THE DIARIST CONSCIOUS THOUGHTS

Are White People Racist if They’re Scared of Black People?

Memories of racial tension in light of the recent riots

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Memories of racial tension in light of this week’s riots: 7th of August 2024

There’s little doubt that blatant racism and right wing thuggery is behind the recent spate of riots in England and North Ireland. Perhaps one of the saddest sights I saw last weekend online, is a child, hand-in-hand with her mother, shouting blatant racist abuse at a demo in Belfast.

I’d like to explore the origins of racism here rather than the violence currently in the news. And for that I’ll turn back to my own encounters with it. I think the American photo above encapsulates what I’m discussing here. So, I’ll avoid any riot photos and concentrate on sly bigotry and fear.

I live in Scotland where we’ve been spared the riots, but I have ugly memories from the 1980s of NF fascists marching with the BNP. That was in Glasgow when the Asian community (along with the general antifa of the time) came out to counter their demos.

I now live in the countryside in the west of Scotland where most people are, like myself, white. Minority groups of folk are so…