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Racism is ignorance, it's anger, it's entitlement and privilege not knowing itself. Frequently, too, it's utterly baffling. Take the now infamous video of the woman on the Jubilee Line train at Stratford, losing her cool in an argument with a black passenger about personal space, saying, "You guys used to be slaves." You wonder what it was that blew the specific fuse that makes a person's mind jump from public transport etiquette to historic slavery.When you watch these videos with the BSA stats in your mind, it does look as if more women are becoming racist. But are they? Or is it just easier to catch them in the act? Dr. Grace Lordan, from the London School of Economics, asserts that yes, "It is likely that it is easier to film females than males." However, beneath that, her own research of the BSA data has found that socio-economic factors could be playing a part in increased racism from women."Women often have it a lot worse than men in the shaming world." – Jon Ronson
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White male writers of sensationalist headlines might feel more comfortable if they maintain the myth that the perpetrators of sexual violence don't look like them, but it's nonsense and it's dangerous. While 34 percent of women on London's public transport report feeling unsafe, when they're probably surrounded by strangers, 85 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim."The overwhelming majority of women and girls who are raped or sexually assaulted or abused know the perpetrator before the attack," says a representative from Rape Crisis. "Quite often a rapist can be someone the survivor has previously trusted and even loved. The idea that men of particular races or ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be sexually violent is one of the many harmful myths that it is vital we dispel if we are to properly tackle sexual violence."Where is this taking us? We can theorize that racism is learned, and maybe, if there are more female racists than just five years ago, it's because they've failed to bat away the spoon feeding them the lazy, right-wing media narrative that they are economically and sexually at risk of people who aren't like them. Women are, of course, capable of independent and critical thought, but we've seen plenty of other examples of young women so disenfranchised from mainstream society that they're left vulnerable to the barkings of extremism.It would be fantastic to suggest education as a solution to racism. However, there are plenty of supposedly well-educated people who still perpetrate racism on a daily basis—it is ingrained in the very structures of so many of our institutions where white men are either active or complicit in holding women and minorities back.What's needed is not only the right kind of education, but the time, resources and clear mind to access that education, and the emotional stability to understand who's on your side and who really isn't. And, in economically uncertain times, emotional stability can be harder to come by.Follow Sophie on Twitter.Could it be that, as our industries become more feminized as a whole—evolving from blue collar industries like farming and mining to service industries like nursing and shop work—the hackneyed fear of "them lot coming over 'ere and taking our jobs" has transposed to the minds of underpaid, overworked women?