question: "Should drastic measures be taken against illegal immigrants?" This would give a clearer picture of what people think, the respondent argued.

A woman, who does not consider herself to be a racist, said that in reality some cultures were completely different and simply did not mix.

"I judge people by who they are and not their race. I do, however, resent these illegal immigrants. I do not want to pay for them and they should all be sent back at once. If somebody has a nice house and more money than me, does that give me the right to simply knock their door down and move in? I don't think so. It has nothing to do with being racist and these do-gooders always bring up racism if people protest," she said.

One man pointed out that the fact that he was against Malta accepting illegal foreigners did not make him a racist: "A racist is someone who hates or discriminates against people because of their race, skin colour or religion".

"Most Maltese have no problem with foreigners but a person who breaks into your house at night, then requests the right to stay, live and work, is a different ball game."

Quite a few respondents felt the government should take unilateral action to stop the influx of illegal migration to Malta and while they didn't consider themselves to be racist they were concerned with "being invaded".

"If a racist is someone who hates others because of their race then I am not a racist but if a racist is being considered as putting his own people before others than I am," one man said.

Another insisted that just because he didn't want illegal immigrants to land in Malta and abuse the system it did not mean he was a racist; he was a realist more than anything.

One person admitted that he was being forced to be a racist because "Africans are replacing Maltese in restaurants" and taking over their jobs.

"I am definitely not a racist but that doesn't mean that I will not oppose illegal immigration or any attempts at integrating vast amounts of illegal immigrants in what are little more than glorified ghettoes," one of the respondents said.