Scotland loves to see itself as a welcoming and inclusive country free from the cancer of racism.
The truth is that it infects every country in the world and we are no different.
Racism is a disease that feeds on ignorance and will grow in the absence of constantly reinforced education.
In a new BBC documentary, Sunday Mail columnist Jean Johansson has told how she was called a “black b******” and spat on while working in McDonald’ s as a teenager.
It is just one of many heartbreaking episodes she experienced growing up with a Scottish dad and Ugandan mum in Port Glasgow.
Her film highlights the plight of a little girl too afraid to go to school for fear of abuse and a shopkeeper who employs a white person behind the till to make the community feel more comfortable.
Appalling stories like these happen every day and will continue so long as we hide behind a false narrative of Scottish exceptionalism.
Racism is everywhere and anyone who thinks this nation is somehow above it is just proving the point.
It is not just found in school playgrounds pubs and street corners either.
Everyone is capable of feeling prejudice based on a perceived differences, even when they know not to say the wrong thing.
It is laudable that so many have volunteered to welcome Ukrainian refugees into their home.
However, it is worth asking why we weren’t given the opportunity to do the same for Syrians or Afghans.
The first step towards solving a problem is accepting that it exists in the first place.
We can beat racism but only if we open our eyes and fight it together.
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