Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Points of ViewAuthor(s): Helen MillerSource: Fortnight, No. 431 (Dec., 2004), p. 2Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25561334 .

Accessed: 28/06/2014 12:41

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Fortnight Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Fortnight.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.105.245.156 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:41:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

D points of view

Realities of

Scottish sectarianism

Nil by Mouth was set up by Cara Henderson whose friend Mark Scott was the victim of an unprovoked sectarian attack on a busy Glasgow street in October 1995. Mark's throat was cut and he died in seconds. Mark was a Celtic supporter and his murderer Jason Campbell was a Rangers fan.

Cara set up Nil by Mouth to address the very real problem of sectarianism in Scotland. The aim was to raise awareness of this peculiar form of prejudice and challenge the culture of complacency that allowed it to fester.

The sociologist Professor Steve Bruce argues that sectarianism is no longer a

major social problem in Scotland. He points to the numbers of mixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics, falling church attendances, the progress which Catholics have made in the professions and to the absence of discrimination against Catholics in housing and in the workplace.

These statements are worthy of consideration but week after week Nil by

Mouth receives a steady flow of telephone calls from teachers, community groups and youth workers. All are looking for help and support in tackling sectarian issues which confront them daily in the course of their work.

ABUSE Many of these problems are of a relatively

low level, e.g. involving verbal abuse of some kind. Periodically the problem may escalate and violence can follow. It is irrelevant whether the perpetrators understand the doctrinal differences between various branches of the Christian faith or even whether they attend church or chapel. Sectarianism, put simply, is about

attitudes and prejudices. It's what many people encounter daily in the workplace, in the street and of course at football

matches. The reality of sectarianism in Scotland

is evident when we examine the impact of the new law which came into force in June 2003 making crimes aggravated by religious prejudice an offence. In the first six months of this new law the equivalent of one arrest every day was made using this aggravation and these crimes took place across the whole country - not just in Glasgow.

The impact of sectarianism can also be witnessed in Accident and Emergency Rooms across Scotland. Earlier this year a consultant in Accident and Emergency

Medicine at Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire spoke out about the impact of football related violence. When referring to the frequent sectarian fuelled violence around Old Firm games Dr Martin Watt said "What is usually reported is the number of arrests at the match. If there are 20 arrests the police will say it's quiet. But what we get are the people who have been attacked on the street or gone into the

wrong pub. Six to 12 assaults and a couple of serious stabbings is normal for an Old Firm match."

One of Nil by Mouth's tenets is that everyone should take responsibility for the language they use and the way they behave. Telling a sectarian joke in the pub - or indeed laughing at or just listening to it - may seem relatively harmless. But arguably it's the start of a chain, a long chain, which can end in violence and even death. The danger is that the extreme bigots, the ones who perpetrate the sickening violence, imagine that people

who laugh at sectarian jokes or sing

sectarian songs at football matches must also support more physical expressions of bigotry.

PUBLIC The evidence that sectarianism is still an issue for Scotland is obvious to Nil by

Mouth - the calls we receive from the public, the sectarian violence and deaths following Old Firm games and the volume of arrests for crimes aggravated by religious prejudice all point to a problem. In my view sectarianism remains an important issue and it continues to have a

widespread and corrosive effect on many aspects of Scottish life. Ignoring or playing down sectarianism will not make it go away.

Helen Miller

Helen Miller, a native of Broughshane in

North Antrim, is the Co-ordinator of Nil

by Mouth, a Charity set up to challenge

sectarianism in Scotland.

SEE PAGE 8

PAGE 2 FORTNIGHT DECEMBER 2004 POINTS OF VIEW

This content downloaded from 193.105.245.156 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:41:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions