Recently there's been news of London landlords refusing to let properties to black people, something most people believed had disappeared with the "No blacks, no Irish, no dogs" signs so commonplace in the 1960s and '70s.

This form of discrimination, outlawed by the 1976 Race Relations Act, is still illegal. Yet as BBC reporters discovered, the law is being flouted by these rogue landlords. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is now to investigate the incidents.

A major driver of the latest wave or racism is the poisonous debate on immigration. As a result of wildly inaccurate information, the public discourse on it is set almost entirely to the default position of reducing numbers. No political party is prepared to make the positive case for immigration.

Much of the hysteria around immigration is fuelled by the press, who sell papers on the back of scare-story headlines about the subject. Hardly the basis for a balanced debate or progressive policy making.

The anti-immigration ferment has resulted in the scenes like those of Home Office-deployed white vans going round London streets with the message "In the UK illegally - go home or face arrest."

As these vans make their way through the multiethnic streets of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge, Brent, Ealing, Barnet and Harlow, what has been the effect on the communities in those areas?

Another driver of racism and division has been the ongoing efforts of politicians and the media to label Muslims in Britain as a suspect community. This has been going on since the so-called war on terror began in 2001.

Muslims have been treated as the Irish before them, with the whole community treated as suspect. This has seen police stop and search on Asians increasing incredibly. Whenever there is an incident that happens to involve a Muslim the whole community gets the blame.

The effect of this approach has been to make the community draw in on itself because it feels under threat. The net result is that those who are a real threat will find it far easier to hide and operate. It has all happened before with the Irish but few lessons seem to have been learned.

The net effect of all these developments has been to increase racial tension and it is the case that economic recession has helped increase racism too. A situation where work is in short supply sees the indigenous community turning to blame others and the cry that immigrants are "coming to take our jobs" is never far from the headlines. The fact that immigrants are often coming to do jobs that the indigenous don't want to do is less often heard.

The reality is that black and minority ethnic people (BME) are usually hit hardest by economic recession. Many are at the bottom of the pile, so when hard times come the group of people worst effected are always likely to be BME females.

Professor of Education Gus John believes that the education system has much to answer for in bringing about a situation where many white working class people have progressed little beyond a misguided concept of identity bound up in imperialism. "You have to ask what is the point of education in a post-colonial world? Why has no postwar government put racism high on the educational agenda?" Professor John has said.

The combination of economic hard times and growing racism has seen a resurgence of far-right groups across Europe. In Britain, the BNP and English Defence League are peddling race-based politics. In Europe, groups like Golden Dawn in Greece and the Northern League in Italy are on the rise.

The economic recession has allowed the seeds of racism and hatred to grow, thereby benefiting the far-right, and historically this combination of circumstances has come together with devastating effect. The 1930s saw the fascism of Hitler and Mussolini sweep across Europe and although today people like to think this could never happen again, the seeds are there from which just such a political outcome could develop. History offers many warnings, few of which are being heeded at present.

There is a need now for a re-establishment of tolerant pluralism in our society. Stop looking to blame the other for societal woes. Look instead to some of the real causes of economic hardship - the banks, multinational companies and individuals that don't pay their taxes.

And accept that immigration is good. It has provided a vibrant diverse society in Britain that should be valued and, in the fullness of time, it will probably prove to be immigration that contributes most in enabling this country to compete on the world stage in economic terms. That is, if anyone still wants to come here.