Challenging Stereotypes
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-05944, in the name of Hanzala Malik, on challenging negative racial and religious stereotypes. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament welcomes the campaign, I Speak For Myself, which has been launched by Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre in Glasgow; understands that the campaign aims to empower Muslim women to encourage them to share their personal messages with fellow Scots in order to challenge any negative stereotypes associated with them and the Islamic faith; notes that the campaign suggests that, although Scotland is a welcoming and inclusive nation with a vibrant multicultural society, global events have caused a rise in misconceptions about and discrimination toward Muslim women and the Islamic faith and an increase in the number of citizens with negative attitudes; commends the campaign’s aims to educate, dispel myths and promote awareness about the inequalities and discrimination facing the Muslim community and its work in tackling racial and religious prejudice, and notes suggestions that, in order to create a fairer Scotland, this and other campaigns, such as Show Racism the Red Card Scotland and Nil by Mouth, would benefit from an integrated and systematic approach to tackling problems of negative stereotypes and discrimination.
17:05
I was very happy when my motion was selected for today’s debate as I had wanted an opportunity to discuss how we in Scotland can challenge negative racial and religious stereotypes.
I congratulate Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre on its I speak for myself campaign. The campaign was created to encourage Muslim women to share with fellow Scots messages about anything that they feel is important. More than 400 Scottish Muslim women have participated and shared messages as part of the campaign, which came out of the work that Amina did in 2011 when it visited some 25 secondary schools in Scotland and was shocked to find that 70 per cent of young people associated words such as “terrorist”, “uneducated”, “foreign” and “oppressed” with Muslim women.
The travelling exhibition encouraged dialogue and promoted understanding of a misunderstood community and faith. I am pleased to say that 55 members of the Scottish Parliament and three ministers have pledged their support to standing up against intolerance and prejudice, by speaking out against discrimination and contributing to making a fairer Scotland.
The work in schools is funded only in Glasgow and Dundee and it is not really possible to accommodate requests to engage that Amina receives from schools outwith those areas. I suggest that if other councils want to take part, they should contact Amina to try to resolve that issue.
Since the campaign began, there has been a shift in communities. With the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich, there is a greater need than ever to promote understanding between communities. In my opinion, the best way to do that is to speak to people from different communities and to let them speak for themselves, as the campaign has tried to do.
In the discussions in schools as part of Amina’s research on efforts to combat negative stereotypes, I was surprised to learn that little was brought up by students in their normal classes. However, when it came to religious education classes, students were more open about their views and were willing to share those views with the rest of the class. That suggests that there is still a lot of work to be done, even with our young people.
Why, however, are we dealing with stereotyping of Muslim women separately from other forms of discrimination? I would like to see the work that Amina is doing in a framework in which all such organisations work together. On paper, those organisations are meant to work across equalities strands, but for some reason we are not doing that. We tend to deal with bigotry separately, but I do not understand why. In addition to that, bigotry in football is treated as a special case. Again, I ask why equalities organisations do not work together, because it is important to appreciate that all forms of discrimination are equally unwelcome.
I believe that work on challenging stereotypes with regard to racism, sectarianism or even to redheads—whatever kind of prejudice—should have benchmarking to help progress the work so that there is a clear vision for its direction and we can see whether we are, in fact, improving our lot, if one can use that phrase.
We need to start with the foundation that we are all human beings and that we are all different in many ways. I read somewhere the statement that
“you are unique, just like everyone else.”
That is what our young people need to understand first, then individual organisations can bring their separate skills together to assist one another. The issue now is that there are many organisations that have people with marvellous skills, but unfortunately because they work in isolation those skills are not transferable to other organisations and, as a result, we do not benefit from them.
I congratulate Amina on doing such a marvellous job in working among minority communities, but especially with our women, who have real issues in bringing up young families and facing up to the most difficult challenges, not only in the home but in the workplace. We must congratulate Amina on bringing to our attention the difficulties that our young people face. I make a plea that we, as the Scottish Parliament, take all possible measures to assist our vulnerable communities in working together to become a fairer and clearer nation, so that we all benefit equally.
We turn to open debate, with speeches of four minutes, please. I am going to call Malcolm Chisholm first because he has, as a courtesy to members, indicated that he has to leave early for other parliamentary business.
17:12
I have apologised to the minister, but I apologise to you, Presiding Officer, and to Hanzala Malik, because I have to leave to chair the parliamentary cross-party group on cancer, which starts soon.
I congratulate Hanzala Malik on lodging an important motion, and I congratulate Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre on all the great work that it has done over several years. However, in the context of this debate, I congratulate it particularly on its I speak for myself campaign. I have no doubt that other members have looked into that and have seen the film that is available online. I certainly hope that as many people as possible will watch that film and promote it so that other people become aware of it.
Amina’s campaign has always been important for the reasons that Hanzala Malik gave, but I think that we would agree that it is especially timely, given the appalling crime in Woolwich. As we all know, people of all religions and none commit crimes, but a particular crime can never be an excuse for turning on an innocent community that happens to share the criminal’s religion. Unfortunately, that is what has happened over the past few weeks.
I was at a community workshop in my constituency two weeks ago. It is a great group, which is working to promote race equality and integration in north Edinburgh, but it was very sad to hear one of the Muslim women at that recent meeting say that she had lived in her community in north Edinburgh for six years and had never, until the week before, been harassed. She described a terrifying incident that happened to her when she was on her bicycle.
We have to face facts: there has been a recent rise in racism and Islamophobia, and the prejudice and stereotyping that we know exist have been exacerbated. We have to address that problem, and Amina’s great campaign can help us to do that. We need to listen to individual Muslim women and men, and we need to relate to them as much as possible. That is what the message of integration is about, so that we can live together in harmony and break down the barriers, prejudices and stereotypes that get in the way of our living in harmony.
In a way, I have been reminded of what happened in 2005 in the wake of the London bombings, when there was the same kind of increase in racism and Islamophobia. In the wake of that, a group in my constituency, the Pakeeza women’s group—I hope that Hanzala Malik will not mind my mentioning this—produced a booklet, “Pride and Prejudice: Beyond the Veil”. I was reminded of that because the women in Pakeeza were trying to do the kind of thing that the women at Amina are trying to do. They were trying to say, “This is the kind of person I am. See beyond the fact that I might or might not wear a veil. See beyond the stereotyping and the prejudices that are so common in society and in the media. I am a human being. I have interests and am just like you in many ways.” They were also saying in the booklet, just as the Amina campaign is saying, “I do have a particular religion and I want you to know about it”, because, of course, a lot of the prejudice and stereotyping is to do with the Islamic faith. The faith is misrepresented and is associated with violence and so on, which is totally inappropriate.
Let us listen to those women. I hope that the media will also listen, because much responsibility rests with the media for reporting in unhelpful, prejudiced and derogatory ways. We should all work together to challenge myths and stereotypes and to bring about a society in which we can live in harmony. I hope that we can do that more and more at community level, as I am pleased to say is happening in my constituency.
17:16
I congratulate Hanzala Malik on bringing the debate to the Parliament.
I have always found it difficult to understand the concept of prejudice. I am blessed, in that I have had Nigerian cousins since I was about six—more than 50 years ago. I also have Mauritian cousins.
When Hanzala Malik was speaking, I had a flashback to when I was at school in Edinburgh. I will share the memory with members. I remember a young lad who was 13 or 14—he was ages with me. He had been born without eyes and was totally blind. He therefore had no concept of colour, but he had a prejudice about black people.
I could not understand that and I engaged with him. He said, “Oh, no, I just don’t like black people.” I said, “You do not know what black is. You have no idea. You have no concept of colour, or night and day, or light and dark.” However, he was convinced of his nigh-on hatred of black and ethnic minority people—at the time, we probably did not use the phrase “ethnic minority”.
He was prejudiced because his parents were prejudiced. That is how he had learned to be prejudiced against people whom he had never met and of whose colour or ethnicity he would have had no idea if he passed them in the street.
I find it hard to understand why so much prejudice remains. When we pass people in the street, we have no idea what their faith is—I certainly do not. I have no idea whether a person was born in this country.
It is disturbing that, in a survey, 28 per cent of the population said that prejudice is right. Some 28 per cent of people still think that it is right to be prejudiced against certain people in our communities and some 31 per cent think that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are taking our jobs. I do not understand that, either. Our jobs? Whose jobs?
As I said to start with, I find prejudice difficult to understand. I am a former member of the Equal Opportunities Committee, which deals a lot with the Scottish Human Rights Commission. When we did a report on the Gypsy Travelling community, the commission said that the last bastion of self-respecting prejudice and racism is against the Gypsy Travelling community. A percentage of people from other ethnic minority groups are prejudiced against the Gypsy Travelling community. People have prejudices against things because they do not understand them. Hanzala Malik and others are absolutely right: that is about education and awareness.
Malcolm Chisholm said that the media have a responsibility, which they certainly do. Sometimes, the way in which the media portray racism and prejudice incites more racism and prejudice. The media should have a responsibility to raise awareness rather than to incite.
17:21
I am delighted to contribute to this important debate on challenging negative racial and religious stereotypes and to add my congratulations to Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre. I welcome people from it to the chamber, including Faten Hameed, who is one of its directors.
We are here to talk about the launch and success of the I speak for myself campaign. I thank my colleague Hanzala Malik for securing time in the chamber to talk about the important issues that have arisen from that campaign and to highlight the excellent work that is being carried out in the Glasgow region.
Amina’s I speak for myself campaign is just one of many examples of what is great about the third sector in Scotland. Amina visited Scottish secondary schools to discuss Islam with pupils and recognised a problem. A staggering 70 per cent of the pupils to whom it spoke associated incredibly false and negative ideas with Muslim women. Amina identified that problem and immediately went about fixing it. We can all be proud of its campaign to challenge misconceptions about Muslim women by actively getting out and speaking to Muslim women about their experiences, identity and personal beliefs.
Nil by Mouth is another excellent example of a charity that works hard to challenge negative religious stereotypes. On a budget of only £60,000, it delivered workshops to more than 5,000 people last year in my region of Glasgow. It has over the past few years worked with Garscadden primary school, which is one of my local schools, and with St Brendan’s primary school, and its projects have allowed pupils to learn more about not only other faiths and cultures but their own. The vast majority of pupils enter into such projects with great interest and enthusiasm. This could be the generation that beats bigotry once and for all.
The work that organisations such as Nil by Mouth, Amina and many others do is incredibly important and must be adequately funded, but it works only when it is matched with an education policy and far-reaching initiatives that get to the heart of the problem of intolerance. Integrated approaches are essential to engender change in our communities. I trust that the Scottish Government agrees with me and that it will use the cross-party support for such campaigns as a springboard to an overview of the incredible work that the charitable sector is doing.
17:24
I, too, thank Hanzala Malik and congratulate him on bringing the motion before the Parliament for debate. I know that before he came to the Parliament, he played an important role as an advocate for the Muslim community as a Glasgow City Council councillor for 17 years. Indeed, it was my pleasure to encounter him in that capacity many years ago when we were members of the court of the University of Strathclyde, to which he made a distinguished contribution. We brought our different backgrounds and experiences to that forum.
In bringing this debate to the Parliament, Hanzala Malik has achieved two important things. First, and quite rightly, he has highlighted the imagination and innovation of Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre in Glasgow in devising and launching the I speak for myself campaign, which deserves praise in its own right. Secondly, the carefully drafted script of his motion lifts the veil on the vulnerability, apprehension and isolation that are felt by many in the Muslim community, all of which can be intensified by external events.
As a Parliament, we should be very concerned if that community suffers from misconceptions about and endures discrimination towards Muslim women and the Islamic faith. That is utterly unacceptable and it is important that this Parliament—as an institution and through its proceedings and debates—condemns such activity and plays its part in educating, dispelling the myths and promoting awareness of such issues in order to eliminate those negative attitudes.
Show Racism the Red Card Scotland and Nil by Mouth have been very effective vehicles in their own way in maintaining awareness, keeping the issues to the forefront of discussion and guarding against the enemy of complacency. I note with interest the suggestion in the motion of a more
“integrated and systematic approach to tackling problems of negative stereotypes and discrimination.”
There may indeed be scope for that, but there is also strength in numbers and I would not like to see the identities of those two campaigns and the new one—I speak for myself—blurred. All three have something very important to say.
Broadening out the debate to consider what positive options are available to help in the work of those campaigns, I can think of no better model than the annual Pakistan Welfare Trust dinner. Like others in the chamber, I have had the pleasure of attending that dinner over many years. It is a highlight in the Muslim community’s calendar and it has developed a very positive reputation, with many guests from politics and civic Scotland. It has played an important role in broadening awareness and understanding, and in nurturing solid and positive relationships. It is also an immensely enjoyable social occasion.
This year the dinner was outstanding. It took place against the backdrop of the appalling murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich, to which Malcolm Chisholm referred, but that tragedy served to demonstrate how, from our different backgrounds and cultures, we stand united in condemning what is wrong and bad and supporting what is good and right. That unity of purpose was explicit in the apposite reading from the Qur’an that evening and the many speeches that were made at the dinner.
There was a power for good that evening, which was tangible to all who were present. It was born out of mutual respect and—quite simply—born, over the years, out of getting to know one another. I hope that those strengths will imbue and encourage both the existing campaigns and the new I speak for myself campaign. I wish it every success.
17:28
I congratulate my friend and colleague Hanzala Malik on securing this members’ business debate on an issue that affects many individuals in black and ethnic minority communities, not only here in Scotland but across the globe.
It would be naive of any member to suggest that Scotland is a haven for racial equality and that the campaigns implemented by the current Administration and previous Administrations have tackled stereotypes and negative attitudes towards race and religion. As we all know, there is still a long way to go.
The motion makes specific reference to the I speak for myself campaign: a very emotive campaign put forward to the public in a very simple way. The campaign uses real people and real-life examples to help show that Muslim women are just like any other members of society, in that they drink Irn Bru and are interested in their local football clubs. Such campaigns help to bring about community cohesion and continue to show that Scotland is a welcoming and inclusive nation for anyone who wishes to come here.
Every member in this chamber, as well as individuals across the UK and around the world, is aware of the death of Drummer Lee Rigby. That has led to the increased presence of far-right groups that seek to paint a single religion as the perpetrator of that atrocity. Those groups have used a single event caused by two individuals who just happened to be from a certain religion to fuel tensions and reinforce negative attitudes and stereotypes. Leaders of various faith groups have rightly stood side by side to declare that that was an attack by two people, not an attack by a religion. That solidarity of support is a beacon of hope and unity, which was recognised by the majority of the population across the United Kingdom. Having said that, there has unfortunately been an increase in the number of Islamophobic incidents. Attacks and crimes of any kind are terrible, but those that are motivated by malice or ill will towards a specific group in society due to people’s religion and beliefs are downright despicable.
I commend the work undertaken by various groups, such as Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre. The group’s campaign, I speak for myself, has enabled it to help raise awareness of discrimination and issues that the Muslim community faces, and I whole-heartedly support the idea of an integrated and systematic approach to tackling negative stereotypes and discrimination. With more organisations collaborating together, they will be able to reach various societal groups and bring their message to various parts of the country, and in doing that they will pave the way for a more equal, respectful and tolerant Scotland.
As Dennis Robertson mentioned, the Equal Opportunities Committee has completed two inquiries into Gypsy Travellers in the past year and a half. One of the key messages in both reports is that Gypsy Travellers, as an ethnic group, are frequently stereotyped and discriminated against, often as a result of media coverage. We found evidence of newspapers encouraging the nimby attitude to Gypsy Travellers, and television programmes portraying them in a bad light and promoting stereotypes.
I sum up my feelings on the motion and debate by quoting the former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, who said:
“Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.”
With that, I gladly lend my support to the motion.
17:32
I congratulate Hanzala Malik on securing today’s members’ business debate, and I thank the members who have participated in discussing this important matter. It is important because there should be no place in Scotland for any form of racial or religious intolerance and discrimination, at any time, at any place or in any community. As a Government, we deplore any attempt to exploit Drummer Rigby’s death, and we reaffirm the message that Scotland is a country where people of all faiths and none are welcome and can live in peace.
Police Scotland reports that recent events have led to a slight increase in hate crime reporting in Scotland. Part of that is due to the excellent relationship between Police Scotland and local communities. Because we are having this debate against the wider background of the brutal killing of Drummer Rigby, it is right that people flag up and recognise the attempts by a small minority of people to exploit his death for their own divisive purposes. However, the increase in the reporting of hate crimes has resulted in robust enforcement action being taken in each case, and it is an important point of confidence for communities suffering any form of harassment or discrimination to know that their complaints will be taken seriously and acted on.
As Police Scotland will always respond promptly to such reports, I encourage members of the public to report every instance of hate crime to the police as soon as possible. I hope that members who, like Malcolm Chisholm, Mary Fee and Anne McTaggart, have become aware of incidents of harassment or other attacks in their communities will encourage individuals to report those incidents to the police. It means, regrettably, that our hate crime statistics may look as if they are going up, but often it is not the number of incidents that is increasing but the confidence in reporting them, and that is important. People need to feel that they can report such incidents and be listened to, so I encourage people to report those incidents to the police.
Minister, I am sorry to interrupt, but could you please check your microphone?
I am sorry—can people not hear me? People do not often say that they cannot hear me.
I, too, congratulate Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre on its I speak for myself campaign. That national campaign aims to encourage and inspire Muslim women by spreading knowledge of women’s rights and promoting positive images of Muslim women. As has been stated by many members, the campaign seeks to empower Muslim women to share their personal messages with their fellow Scots so that damaging stereotypes can be challenged. We have two male Muslim MSPs, and I personally look forward to our first Muslim woman MSP—perhaps she is sitting in the public gallery this evening. I am sure that Annabel Goldie, Mary Fee and Anne McTaggart would all join me in expressing that wish. To echo the campaign pledge, we want Scotland to be a place where all people can flourish and be themselves, free from being judged and labelled because of their race, faith or personal background.
As a Government, we value Scotland’s ethnic minority communities for the contribution that they make and the important role that they play in making Scotland the diverse and vibrant country that we are today. Since 2012, we have committed nearly £6 million to supporting specific projects and initiatives to combat racist and religious bigotry and hatred. That includes work with Gypsies/Travellers, the Roma community, asylum seekers, refugees and the other groups that one might expect to see on that list. We have also developed our one Scotland campaign through a variety of media and we are now disseminating a one Scotland toolkit to enable local areas to develop their own anti-racism campaigns. That may go some way towards the skill sharing that Hanzala Malik wants to see. Officials are also updating the race equality statement, which is expected to be published later this year. The statement will underpin the themes of prevention and early intervention and will consider issues such as race equality and employment, poverty and hate crime.
I turn to faith equality. We often see a combining of the two issues of faith and race. This is not the first time that that has happened in Scotland. The issues of faith and race or faith and ethnic minority have been combined before historically, which has often led to a disfiguring in some of our communities. We want to prevent that from happening to another community in the future. It is important that we continue to restate that the diverse faith and belief communities are valued in and for themselves and to emphasise the important role that they play in enriching our country. There is no place in Scotland for any form of religious hatred or intolerance any more than there is for hatred based on race. We will not tolerate any form of religious prejudice. A total of £768,000 has been allocated to faith projects specifically to tackle racism and religious intolerance for the current three-year spending review period. In addition, £360,000 has been allocated to Interfaith Scotland, in Glasgow, which I visited this morning. Interfaith Scotland is a place where all faith communities can come together to discuss and share issues and concerns.
I was interested in Anne McTaggart’s comments on the work that is being done in her area. I have visited the schools that she talked about and I agree with her about the inspiring nature of the work that is being done by young people there. I am trying to remember the name of the play that the little kids do, which is based on “The Rainbow Fish”. It is well worth seeing not just how much they enjoy that but how much they learn from it.
Announcements have been made about funding, and there will be more. As a Government, we have very good relations with Scotland’s faith communities, including the Muslim community. Ministers and officials meet faith leaders and faith groups regularly. In recent weeks—for good reasons in the post-Woolwich scenario—both the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Justice have visited mosques and have offered support and reassurance in the aftermath of that terrible event. In addition, I believe that, this morning, while I was in Glasgow meeting Interfaith Scotland, the cabinet secretary was in Dundee meeting people from the Dundee International Women’s Centre.
I thank all the members who have participated in the debate, including Dennis Robertson, who brings his own unique perspective to such debates, in that he is physically unable to see what all these differences are supposed to be about. That is always a very good reminder for us. I join everyone in congratulating Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre on the I speak for myself campaign.
Meeting closed at 17:40.