David Kilpatrick wrote: > My experience is that Scots are NOT racist any more than they have > any other prejudice...
Unfortunately that's as damning an indictment as you could get. All Scots are not racist, but prejudice exists at an endemic level and in some areas it's so deeply ingrained it's second-nature. I've never lived in The Borders, but I have lived in Lanarkshire, and in Glasgow, and I have strong family ties with West Lothian; three areas where bigotry and racism are very evident in day-to-day life. I worry about this prevalent, complacent view that the Scots are not racist because history and present day facts tell us otherwise. In Glasgow alone we have had the murder of an asylum seeker, the murder of two football fans in blatant sectarian incidents, the injury and maiming of several more - all this in very recent times. One of our national newspapers (The Herald) was notorious for their anti-Catholic recruitment policy. In football, our one-time national goalkeeper wore a black armband after a loyalist was killed in The Maze. In North Lanarkshire we see pubs getting their licences suspended because of their overt promotion of sectarian paramilitary organisations (both loyalist and republican); when Helen Liddell stood in the Monklands East election her Catholic education and background was broadcast by her opponents. I'm glad your experience has been different (and on the whole my experience has been positive), but many people in Scotland have experienced prejudice, bigotry and racism face-to-face and, in my opinion, it is vital that it is recognised. I look forward to when we can say that the Scots are not racist and believe it, but I don't think that day has yet come. -- Nigel Gatherer, Crieff, Scotland [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/ Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
