Prejudice can’t survive proximity

Recently I wrote: “When it feels hard to listen to alternative views“, noting: “when it feels hard to listen to alternative views, I’ll keep focussing on listening and understanding.”

After that, I was in conversation with a friend who shared with me a Heineken ad series from 2017 where strangers with strongly opposing views were put together without knowing anything about each other. After a time in conversation, they were then shown short videos of each of them stating those strong views, then given a choice, to either walk away or stay and (it was Heineken) have a beer and talk. Not really a surprise, they all stayed.

This reminds me of a phrase at the heart of the movie Pride, that “Prejudice can’t survive proximity”. It also reminded me that in 2016 at the time of the Brexit vote in the UK, with the “Vote Leave” campaign deeply rooted in racism (also known marginally more politely as “anti-immigration sentiment”), many of the areas that voted the most to leave were also the ares with the lowest percentage of people a) non-white, as well as b) born outside the UK.

We are all people, if we simply choose to listen to each other and seek to understand, prejudice can’t survive proximity.

I leave you first with the Pride trailer, then the Heineken ad