I agree that there is racism and I think there always will be. However, I think of racism as coming at different degrees and even the less nice ones can be mitigated if we meet them with the right attitude.

For instance, I too have travelled all over the world, to every continent and I am not going to bother counting how many countries.

Especially in the more (to me) exotic countries, I avoided going to any of the tourist areas, preferring to eat in local restuarants - and meet locals who are not part of the tourist industry.

Maybe the funniest personal experience was when I was in Athens, Greece. I am of Greek origin, but I grew up in East Africa (at that time, a British colony), but I went to a Greek school and speak Greek fairly well.

I spoke to a Greek at a coffee shop and after we talked for a while, he asked me whether I am Japanese. I asked him how he guessed and he told me I speak Greek with a Japanese accent. He then had some pretty idiotic questions to ask me about Japan. I used films and books I've read to answer him - and where I did not have an answer, I used my horribly fertile imagination.

Later, I drove from London to Italy with a Caribbean friend (colleague). I'm from Africa and we speak of people being black, but they are brown, compared to him. It was summer and we drove with the top down. Being curious, I asked him, "Do you get tanned if you stay in the sun?"

He pulled at the mirror, looked at himself and as if horrified, he exclaimed, "God, I'm black!!!"

We arrived at a village in the mountains (Italy) and the children at the taverna kept running to look at him and then they would run away, screaming and laughing. A little girl of 6 or 7 stopped to ask him, "Why are your lips so big?"

"So that kissing can feel nicer."

She asked him to kiss her and then she ran away laughing and, I suspect, was the hero of the kids for that night.

My friend, Jim, showed that he has a big heart, which is why he remained a friend until I left London, and inside me, he is still a friend.

We have become over-sensitive, because those who want to cause trouble have done all they can to initiate feelings of hate between us. Do not let them win. Just accept that as long as there is no malice intended, we must make space for those who are different and wonder about us.