More Than Half Of Maltese People Say They’re ‘Absolutely Not Racist’, Study Shows
A University of Malta study concluded that around 56% of Maltese people say they are ‘absolutely non-racist’.
Having said that, more than a third (36%) of the islands’ population said it would be ‘absolutely unacceptable’ if their child married an African migrant.
The survey, commissioned by Dean of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing Andrew Azzopardi, was carried out last month by local statistician Vincent Marmara.
This was just one of a series of surveys commissioned by the same faculty in a bid to gauge the general public’s views on migration.
600 individuals participated in this survey. They were each asked to answer questions by choosing a number from one to five; one meaning ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and five meaning ‘very acceptable’.
“Instead of being quick to brand people as racists, which at times is the case, we need to make sure we provide the mechanisms to make communities work, namely through concrete and tangible initiatives,” Azzopardi told Times of Malta.
“It is clear from this study that people don’t know how to deal with [migration]. Not only that – it is abundantly clear that our institutions are not doing enough to address the fundamental challenges of community liability and understanding between migrants and local people.”
Just 2.5% of respondents said that they are ‘very racist’, however only 15% of survey-takers said it is ‘very acceptable’ for their child to marry an African migrant.
Generally, female respondents tended to find it more acceptable for their children to marry African migrants.
For this same question, 12% said it would be ‘unacceptable’, 22% were ‘undecided’, and 15% said it would be ‘acceptable’.
On the other hand, 25.6% said they are ‘not so racist’ and 15% said they are ‘slightly racist.