In his otherwise useful piece Racist riots are nothing new – they’re part of the fabric of British society, Professor Kehinde Andrews, a bit ironically given his surname, offers these views:
Some of our readers have commented in the past week that we’ve been calling these riots across the UK, when in fact they are a uniquely English thing, a uniquely English nationalism, not taking place in Scotland or Wales. What would you say to that?
But, honestly, I would push back a bit. I think the Scottish are just as racist as the English, same goes for the Northern Irish and Welsh. It’s a British problem. They were very much part of the British Empire – and slavery too. The idea that Scotland and Wales are more progressive on race doesn’t make sense. Talk to any Black person there, and they’re struggling with racism too. There’s a reason we don’t move there and we move to hubs where there are other Black people. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/far-right-riots-black-history-kehinde-andrews/
‘Talk to any Black person there?’ Surely a ‘Critical Social Research’ prof would want something more reliable?
We get these all the time from white profs in the media, dismissive of Scotland based on no actual knowledge whatsoever. Very regrettably, far too often, minority-background academics seem equally Anglocentric.
So what actual evidence is there for an explanation of why there have been no far-right riots in Scotland? Lots, apologies to regular readers, and it’s all there if you care to spend a bit of time researching:
One important reason is the almost complete lack of presence of the racist far-right, blaming minorities for majority problems, in Scotland’s present and past. There is a contrasting history of the racially inclusive far-left, blaming the rich for everyone’s problems.
Another important reason is that all Asians or Black communities are not the same. There are greater differences between some Asians or Black communities, because of their different cultural backgrounds and histories, than between some of them and their white neighbours.
Here is a referenced list of some of these significant differences:
First, white groups will be understandably repulsed and made hostile by patterns of Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and FGM, which are more common among some migrant groups, typically rural, uneducated, highly conservative, sexist, racist, often mountain cultures, some ‘Christian’.
https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/434027/526774/526824/19-2024-response?view=Standard
A Freedom of Information request to police Scotland revealed the above. If such crimes were occurring with similar frequency across the UK, as they are in Scotland, then the figures for the UK would be around 12 times greater They are not.
There were nearly 2 000 UK cases of FGM in just the first three months of 2019 suggesting a shocking 8 000 per year 286 times as many or 24 times as many per capita as in Scotland.
There were 1 764 UK cases of Forced marriage in 2018 suggesting a rate 33 times higher or 3 times higher per capita than in Scotland.
Click to access Forced_Marriage_Unit_Statistics_2018_FINAL.pdf
There were 152 cases of Honour Based Violence in Scotland in 2018 but across the UK, for 2017 (most recent figures), there were more than 4 000 cases (estimate) giving a rate 26 times higher or 2 times as high per capita.
https://unherd.com/2019/01/britains-honour-crime-shame/
Second, see this extract from a Scottish Government research survey in 2011
‘In addition, Hussain and Miller (2004) argue that Muslims in Scotland are more likely to identify themselves as Scottish than Muslims in England are to identify as English (Hussain and Miller 2004, 2006). In their study, comparing experiences of Islamophobia and Anglophobia in Scotland, Hussain and Miller established that the Muslims interviewed found it very easy to identify with Scotland. They suggest this could be explained partly because their religious identity is seen as cultural and not territorial. This finding is supported by research conducted by Masud (2005) into the experiences of Muslims across Britain after the London bombings in 2005. In this research conducted across Scotland 27“it was widely acknowledged and appreciated that compared with other parts of the country, especially England, Scotland was a tolerant place” (Masud 2005).’
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2011/03/08091838/4
Third, remember the Glasgow Celtic, Green Brigade protest against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and the crowdfunding which raised thousands to pay for sporting facilities in Palestine? People in the Arab world and Islamic people in Scotland know about this.
Fourth, 100 000 people marched in Glasgow in 2003 against the Iraq war. Glasgow’s Islamic population saw this. The Herald newspaper exposed many of the atrocities committed by the Coalition there.
Fifth, 1.8% of the prison population in Scotland is Muslim. This is broadly in proportion to the 1.45% of Scottish population which is Muslim, and in significant contrast to the very large figure of 13% for Muslim prisoners in England and Wales.
Sixth, notably, although Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are still over-represented in more deprived areas of Scotland, they are less likely to be living in such areas in Scotland than they are in England.
Seventh, Muslims in Scotland are fast becoming a highly-educated population – currently exceeding the total population figure for ‘degree level and above’ education by 10 percentage points.
Eighth, almost 1 in 3 (31%) of the Muslim population is ‘economically active’ full-time – whether as an employee, or self-employed. For the population as-a-whole, the figure is 51%. It is notable that both of these percentages are higher than the corresponding figures for England and Wales which are 19.8% for Muslims and 34.9% for the overall population
Ninth, comparisons with the Muslim population in England and Wales suggest that Muslims in Scotland are somewhat socio-economically better off.
Click to access scottish_muslims_in_numbers_web.pdf
Tenth, ‘there are no radical preachers in Scottish mosques who are urging Muslims to commit violence abroad or at home.’
Eleventh, in 2017, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, MSP for Glasgow Pollok, first took his oath of allegiance in English and then in Urdu in the Scottish Parliament. Not something you can imagine in France.
Finally, see this:
‘Good community relations mean young Muslims in Scotland eschew extremism Unlike in England, there is mutual respect between the Scottish government, the Muslim communities and the police’
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Have you emailed this to him directly and was there any response?
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I have. No answer so far.
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This article was on Open Democracy, too.
My feeling was the same as yours – a generally strong piece marred by the paragraph you mentioned. It is of note that he calls people who live in Scotland as ‘The Scottish’ and not ‘Scots’. As you indicate, many people of colour who live and work in Scotland identify as ‘Scottish’ and consider themselves to be ‘Scots’.
Alasdair Macdonald
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Emailed OD too – no response
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You should send your whole piece to him John , let him see what research is !
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AGAIN TOTAL DISREGARD TOWARDS ALL SCOTS
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This is, indeed, a British problem. My own experience with unionist relatives and friends is that they are most definitely racist in their thinking. One friend I argue with regularly sends me PMs of atrocities supposedly carried out by Muslims. He cautions me that the Muslims intend to take over the world. He seems to think Scotland will eventually be overrun by Muslims, hell bent on raping our women and forcing Sharia laws on us. It’s written in the Koran, he says. My nephew, also a unionist, seemed desperate in his posts that the so called riots would spread to Scotland. In one post, after the machete attack, he posted ‘is it kicking off in Scotland now’? That’s only 2 I’ve described – there are many more.
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This guy would probably have been better to have answered the question ‘ I’m sorry but I don’t know enough about Scotland to express an opinion ‘ that would at least have been honest. He might even have added that he found it heartening that Scotland among all the home nations had managed to avoid such an embarrassment though he remembered well the people gathering in Govan to prevent immigration officers from deporting their neighbours. No me neither.
Golfnut
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Totally agree.
Amazing how some people who live outwith Scotland assume so much about our country when they know so little about both it and also about us as a people.
They just take the lazy option of seeing and presenting everything through the prism of ‘Britishness’ based mostly on what they witness in their own country, England.
Not forgetting how many within the media and politics (and some academics also) see the UK/Britain as being synonymous with England (with Scotland & Wales being relegated to region status).
It does become wearisome as a repetitive occurrence especially when you know the person involved has based his observations on assumptions and he has deliberately twisted the backlash to something he wants to highlight that suits his agenda.
With him intentionally missing the real point being made to him by those “readers who commented” on how the riots were being presented as a ‘UK’/British problem.
UK /British riots ?
Minus any riots occurring in Scotland & Wales !
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“I think the Scottish are just as racist as the English, same goes for the Northern Irish and Welsh. It’s a British problem“
So , going by that above statement, do you then have to identify as to being British to only then be regarded as a racist and so only then are you seen as having this racist ‘problem’ ?
Sweeping generalisations here by this Professor who I would suggest should perhaps “think” again to make such an observation on the “Scottish” being “just as racist as the English”.
I mean is that then everyone in Scotland & England because that’s how it reads.
Considering what prompted this poor and ill thought out response from him was in fact quite a valid reaction by some people who were objecting to how these riots were being reported.
That is the riots being wrongly referred to by the media and politicians as being “UK riots” and them happening “across the UK” and also being a “British problem” when they, as riots, only actually happened predominantly in Britain within England only (and via the UK included NI as well as England only).
Surely if presenting facts then stating that the riots were all across the UK was factually inaccurate and may actually have caused unnecessary fear & alarm in those areas that were not actually seeing any rioting, that is as in Scotland & Wales.
So what was wrong with some people highlighting this that so niggled this Professor to tar us all with the same brush as in , according to him, all nations being racists in all parts of the UK ?
If “British” that is though !
Is anyone in Scotland & Wales actually saying there is no racism in their countries ?
I think not.
So why then do people ,like this Professor, always feel compelled to make the point in ensuring that Scotland & Wales collectively need not assume that they are somehow, as countries, exempt from racism or more special compared to England in that he is emphasising that we are, in his opinion, as bad and just as racist as people in England.
So who in Scotland & Wales argued that our countries were exempt from racism that deserved such a clumsy, lazy (and predictable) response from him.
I wager that no one, in our countries, did say that we in Scotland and Wales were special or exempt from racism.
Yet he himself frames it as being under the banner of us all being “British”.
How then does he see those of us, who never have and still do not , identify as being one of the British , that he clearly refers to as those having the “problem” in his response ?
It seems there will always be people like this Professor ensuring that we, Scotland & Wales, will be dragged into a very much English mess that quickly then according to them morphs into ,via presentation, becoming a very much British mess in how people like this person, and the media & politicians , prefer to always see it and present it.
Even when we in Scotland and Wales are uninvolved in rioting we still are not allowed to consider ourselves in that particular instance as being distinct or different but instead, as per , we are clubbed together with another part(s) of their Britain/UK as being no better indeed we are to be seen as the same as those who cause(d) the problems, especially by those like this Professor.
Why ?
Because we are British apparently !
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one simple answer , his wages depend on it , thats why he has written this piece of drivel , lets face it , if you lived in Birmingham surrounded by nutters protesting about being overrun by muslims would you risk saying its purely an english problem ? and risk getting your house burnt down or bricks through your window or the nuts banging on your door at night of course you would not .
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Dearie me ! An educated man of letters thinks that Scots ( Welsh and Irish ) ”are just as racist … ”.
If I made the claim that he , a Black man, was just as guilty of murder or rape or any other serious offence , because I had witnessed another black man found guilty of these in a court of law – would I be correct ? Clearly , NOT !
This sort of indiscriminate ‘labelling’ of whole groups is one of the traits of those who would foment unrest in society . One Muslim commits an act of terrorism therefore ALL Muslims are guilty of the same !
I take that the good professor would NOT take this view ! So why would he taint all of the inhabitants of these Isles with the same racist brush ? Or was only talking about the real racists – and not you or me ?
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What total bullshit from this Prof’s update, an intellectual quilt of disconnect – Absolutely NOBODY at these 2024 marches and riots in England would remember the British Empire let alone slavery, whether English, Welsh or Irish.
Nobody is claiming ” Scotland and Wales are more progressive on race “, Scots and Welsh are simply more tolerant of difference, such that they haven’t demonstrated or rioted, or attempted to murder refugees in a hotel by setting fire to the inside and blocking exits, or attacking a mosque – Have they ? – I’m sure a breathless Andrew Kerr would have reported on it live wearing a helmet and full body armour with the Velcro ‘PRESS’ label, instead we get just the helmet nightly on Mis-Reporting Scotland.
I’m not blaming the marchers for expressing fears over immigration in England, goodness knows it’s media and pundits have been ramming it down their throats for well over a decade – But just for S&G consider where the demonstrations were held, and how far away these places were from the French coast – Have they ever seen a “small boat” beyond what is presented on TV. I doubt it very much…. It’s manipulated hysteria, and the Prof is playing the game badly in terms of Scotland – “Talk to any Black person there, and they’re struggling with racism too. There’s a reason we don’t move there and we move to hubs where there are other Black people ” – From Birmingham Professor you may perceive an exodus from Scotland back to wherever, the only exodus is in the back of Border Force vans…
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Scottish history is one of migration because of Westminster policies. Jacobite deportations, The clearance, the £10 passsge to Australia, the higher unemployment. Most people in Scotland have relatives abroad. Migrants. US, Australia, NZ, Canada. Oil / finance projects all over the world. Merchant shipping.
Scotland has Devolution and a better more empathetic Gov, trying to mitigate Westminster cuts and unfairness.
The people who have been left behind in the South are protesting and rioting because of the austerity and inequality of the Westminster Gov. Making people’s lives harder for years. They need any excuse to protest on the streets because of worsening crisis of lack of means and adequate support. The weathier getting weathier all the time. An increase of the poorer. The UK the most unequal place in the world.
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Some people need to read a few history books. Or do a bit of research. 5 mins on the internet.
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Parents should really do their kids a big favor by NOT passing down onto them destructive anti-social/-societal sentiments and perceptions (including stereotypes and ‘humor’), since such rearing ironically can make life so much harder for one’s own children.
It fails to prepare children for the practical reality of an increasingly diverse and populous society and workplace. It also makes it so much less likely those children will be emotionally content or preferably harmonious with their multicultural and multi-ethnic/-racial surroundings.
Children reared into their adolescence and, eventually, young adulthood this way can often be angry yet not fully realize at precisely what. Then they may feel left with little choice but to move to another part of the land, where their own ethnicity/race predominates, preferably overwhelmingly so.
Especially if it’s deliberate, rearing one’s very impressionable young children in such an environment of baseless contempt and overt bigotry amounts to a formidable form of child abuse.
Too often, such ugly sentiment is acquired during childhood [regardless of skin color], sometimes even passed down generationally like a communicable virus/sickness. It may be further cemented by a misguided yet strong sense of entitlement, perhaps also environmentally acquired.
This serious social/societal problem can/should be proactively prevented by allowing young children to become accustomed to other peoples/cultures/faiths in a harmoniously positive manner. Not surprising, the earliest years are typically the best time to instill and even solidify diversity-positive attitudes and social-interaction life skills/traits into a very young brain/mind. …
I consider myself lucky in having a mother who never had anything disdainful to say about people of different races and cultures. In fact, she, though being of Croatian heritage, still enjoys watching/listening to the Middle Eastern and Indian subcontinental dancers and musicians on the multicultural channel.
Most memorable for me was being emphatically told at a very young and therefore impressionable age by her about the exceptionally kind and caring nature of our Black family doctor. I believe that in doing so she had a positive and lasting effect on me.
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