Beorn
01-30-2012, 11:56 AM
A UNIVERSITY lecturer has become the focus of a race row after suggesting Scotland’s comparative lack of ethnic minorities was an “advantage” that had saved it from widespread rioting.
Dr Stuart Waiton of Abertay University, Dundee, published a paper examining the causes of the riots which erupted in English cities last summer.
In the paper, the sociology and criminology lecturer claims Scotland’s lower level of ethnic diversity was a key reason why the unrest did not spread north of the Border. The founder and chairman of the research charity Generation Youth Issue also suggested there was a “number of problems” associated with multi-culturalism in Scotland and referred dismissively to the “artificial state sponsoring of ‘Muslim culture’.”
The National Union of Students (NUS) branded Waiton’s comments “reactionary and inflammatory”, while a group representing ethnic minorities in Scotland claimed they could damage race relations.
In his essay published in Scottish Affairs magazine –Welfare Culture, the English Riots and the Collapse of Authority – which speculates on why the violence did not spread to Scotland, he wrote: “Perhaps a further ‘advantage’ Scottish cities have over a number of English cities is the more limited number of ethnic minorities in the country.”
He adds: “What is interesting about the recent riots is not that there were no black people involved – there were many – but that few people, even Conservatives, drew attention to this.”
NUS Scotland’s Black Students Officer Surya Prakash Bhatta said: “Students at Abertay would be appalled, and rightfully so, if it turns out that Dr Waiton truly believes the absence of rioting here last summer is related to Scotland’s racial make-up.”
The University of Abertay Students’ Association said: “We refute that it could be considered “advantageous” for Scotland to have fewer people from ethnic minorities in the context of the riots as this forms a very misrepresentative picture of its causes.”
However, Waiton accused detractors of “wallowing in bullshit victimhood” :D and backed historian David Starkey, who said the riots had happened because too many white people had adopted “black” attitudes.
Source (http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/lecturer_sparks_race_row_by_linking_absence_of_rio ts_to_lack_of_minorities_1_2057029)
UK Riots: Ethnicity Statistics (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31576)
England Riots: Official Ethnic Statistics (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35920)
Dr Stuart Waiton of Abertay University, Dundee, published a paper examining the causes of the riots which erupted in English cities last summer.
In the paper, the sociology and criminology lecturer claims Scotland’s lower level of ethnic diversity was a key reason why the unrest did not spread north of the Border. The founder and chairman of the research charity Generation Youth Issue also suggested there was a “number of problems” associated with multi-culturalism in Scotland and referred dismissively to the “artificial state sponsoring of ‘Muslim culture’.”
The National Union of Students (NUS) branded Waiton’s comments “reactionary and inflammatory”, while a group representing ethnic minorities in Scotland claimed they could damage race relations.
In his essay published in Scottish Affairs magazine –Welfare Culture, the English Riots and the Collapse of Authority – which speculates on why the violence did not spread to Scotland, he wrote: “Perhaps a further ‘advantage’ Scottish cities have over a number of English cities is the more limited number of ethnic minorities in the country.”
He adds: “What is interesting about the recent riots is not that there were no black people involved – there were many – but that few people, even Conservatives, drew attention to this.”
NUS Scotland’s Black Students Officer Surya Prakash Bhatta said: “Students at Abertay would be appalled, and rightfully so, if it turns out that Dr Waiton truly believes the absence of rioting here last summer is related to Scotland’s racial make-up.”
The University of Abertay Students’ Association said: “We refute that it could be considered “advantageous” for Scotland to have fewer people from ethnic minorities in the context of the riots as this forms a very misrepresentative picture of its causes.”
However, Waiton accused detractors of “wallowing in bullshit victimhood” :D and backed historian David Starkey, who said the riots had happened because too many white people had adopted “black” attitudes.
Source (http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/lecturer_sparks_race_row_by_linking_absence_of_rio ts_to_lack_of_minorities_1_2057029)
UK Riots: Ethnicity Statistics (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31576)
England Riots: Official Ethnic Statistics (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35920)