England manager Gareth Southgate has questioned the values at the heart of society and called for the lessons that can be taken from football's dressing rooms to be learned.
He also backed comments by his player, and Tottenham Hotspur left-back, Danny Rose calling out racism in the media and around the game, and the need for more black managers in professional football.
Speaking as part of a discussion on mental health to be aired by the BBC this weekend, the 48-year-old dismissed the idea that footballers should step back from taking a stand on these important issues.
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"It's bigger than football," he said. "In my opinion, football just reflects society. So I know Danny highlighted opportunities for coaches, but that's exactly the same in other professions as well.
"There are barriers, and unconscious biases that Raheem discussed, and John Barnes discussed, brilliantly I think.
“And that's made me think far more deeply about what I read, what I see in everyday life. Because actually, the dressing room is the most diverse and inclusive environment there is.
"You never think about where a player's from, what religion they are, what their beliefs are, they're a teammate, part of our family.
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"So for us it's such an alien concept that people could be treated differently because of where they come from, the colour of their skin, it just doesn't register. So it almost hurts even more, I would say.”
Southgate also commented on the specific case of the racist abuse suffered by Rose and his fellow England internationals Callum Hudson-Odoi and Raheem Sterling away against Montenegro in March.
“Danny said: ‘I don’t want to go and play there [Montenegro] again.’ So already in your mind there’s a problem about going and playing in certain countries, because of your experiences," he added.
"And I can never fully appreciate that. I have, having grown up with the players I grew up with and witnessed things, but I don’t really know what it was like to walk in those shoes and to experience somebody judging me because of the colour of my skin.
"That’s why it's unacceptable for me that one of my players can be treated in that way. How do we educate people that this is unacceptable?
"Because kids – I've said this before – kids are born, they don’t have a discriminatory bone in their body, so they're being influenced by their parents, other people, whatever it might be and, and that, that’s the bit that we have to change."
The full documentary, A Royal Team Talk: Tackling Mental Health , will be shown on BBC One on Sunday May 19 at 10:30pm.
Parts of Henry's discussion with BBC Sport presenter Dan Walker and Gareth Southgate, Price William and others will also be aired as part of Saturday's Football Focus on at 1pm on BBC One.
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