“THE sun shines on the righteous”, my Aberdonian grandmother used to say. So it did yesterday, World Refugee Day, as 1500 people joined a peaceful, socially distanced protest in George Square called by the campaign group Stand Up to Racism (SUTR).
They came from across the city. The young black, Asian and white people, with their homemade Black Lives Matter placards.
The trade unionists, with the flags and banners of the transport workers’ RMT, the firefighters’ FBU and the teachers’ EIS. Most of them wore face coverings, as per the urging of SUTR.
The demonstration was an impressive, united cross-section of multicultural Glasgow.
It reminded me of the great day, in 1993, when thousands of us poured into George Square to welcome the great Nelson Mandela to our city.
There could hardly have been a more profound contrast between this uplifting expression of the diversity of Glasgow and the ugly scenes of last Sunday and Wednesday. Then, the angry white men of Scotland’s small but nasty far-right wreaked violent havoc, under the pretext of defending a cenotaph that was never under threat. Yesterday, the far-right thugs couldn’t muster as many as 40.
READ MORE: Education Secretary John Swinney spells out the Government's schools strategy
On the anti-racist demonstration, protestors stood on chalk marks made by the stewards, each of them two-and-a-half metres apart. SUTR activist Fatima Uygun, who compèred the rally, explained that as well as standing against racism and the far-right, they wanted to keep people safe from Covid-19.
We heard from speakers representing Black Lives Matter, the trade unions and civic organisations. A statement of support was read out on behalf of Sandra White MSP. We took the knee in memory of George Floyd and every other black person killed by racist police.
As the demonstration ended, just before noon, the considerable number of police (some of them on horseback) inexplicably kettled the bloc from the Green Brigade, who had behaved peacefully throughout. Why, people asked, were a section of the anti-racists being subjected to much tougher policing than was meted out to the violent racists and fascists over the previous week?
That unnecessary flashpoint notwithstanding, yesterday was a great day for the anti-racist majority in Glasgow. As SUTR spokeswoman Charlotte Ahmed said: “Today’s demonstration was a magnificent expression of the unity, the anti-racism and the anti-fascism of the people of Glasgow … We have made it clear: refugees are welcome here, Black Lives Matter, no racists in Glasgow. No pasaran!”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here