When I was a teacher two of my P6s battered a P4 pupil. They were caught red-handed by the headteacher and knew that she was going to tell me about it. Obviously worried that they were in big trouble they tried to concoct some kind of excuse. Not being able to come up with anything, they tried the next best thing. 'He's a Rangers supporter, Mr Anderson!' they said. They knew I supported Celtic and must have thought I was going to pat them on the head and say, 'Well done!' It turned out that the P4 boy had battered one of their little sisters and that's why they beat him up. His being a Rangers supporter had nothing to do with it; they just thought they would get away with their behaviour because of it.
I remember when I was about nine when Star Trek was on TV, I used to think that Lieutenant Uhura was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. I think I was in love. I wouldn't tell anybody, though, and I'm sure a lot of boys and men felt the same way. The problem was that in the Sixties and Seventies you weren't supposed to find black people attractive. I thought there was something wrong with me for finding a 'darkie' attractive and pretended to myself that I didn't.
So what the hell am I on about, I hear you ask. Well, what made me think of these things was the incident at Tynecastle at the weekend. Some commentators speak of spit, coins and bottles, while others say there was only one coin and a plastic bottle of juice; whatever, they all condemn it. The problem is that they are all falling over themselves to deny that sectarianism or anti-Irish racism plays any part in it. Keith Jackson especially tries his best to say that anyone that mentions sectarianism or anti-Irish racism is a troublemaker. Every time something happens to Lennon it's claimed that it's the work of some individual nutjobs. How many 'individual nutjobs' do there have to be before somebody eventually admits what the problem is?
The three stories I started with were to show how somebody might not be acting out of racism but endemic racism helps to somehow justify and sustain the way they act. The ones that attacked Neil Lennon at Tynecastle might not have been overtly anti-Catholic or anti-Irish but the background is there. The way I lied to myself about fancying Lieutenant Uhura to fit in with the zeitgeist is exactly the same as the situation with Lennon. 'He brings it on himself' has been a constant mantra in our media and is still used by Keith Jackson. Posters on McMurdo's blog call Lennon a 'vile individual' a 'disgusting human being' etc etc. Essentially, Lennon is constantly portrayed as a hate figure and if you don't hate him then, just like fancying Lieutenant Uhura in the Seventies, there is something wrong with you.
Lennon was never the dirtiest player in Scotland, nor is he the most greetin'-faced manager in the country. So how, exactly, does he 'bring things on himself'? What has he done to deserve all the hatred? I posted this question on Keith Jackson's article on Monday. It lasted a few hours and was then deleted; I guess they don't like hard questions. The simple fact is that if Lennon was black then there would be no problem in admitting the problem. Anti-Irish racism, however, is something that Scotland likes to pretend never existed at all.
Our media, football authorities and even our law courts have gone out of their way to paint Lennon as the bad guy constantly. Remember the 'shame game'? Only Neil Lennon was punished for that. The Daily Record, especially when Jabba was still around, never failed to tell us that he 'brings it on himself' while somebody that attacks him in front of television viewers is let off extremely lightly. And then we have the bombers, who were excused a heftier sentence because they used the defence that they were too thick to make proper bombs. Again, everything stacked up to make it seem like Neil Lennon was to blame. Nobody, however, seems to be able to explain what he did to attract all this negative attention and hatred.
McMurdo caused a bit of a stooshie by admitting that a section of the Bisto support (the usual 'minority') don't like Jon Daly playing for them due to his nationality and religion. It seems that most of them are still in denial. One guy supports McMurdo by saying how there is a strong element of bitterness in Glasgow, which the Follow Follow website is denying. His whole language implies that he disapproves of this bitterness; then he drops his bombshell. "I am now convinced that that site is Tarrier Central." Oh, dear!
According to Phil Mac Whatsit, Bisto FC will be lucky to make it to the end of February. Usually I take this kind of story with a pinch of salt but, it has to be faced, that Phil has turned out to be correct more often than not. In fact, I can't think of an occasion offhand when he was wrong. The story also surfaced in The Sun, where it was claimed that Bisto or, rather, the Rangers International Super-Duper Omnipotent Mother-Of-All-Companies is being investigated by the AIM diddy stock exchange for trying to cover up the true extent of the financial woes at Ibrox. So much for five-year plans, eh?
And the response of the Bisto Kids? Well, if McMurdo's blog is anything to go by then all they're concerned about is their desperate attempts to 'prove' that Celtic were involved in illegal land deals. Stand by for more questions coming from Jurassic Park aka Derry about Celtic getting favourable treatment. Even when Bisto FC goes down the pan they'll still be shouting 'Conspiracy.'
A link on McMurdo's blog goes to another site all about voting 'No' to an independent Scotland. I went to it, expecting to see some arguments in favour of keeping the Union, rather than the silly reasons we've heard up to now, like not being able to see Doctor Who anymore. And what did I find? Another ridiculous pile of shite going on about Catholics running the country, Celtic land deals and how everybody is against the PUL (Protestant Unionist Loyalist) community. And this is supposed to make normal people vote to save the Union? As I've said before, the real reason behind this is the Ulster Unionists' fear that Scotland might leave the United Kingdom. Nobody in England could care less about Ulster; these 'Loyalists' depend on their Scottish counterparts to provide a link to Queen and Country. Expect Gregory Campbell to go on the rampage with a pack of orange-sash-wearing Allosaurus if everyone votes 'Yes.'
Meanwhile there was story on AOL about bees in the USA being affected by parasites and acting strangely before they die. Experts and apiarists are calling them 'Zombie Bees.' Hopefully they never make their way to these shores. I think we've got enough Zombie B___s to be putting up with!
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
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