My mum is like this. She's in her late 70s now, it's getting worse and becoming a real problem in our relationship. She has this almost hysterical fear and dislike of immigrants, but she can't really say why. Just random stuff about how they are taking away our traditional way of life. She lives in a very white area, I live in a multicultural inner city, and on the rare occasions she visits she is shocked - "Look, she's wearing one of those hijab things!"

She was always politically naive and a bit racist but never this bad. I suspect it's largely due to the media she consumes and the people she hangs out with.