Prejudice passed down by older generations is not fixed in the young. Pupils who are given the chance to reflect may question their elders' attitudes and perhaps challenge them. That leaves room for a guarded hope that each new generation can do better.
A teacher close to giving up on a class can be held by suddenly seeing that some good has been done after all. The hard, discouraging stretch comes before any sign of progress, so quitting is most tempting just before the payoff appears.
Teenagers who resist being managed as children can be won over by treating them as the adults they will be within months, with real choices and an equal standing. In return the teacher asks for courtesy and respect. Hostility gives way to mutual respect once students see they are being prepared to stand or fall on their own.
A teacher can hold a hostile room without dominating it through personality or bullying. Calm, upstanding restraint builds respect that runs both ways, and sometimes even affection. A colleague who rules by harshness gets fear instead.
Skills and experience can win a person an interview yet lose them the job the moment the employer sees they are black. Being raised fully British in outlook still doesn't make someone accepted as British. Shut out of his own field, a qualified outsider may end up in work he never planned, such as teaching.