We aren't all Jock Tamson's bairns

MORE than a third of Scots children have suffered racism, shock new figures have revealed.

The study by charity Show Racism the Red Card shows 37% of young people had experienced racism in a year up to February. The numbers have rocketed 19% since the same study took place last year and experiences recounted by youngsters in the shock study included terrible racial insults, with one child even being told they shouldn’t wear a kilt because of they weren’t white. The charity said their figures revealed that 29% of the young people they worked with had been victim to vile racist abuse. That is 11% higher than stats for last year and an increase of 8% in just two months.

Ude Adigwe, a GMB regional organiser who experienced first hand racism is Scotland’s education system, said: “These shocking figures show any idea Scotland is a haven of tolerance compared to the rest of the UK is absolute nonsense. Brexit and increasing levels of poverty have created fertile breeding ground for divisive racist poison.

“The irony is that, as a child growing into adolescence and then into my adult years, I have always been in love with the inclusive sentiments encapsulated by the wonderful, old Scottish proverb, ‘We are all Jock Tamson’s bairns'. Given these depressing figures, it seems that not all bairns are welcome in the land of Jock Tamson.”

Nicola Hay, campaign manager at Show Racism the Red Card said: “The figures sadly indicate a notable rise is young people’s experiences of racism. It is likely that the spike in racist experiences is a result of Brexit almost legitimising racist and xenophobic views. In addition to this, people living on the poverty line are likely to blame migrants, however, we are losing more jobs to automation than migration – but you can’t deport a driverless truck."