Britain's recent riots have given much food for thought on the racial tensions present in Australia.

Britain has pursued a policy of actively promoting racial equality, from setting targets for representation of certain racial groups in public sector organisations to passing racial vilification laws.

But if white people are constantly told how culturally different their Asian or black neighbours are, and if Asians and blacks are told to be vigilant against white racism, all groups might conclude that they have little in common. Grievances over issues such as population and housing exacerbate the tensions.

The notion of race, which lacks a biological authority but is a powerful cultural and social category, stirs the primitive within us. Our survival instincts have created an innate fear of difference.

The term ''racism'' is often used in a loose and unreflective way to describe the hostile or negative feelings one ethnic group has towards another and the actions resulting from such attitudes. Debates around racism are a relatively new phenomenon and occur primarily in countries touched by the Enlightenment, which are predominantly in the West. They are a product of a century marred by genocide, the Holocaust and the death throes of empire. The conquests of European imperialism and the white man's burden to civilise the ''lesser'' peoples of the developing world are the counterweight to movements against racism.

These trends were part of the rage and so-called "blowback" that the attacks on September 11, 2001, partly encapsulated.

The idea of ''all men being created equal'' remains novel in most parts of the world and, therefore, debates surrounding racism are less relevant. Racism implies a belief that other collective groups have specific and unchangeable traits - ones usually undesirable.

The climax of racism occurred in the 20th century, symbolised by the Holocaust, apartheid and segregation of the American South. Each of these societies was underpinned by a belief of cultural essentialism, that there was something special about their biology. This emphasis on racial purity meant each of the offending, racist regimes enforced strict laws against intermarriage.

There are a host of statistics that suggest Australia is among the least racist countries of the multicultural developed world.

We have among the highest rates of social mobility as measured by education and income. According to the last census, Sydney has the greatest proportion of overseas born people in the world, more than London or New York.

I would argue that our most important statistic, one that particularly separates us from Britain, is that we have the highest rate of mixed marriage in the world, according to a study by Professor Bob Birrell at Monash University in 2010. This shows our ethnic communities are less likely to cluster into so-called ghettos and then pass on a siege mentality to future generations.

While racial or cultural prejudice no doubt exists, and has clearly increased towards Muslims, racism is often a simplistic explanation for what are usually multi-layered human motives. It is exemplified in a host of recent issues in which race was deemed to be the dominant factor by some.

Pauline Hanson was a blip on the nation's political radar. We have nothing to compare with Jean-Marie Le Pen or white supremacist parties prominent in Europe.