GRAFFITI everywhere

My experience of being part of a minority group in Scotland

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom.. The small group of people who call themselves the Scottish National Liberation Army want to gain independence from the United Kingdom.

We lived in Scotland because my husband like many others in the north east around Aberdeen worked on the oil rigs.

We noticed SNLA slogans scrawled on walls and it was not a nice feeling. No one wants to feel unwelcome or threatened. There were also reports in the press of harrassment in the form of bricks thrown through windows, abuse in the street and graffiti on doors and houses which was far more worrying, especially as we had very young children at the time and feared for their safety. No one in Britain should feel terrorised because of their race.

To retain a balanced perspective, the Scottish people hold a variety of political beliefs, not everyone wants independence and only a small minority would stoop to violence. There are political means by which to gain attention and threatening English families is neither the the kindest or wisest method.

There is no retaliation or similar feeling towards Scots in England although such experiences always colour our opinions. In Britain we often wrongly imagine that racism is an attitude of colour.

Fortunately, there were plenty of polite and friendly Scottish people to counteract the bigotry of the few and our memories of Scotland include many good times.

Graffiti used as a political tool in Northern Ireland

A far worse political and religious division existed in Northern Ireland during 'the troubles of the late 20th century'. Political views were expressed in huge murals on the sides of buildings and feeleings and threats were made very clear indeed.

All these instances are of hate crime against a minority group and should be taken seriously because waves of hate may begin with graffiti and escalate into violence and even war.

Question

What historical accounts do you know of that tell of hatred against a particular group of people because of their national identity or religious beliefs?