My poor old mum, a lovely person in many ways, certainly had strong negative views about Aborigines.

“Don’t you ever bring a black girl home!” she would warn me when I was a young man.

Perhaps if she was alive today and I was still single, she might be saying: “Don’t you ever bring a Muslim girl home!”

Where do racist views come from? Although they can be the result of misinformation, usually they come about through negative experiences people have with others from a particular culture.

My mum’s views largely came about after her brother killed himself after a relationship breakdown with his wife, who was of Aboriginal descent.

My mother was not alone in her views. Others from her generation had strong negative opinions about the Japanese due to their experiences in World War II.

Racism in Australia is not a new thing. Our history is scattered with examples of racist views directed towards groups of people who were different to the mainstream.

During the 1800s, racism was directed towards the Chinese on the gold fields, then the Irish Catholics, then anyone of colour through the White Australia policy.

After World War II, new immigrants from Europe experienced adversity.

Even my mother-in-law was warned by her mother against marrying a Dutch man due to their “strange sexual habits”.

She disobeyed this advice and to this day she is unclear about what her mother meant. In the 80’s I remember the Vietnamese refugees in Australia being subjected to a lot of abuse and harassment.

Many of us will think such views are almost humorous these days. Invariably the descendants of new immigrants become “Australianised” within a generation.

They identify with typically Australian values and ways of doing things, while some also maintain their own cultural heritage.

But today, a quarter of Australians still report experiencing racism on a regular basis.

The cure for racism, in my opinion, is two-fold. Firstly, education is needed to promote respect, inclusiveness and celebration of difference.

Secondly, when people have positive experiences with other cultures or build good relationships with others who are different, it is hard to maintain negative views. When we learn from and respect other cultures, we make ourselves richer and the world a better place.

Ken Warren is a relationship counsellor in private practice. He and his colleagues, Shirley Cornish and Vanessa Bushell, can be contacted by telephoning 5443 7626 or through www.kenwarren.com.au.