What we need to do is to talk more about xenophobia and in particular why we humans have a tendency to accept xenophobic behaviour to a rather large extent. One of the problems is that we often mix it up with, or even hide it within, acts of patriotism and/or national romanticism. Xenophobia means fear or hate against something strange or unfamiliar. Being proud of ones heritage, culture, religion, etc. does not need to imply xenophobia but sadly often does.
On the positive side, according to a recent poll carried out by DN/Ipsos, 44% of the swedes would like to see a more accepting refugee policy; as opposed to 30% that would like to see a more restrictive one. That is a huge shift in the public opinion since February this year where the numbers were 26% and 36%, respectively. Can such a big group of people stop being xenophobic in such a short period of time? I believe so. Xenophobia is subtle, and often unconscious, whereas for instance racism is very explicit.
So, a drop from 36% down to 26% of xenophobic swedes, not bad. Shouldn't we be happy? If we can keep this trend, xenophobia would shortly be extinct. Recent explicit and graphical media exposure of the tragedy of people dying in their desperate attempts to find a safe haven and a new life in Europe is a probable reason behind this vast shift in opinion. It puts our unconscious xenophobia on the edge and forces us to become conscious and explicit. It effectively exposes our surreptitious mindset.
Can the same effect be achieved without people having to die? Maybe. People don't like to be called xenophobic or racist, regardless if it is true or not. We are particularly sensitive if that mindset is unconscious and the epiphany puts us at shame.
