Why do so many Zoomers think Britain is racist?

A new survey has exposed a disturbing generational divide in Britain.

According to research conducted by The Times in partnership with pollsters YouGov, less than half of those aged between 18 and 27 are proud to be British, and many more think their country is racist. Just 11 per cent say they would be willing to fight for the UK in a war.

This portrait of today’s young people, otherwise known as Generation Z, stands in sharp contrast to the findings of the same research when it was conducted two decades ago. Surveying the first Millennials coming of age in 2005, The Times found a youthful cohort that was optimistic about the future. Over 80 per cent of young people back then said they were proud to be British.

The difference in attitudes between Millennials and Zoomers raises an important question: why are so many young people today turning their backs on Britain?

Part of the reason can be attributed to the context in which Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – have grown up. Older Zoomers started secondary school around the time of the 2008 financial crisis and then lived through a prolonged period of austerity. Then came the Brexit referendum result in 2016, something that disappointed young Brits, the vast majority of whom lean towards the EU.

More significantly, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The government’s deeply authoritarian lockdown restrictions affected Zoomers hard, depriving them of what should have been some of the most enjoyable years of their young lives. (It’s notable that a third of the young respondents to The Times survey claim the experience of the lockdowns is still negatively affecting their mental health today.)

Many Zoomers are now confronted by a stagnant economy characterised by low wages and eye-watering house prices. Given their experiences, little wonder so many are pessimistic about the future, feel little pride in their nation and have almost no desire to fight for it. After all, many feel as if they will never have a meaningful stake of their own in Britain. They feel that their sacrifices often go unnoticed – as they did during the pandemic – and that their general interests are not prioritised the way they ought to be by the government.

This resentment feeds into Zoomers’ willingness to cast Britain as racist. Not that their view corresponds with reality. Britain, for all its flaws, is a largely tolerant, open and inclusive society. The vast majority of Brits see ‘Britishness’ in civic rather than ethnic or ancestral terms. What’s more, one of the greatest sources of national pride for British people is the role their nation played in suppressing the transatlantic slave trade. This is hardly the sign of a country brimful with racist bigots.

Indeed, Britain today is a land of robust anti-discrimination protections for its racial minorities and has considerable religious freedoms – certainly more so than other western European countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The problem is that this all rings hollow for young Brits. They are disillusioned and frustrated by the lack of opportunities their own nation affords them. And so lacking real power, they take their revenge at the symbolic, cultural level, challenging positive accounts of British history and condemning society and its institutions as racist.

In this endeavour, British Zoomers have been helped by another formative moment – namely the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in America, following the police killing of George Floyd. This provided a key cultural flashpoint in their lives and, more importantly, gave them the terms in which they could rage against their own nation’s ‘systemic racism’, indicting British history, heritage and traditions.

The generational divide is now becoming a source of genuine social discord. Economic insecurity has helped fuel the cultural alienation of Britain’s Zoomers – so much so that they are now willing to demonise their home nation.

We need to make far more effort to integrate our young people. That doesn’t just mean standing up for Britain’s freedoms and traditions, or reminding young people of some of Britain’s positive historical achievements. It also means making more of an effort to give young people an economic stake in society. They then might just find a nation worth fighting for.

Rakib Ehsan is the author of Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong about Ethnic Minorities, which is available to order on Amazon.