Anti-English incidents on the rise

A HIGH-street music chain is to sell “Anyone But England” T-shirts in its Aberdeen branch due to “local demand”. The company has taken note, no doubt, of the earlier sellout of similar T-shirts at a clothes shop in the city.

Elsewhere, new official government statistics showed that anti-English racist incidents were spiralling in the Grampian Police area and were far greater than any other ethnic category. Is there an underlying link?

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing welcomed the figures as evidence of victims being confident of coming forward. He never said why it was happening or what he was doing to stamp it out. Many racist attitudes are passed down, sadly, through families and not only in Scotland, of course. It is also copied in schools and later in the workplace, where individuals ape the prevailing group culture. Even Alex Salmond and Co’s anti-England, as opposed to anti-English, Westminster-bashing has been blamed for sending the wrong message to some.

Those dishing it out regard it as “banter”, but racially-motivated humour is dangerous in the wrong hands and intimidating. Targets know the difference between gentle, genuine humour from close friends or colleagues and something which is a calculated insult meant to cause pain. It is impossible to tell the true intentions behind a stranger’s “Anyone But England” T-shirt. It might be good-humoured in some cases, but the “banter” excuse is a handy protective shield for the racist.

Maybe some English people do need to get a “sense of humour”, as the spokesman for the clothes shop suggested, but does it damage Scotland’s image or should we just laugh off the statistics, too?