Not all Jock Tamson's Bairns?

Urgent action is needed to address the “gross racial inequalities” in Scotland, according to a major study.  The Scottish Government, politicians and employers have been urged to tackle the country’s racism problem by the authors of a new book challenging the “myth” that Scotland is a more egalitarian country than others.

The book, No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland, warns that the job situation for black and minority communities is “bleak” and “in some cases” is getting worse. The book highlights discrimination in the workplace and the harassment suffered by the black and minority ethnic (BME) population. Davidson and Virdee accuse the SNP of creating a “dominant story”, through a more positive attitude towards immigration, that Scotland is more “egalitarian” than England. This, they argue, reinforces “the myth that Scotland does not have a serious racism problem”.

Jatin Haria, Executive Director of the Coalition of Racial Equality and Rights writes “Urgent and major action is needed to address the gross racial inequalities in the Scottish labour market if Scotland is truly to become the equal, egalitarian nation it wants to become.”  Haria said data revealed that after interviews for local authority jobs, white applicants are three times more likely to secure a position than non-white applicants. He also quoted the latest official figures which showed that just 1.6 per cent of Scottish Government employees identify themselves as BME, a statistic that showed no improvement since 2014.

According to the latest census figures, the percentage of people from minority ethnic groups stands at four per cent of the population, but the BME population is rising steadily. The Asian population is the largest minority ethnic group, representing three per cent of the population or 141,000 individuals. The BME population is proportionally larger in Scotland’s cities, accounting for 12 per cent in Glasgow and eight per cent in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Haria said: “You have a BME population in Glasgow of over 12 per cent and that’s from the census, so it has probably increased since then. And you have a Glasgow City Council workforce of about two per cent from their own published figures. “It just wouldn’t be acceptable south of the border. I would have thought there should be a greater outcry here. In Scotland it is allowed to go..." He continued, “The disparity in employment is so obvious, but there is so little action around it. Because employment is a long-term process, you won’t get promoted to headteacher for another 20 years or so – if we don’t do something about this now we are going to have a long-term problem.” He writes: “The real need is to deal with institutional, structural and direct racism by organisations and individual employers…

Elsewhere in the book, personal experiences of racial harassment are outlined, which the authors contrast with the inclusive image of Scotland promoted by politicians.

Last week Sarwar claimed a Labour councillor had told him “Scotland wouldn’t vote for a brown Muslim Paki” when he was standing against Richard Leonard in the Scottish Labour leadership contest. Councillor Davie McLachlan, leader of the Labour group on South Lanarkshire Council, has been suspended by the party. McLachlan denies the claim.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/gross-racial-inequality-belies-scots-myth-say-experts-1-4682102