Feeling smug about no riots in Scotland hinders anti-racism efforts

And now people of colour must deal with the consequences. Up and down the UK crowds of masked rioters, draped in the St George’s cross and union jack alike terrorised communities of colour.

The planned protest in Glasgow however, never materialised. Logging into work the morning after the riots failed to materialise in Scotland, the overwhelming feeling shared from white colleagues has been relief. I want so dearly to share it, but I don’t.

READ MORE: Richard Walker: Scottish media mustn't be bullied out of telling the truth about riots

It’s been one of the most exhausting and despairing weeks I’ve had as an activist since 2020. Like many others in my community, I have felt anxious and exhausted by constant vigilance and traumatised by the scenes of terror every time I’ve picked up my phone.

We don’t know if this is over yet, but I am fearful that a feeling of relief in the wake of such terrifying violence in other parts of Britain could foster complacency among Scotland’s white middle-class liberals.

Of course, I do take some heart and optimism from the thousands who took to the streets across England to oppose fascist violence. But I can’t help but feel that they came too late and only in response to such shocking violence when people from my community have warned of the damage of rhetoric like “stop the boats” and “invasions” to no avail.

As a child like many others, I was taught the classroom refrain “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. It didn’t take long for most of us to work out that it’s complete nonsense and yet it’s still the prevailing attitude around racism. It matters less to people when it’s dog whistles and conspiracy theory as opposed to bricks and beer bottles thrown.

Clearly, racism is also more compelling to the media when the perpetrators are wearing tracksuits and flags vs a shirt and tie. For us in Scotland, it’s also highly convenient to label this as an English problem.

Let’s be clear, while it hasn’t appeared en masse this week, racial violence and harassment is occurring in Scotland. The same is true of anti-migrant rhetoric and the desire to keep Scotland for the “Scottish”. This delusion of Scottish exceptionalism has seriously hindered our ability to build a robust anti-racist movement across all sections of society.

READ MORE: John Curtice gives verdict on why far-right riots hit England but not Scotland

Having spent years working with the Scottish Government on its anti-racist policies and initiatives I can let you in on a secret – we aren’t making enough progress to stop the far-right. Nowhere near. In fact, I’ve experienced more racism and micro-aggressions in anti-racist policy spaces than anywhere else in recent years.

One of the biggest obstacles is that white supremacy is a misunderstood concept. And recent events may not change this as there is still little acknowledgment of the fact that racism goes beyond just physical manifestations of violence.

White supremacy is so misunderstood among Scotland’s powerful that in a meeting with a senior civil servant, I once was told I couldn’t use the term at all to describe the pervasive systemic racism that remains unsolved by policy efforts.

This was supposedly because use of the term made them uncomfortable and it evoked images of quote “card-carrying racists”.

It shows us how working-class and violent white people have become the face of racism, leading to collective ignorance about the causes of their violence.

White supremacy goes beyond hooded cults and grand wizards. The term describes the cultural, political and economic domination of white people through a system invented by the elite and wealthy.

The violent marches we have seen are not the only versions of racism we must worry about. They are the product of ingrained racism that we are failing to remove from our systems.

READ MORE: BBC Scotland under fire over article on far-right riots

The fact that any migrant was housed in a dingy hotel and not a safe and secure home in the first place is a manifestation of this systemic racism. Even Police Scotland who were on standby in case of violence have admitted themselves that they are institutionally racist.

Our inability to focus on systemic racism has led us to where we are now.

Instead of working toward reforming our systems of governance to make them fair and equitable or learning from the lessons of scandals like Windrush, Grenfell or the death of Sheku Bayoh we instead have to fight for survival, as violent mobs terrorise communities.

This plays into right-wing fascists’ hands who want to see us distracted. This past week has shown how endemic classism in Britain obscures the real source of racism.

While white middle-class liberals throw around words like “yobs” and “chavs” to describe the rioters the true culprits who led them there relax peacefully in their mansions – or in Tommy Robinson’s case, on a Cypriot beach.

They remain unaccountable and their ideas are still spreading like wildfire, unchecked by social media companies and TV channels such as GB News.

As leftists join the anti-racist marches up and down the country in the coming weeks, I urge them to lift their voices not only in George Square but also their offices, with their family members and with their elected representatives.

I urge them to stand in solidarity with people of colour not only in times of violence but also in times of calm so that we never have to see this again.

Until we take the fight to our systems as well as the streets, we will never be rid of the scourge of white supremacist violence.

Too many Scottish leftists are feeling smug that we haven’t seen any riots in Scotland yet and must be reminded that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Scottish communities of colour are terrified that like in the case of riots down south, no-one will listen to us until it is too late.