der Freitag 16/2025, Supplement
HOW PREJUDICE DIVIDES US – AND HOW LOVE CAN SAVE US
HOW PREJUDICE DIVIDES US
AND HOW LOVE CAN SAVE US
Love is a powerful unifying force.
The impact it can have on people is incredible. It enables people to transcend themselves — to give without expecting anything in return, to try new things and to embrace the unfamiliar. Love allows us to see others with new eyes, as the miracles they are or can become. Above all, it lets others be who they are. In doing so, it can break down prejudices — those rigid, inherited opinions that we adopt without thinking. Prejudice is the easiest way to think: without thinking at all. Thus, they become taken for granted and become reality.
There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.
Love is that light. It can shatter seemingly fixed realities. It can turn individuals into a ‘we’. It can make the world a better place.
Combating Prejudice Through Alternative Education
The great idea that led Sir Peter Ustinov and his son Igor Ustinov to establish the non-profit Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation in 1999 was to counter prejudice with love, respect, education, creativity and humour in order to make the world a better place.
Sir Peter Ustinov, renowned as a director and Oscar-winning actor, was also—less famously—a writer, illustrator, and costume and set designer. Since 1968, the self-proclaimed cosmopolitan had also served as a special ambassador for UNICEF. In this role, he travelled the world.
“Hatred of others is self-hatred,” he believed. He liked people, especially children, and was fascinated by how free of prejudice they were before it was taught to them.
Igor Ustinov is also a creative person with many interests and talents. Among other things, he is a sculptor, opera singer, biologist and inventor. The Ustinov Foundation, which he founded with his wife, is committed to promoting a culture of respect worldwide through education and support projects. Respect, in this context, is not defined by fear or deference to authority, but rather by attentiveness and appreciation for all living beings — not only humans, but all of nature.
Places of Respect
Around the world, Ustinov schools and preschools give children and young people in extreme poverty or difficult life situations the opportunity to develop their creativity and personality through education, offering them a future perspective. These educational institutions are places of respect and projects based on lived love. They enable children to be and become what they can be, beyond poverty and oppression. The foundation relies on collaboration with local project partners in its support projects in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. It also supports special educational projects in Germany.
Ustinov's legacy
Although Sir Peter Ustinov died 20 years ago, his ideas are more relevant today than ever. They are bearing fruit through his foundation. The foundation is now part of the Ustinov Network, with Igor Ustinov as chairman of the board and Ali Taşbaşı as executive director. This network includes seven Ustinov schools in Germany, Ustinov College at Durham University in England and the Ustinov Institute in Vienna, which promotes a culture of respect at an academic level. It also includes the Ustinov Prejudice Awareness Forum, a platform that combats prejudice through knowledge, dialogue and encounters.