Racism in the days of the war

The movie "Small Island" carries a story of five people:

• Hortense Roberts, who grew up in Jamaica.  She dreams of living in England, as she has read a lot about this "mother" country.  Her mother left her to grow up in the Roberts household, and it was there where she was initially educated. She also dreams of marrying Michael Roberts, a guy from the household where she grew up.  Hortense later trained as a teacher.
• Michael Roberts, who grew up with Hortense but is does not notice her affections.  His father is a devout Christian, but Michael, after being educated, set his sights on beyond Jamaica and his Christian roots and left his early upbringing.
• Gilbert Joseph, who is also from Jamaica.  He wished to be a lawyer, but did not have enough money to study law.  However, he is an accomplished driver and mechanic.  He chose to fight as an ally of the British army in order to open up opportunities towards achieving his dream of becoming a lawyer.
• Queenie Bligh, who grew up in a piggery farm in England, but moved to the city of London for the city comforts and opportunities tht she preferred to the life of working with pigs.  She has no prejudice against the dark skinned Jamaicans, unlike many of the other English people around her.
• Bernard Bligh, a banker of London.  Bernard married Queenie because he loves her and wants to give her what she dreams.  He is one of the English people who wishes to not mix with the dark skinned people of his day.

Michael and Gilbert ended up visiting England for a time during the Second World War.  Bernard gets assigned to India for a time, all three being part of the RAF.  Michael and Gilbert meet Queenie at this time, and the friendship continues to bless the three of them even after the war.  Bernard disappears, much to Queenie's concern.  Queenie ends up carrying Michael's child, while Michael moves on to "greener pastures" in Canada without her.  Gilbert chooses to leave Jamaica to settle in England, and Hortense, after giving up hope on Michael, makes Gilbert a deal so that he would marry her and send for her after he finds a home there.

Some striking scenes in the story shows how

• During the war, the white-skinned Brits assumed that all the dark-skinned people are of the same lot, not realising that some identify themselves with Africa, others with America and yet others with Jamaica.
• The dark-skinned people were discriminated against in terms of finding accommodation and jobs after the war, even though they fought alongside the British during the war,
• The British assume that all dark-skinned people are from Africa, many have not even heard of Jamaica, even though Jamaica is a Commonwealth country and received British education,
• Though the Jamaicans consider England as the "mother" nation and learned about her, many of the English did not know anything about Jamaica,
• Some Jamaicans think of England as a lovely country because of the education they received, not realising the discrimination or the ugly side until they have lived there,

I wonder if this is still true of England today.  Is racial discrimination a thing of the past?  Are people kinder to each other now?  Do people still segregate themselves based on colour and country?  Do other nations still consider England as "mother"?

Is anything wrong with the way things were in those days?  Is anything wrong with the way things are today?  Has cultural values changed for the better?  Or worse?

Are people all the same, or are there differences?  How should we handle the similarities and differences?  What do you think?