I concur. I think he's frying his brain cells with too much booze, and I think he is battling with himself and his own beliefs. It's a case of cognitive dissonance. He knows his prejudices are without basis, but that was how he was taught all his life. And now he does battle with himself over what he knows is right and wrong, but because of all of the irrational garbage he was fed as a child, has screwed him up royally. That's my psychological take on Mel's behavior.