As we have less non-white people basically. And Glaswegian’s are too obsessed with sectarianism to bother about racism. Not one mention of our genuinely welcoming hospitality, and collective consciousness to show Scotland in a good light of course
As we have less non-white people basically.
Not one mention of our genuinely welcoming hospitality
So, did you just not read the article?
Historian Prof Murray Pittock is wary of the term “'Scottish exceptionalism”… But he does say that attitudes in Scotland towards immigration are more favourable.
“There’s been pro-immigrant rhetoric and that’s increasingly borne out in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, which is more pro-immigrant. It’s now more pro-immigrant than south of the border.”
“Polling and other kinds of measures show that Scotland has a more positive attitude towards migration, a lower concern about things like small boats - which are naturally more geographically keenly felt on the southern coast of England - and a more positive attitude towards refugees.”
Sir John also says the message of the party in government is very different in Scotland. The SNP is described as a “civic nationalist party”, which says it welcomes people irrespective of birth or ancestry as long as they are willing to commit themselves to Scotland.
Yes, other (perfectly valid and relevant) factors are mentioned, such as different social fault lines, different population demographics and even the weather.
But to claim that the article doesn’t mention Scotland being more welcoming just smacks of being desperate to find something to take offence at.
It’d be absurd to try and argue that Scotland is this perfectly welcoming place - exactly the sort of Scottish exceptionalism warned about in the article in fact.
And as to your “As we have less non-white people basically” claim, that angle is mentioned once and only once, and is only suggested as one factor among many. It’s certainly not the core argument of the piece.
I believe (and I’m not Scottish) that Scotland IS exceptional. I have not lived in every country in the world, Europe on even UK but the people are just genuinely nice and welcoming. Racism and bigotry has no footing here. Obviously there are exceptions to that rule, but the general public in places like Glasgow clearly showed what they think of this kind of behaviour. Respect.
It’s been for many years that gen-pop of England have been conditioned by the BBC and politics to quickly jump the gun the go to racism for answers.
The main problem is that they (they I mean people that went to protest against immigrants) believe that they fighting the right cause, even though what triggered their response, was a big fucking lie.
I believe (and I’m not Scottish) that Scotland IS exceptional. I have not lived in every country in the world, Europe on even UK but the people are just genuinely nice and welcoming. Racism and bigotry has no footing here
I just don’t think that’s true at all. It may be rarer, or less publicly manifested, but there’s still plenty of racism and bigotry in Scottish society, whether it’s people still using terms like p*ki or ch*nkie to refer to people or their places of business, or swastikas/n-words graffitied on walls, or randoms giving abuse to Polish people on the bus, or to English people in the pub (all of which I’ve seen personally here in Edinburgh and elsewhere).
That it isn’t such a hot-button issue here as down south may be partly due to a generally more welcoming/left-wing/progressive-mindset among some in Scotland, but I think it would be naive to ignore the fact that that kind of attitude is easier to maintain in a climate where immigration levels are lower anyway.
None of which is to blame the people arriving in the UK, trying to make a better life for themselves - they are and should be welcomed and treated with dignity and respect. But if Scotland was an easier arrival point by sea than it is, I suspect attitudes here would prove to be less universally welcoming than we might like to think.
I’m not saying there is no racism or bigotry in Scotland. Unfortunately it’s everywhere. Just on a lot smaller scale in Scotland.
I read the article and the sentiment I feel is as described. Call me chippy all you like, but it belittles us imo. I’m also agreeing with the article, hence why I posted it. Whilst the tone is wrong, the underlying message is correct - we must keep the heid about immigration
it belittles us
Can you give an example? I don’t see anything that could be considered belittling us except maybe by someone looking for something to be offended about.
Glasgow is more diverse than many of the places that rioted down south and takes on more asylum seekers than any other council.
Classic BBC opinion manipulating bs. Some “expert” in the articles even says that the lack of “far right racist extremism” is because the weather is shite in Scotland
A single sentence from a large article is what you take issue with?
The whole tone is off imo - remember your place and that you aren’t better than others! Despite England’s last set of riots seeing none here either. It feels like gaslighting at this stage
Jesus Christ, “remember your place”? There’s nothing, NOTHING in the article to suggest that.
I disagree, it’s basically all bad news. Whilst it does highlight the Scottish Governments rhetoric it doesn’t elaborate on the differences. It doesn’t paint us in a good light at all
This. Its not just one sentence. The whole article is off but this particular claim is just outright stupid.
I don’t normally post crap like this, and try not to engage with bbc bias style posts. But…
There is a message in here that we don’t see many non-white faces, and that is worth highlighting as a reason for not having our source of troubles. We need to continue to be vigilant against culture war crap like this and focus on bigger issues like deprivation, housing, and inequality
I don’t think that seeing less people of colour on daily basis is the main factor here. As you mentioned, the inequality and years of conditioning is what triggered this sheepish response to protest against immigration. Let’s not forget it all started with a lie that the man behind the awful crime was an extremist Muslim terrorist.
Embarrassing.
