RM article on bigotry

[Blue Moon 1,280]

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Anti-Rangers Bigotry Clear For All To See In 21st Century Scotland

Details Published on Thursday, 02 August 2012 04:55 Written by JCS Willie Vass ©

 

Well then, hasnâ??t Charles Green rattled a few cages!

 

Imagine, the Chief Executive of Rangers Football Club having the audacity to state publicly that perhaps some of the punishment Rangers has received may have been motivated by bigotry - how awful, how utterly shocking!

 

"Some of it has been driven by bigotry, some of its been driven by jealousy and some of its been driven by all the wrong motives," he said.

 

Note, by the way, that Charles Green said, â??driven by bigotryâ??, not driven by religious bigotry. I simply make the point to correct the rather sinister â??errorâ?? made by Ewing Grahame in his intemperate and puerile article in The Telegraph criticising Charles Greenâ??s statement .

 

But what a revelation â?? what a real shocker! Bigotry in Scottish football â?? God forbid! Tut, tut, I hear you say; surely only Rangers can be accused of thatâ?¦.thatâ?¦.wordâ?¦.that deed. Other clubs donâ??t indulge in that kind of behaviour â?? do they?

 

Well, yes they do actually and never has it been more pronounced â?? more hate-filled and vitriolic â?? than in recent weeks and, particularly since the SPL voted to exclude Rangers from the SPL.

 

â??No h*** in the SPL next season as about 6 teams has already said no to the newco!â?, enthused a rabid (and near illiterate) Celtic supporter on his Facebook page, whilst another on Talk Celtic.net couldnâ??t contain his delight with this thoughtful comment, â??get it right up yees ya bunch a dirty scummy inbred h** bastards", and an embittered fan on Twitter posted, â??Surely no h*** in SPL would give the Glasgow cup a nice wee boost and provide the h*** with another chance to play the big teamsâ?.

 

I almost lost the will to live, when I visited Kerrydale Street and the Huddle Board â?? the hatred and bigotry is almost palpable so much so that I simply couldnâ??t stomach it!

 

But these are only â??snapshotsâ?? of the thousands of sickening comments posted by Celtic fans from all around the globe who are, no doubt, representative of those who rushed to contact Peter Lawwell in advance of the SPL Rangers vote with their pernicious and perverted views.

 

â??h***â? â?? thereâ??s that word again. Did I not hear somewhere that the â??h**â?? word is sectarian? Nil By Mouth certainly think so as they describe it as such on their website â?? â??Offensive sectarian language is still used in Scotland on a daily basis, with abusive terms such as â??h**â? and â??Orange bastardâ? being used negatively against Protestantsâ?.

 

But, not surprisingly, others disagree. They argue that the word â??h**â?? is not inherently sectarian; although they concede there is no doubt the word CAN have sectarian connotations in Scotland where â??there are certainly plenty of bigots infesting Scottish football groundsâ?.

 

But it would be quite wrong to point the accusing finger wholly at Celtic fans simply because they are more vociferous, outspoken and demonstrative in their hatred of our club than their SPL counterparts; the fans of other SPL club can be every bit as pernicious and vitriolic in their hatred of Rangers.

 

For instance, the official Aberdeen FC Forum currently carries a thread entitled, â??h** Oblivion 5â?, where contributors are invited to post statements such as, â??Exterminate them (Rangers) pleaseâ?, whilst the Dundee United Mad website includes a thread proudly announcing, â??Hatred of the h***â? carrying numerous posts referring to â??h** bast**dsâ?.

 

Nor do the members of HiBees Bounce miss an opportunity to spew their bile with statements ranging from the milder, â??I seriously doubt the h*** will be in any league next seasonâ? to the more extreme (if slightly optimistic), â??you just know the dirty bassa's will get round thisâ?.

 

I came across many, many similar comments made by St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Motherwell fans, and those of other SPL clubs, and itâ??s abundantly clear their hatred for Rangers Football Club is deeply ingrained and, in many instances knows no bounds.

 

However, it would be remiss of me if I did not acknowledge that many contributors on these sites clearly loath and despise bigotry and sectarianism in all its many forms and did not hesitate to say so openly and forthrightly much to their credit.

 

However, the extent and scope of the comments, and the constant use of the word h***, makes it impossible not to conclude that there is a deep seated bigotry in the attitude of other clubs and their supporters to Rangers, and given that all of the SPL chairmen willingly choose to rely entirely upon their supporters to decide their respective clubs policy on the Rangers newco application, then it was inevitable that such views would be reflected in their decisions to punish Rangers.

 

Why people should be surprised that Charles Green â?? an Englishman, and a relative â??outsiderâ?? - should conclude that much of the punishment heaped upon us, â??has been driven by bigotryâ? is surprising given that the Scottish football authorities have lived in the shadows of bigotry and sectarianism for years.

 

This is not a new phenomenon â?? itâ??s been with us for countless decades.

 

It is simply dishonest and disingenuous to assert that the SFA and the SPL have not been significantly influenced by its member clubs. Are we to believe that Peter Lawwell, Rod Petrie, Stephen Thompson et al did not unduly influence Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster during the many and lengthy discussions they had together in recent months? Did they not faithfully reiterate the views of their fans who were so strident about Rangers - so much so that they were prepared to see their own clubs â??go to the wall?

 

No, I donâ??t believe it, and nor do you.

 

When Stewart Regan slams Charles Green, for what he euphemistically calls, his â??undignified and irresponsible attacks on himâ?, perhaps he should consider carefully the backcloth of bigotry and hatred that has pervaded Scottish football for countless years, and ask himself if his behaviour in recent months (and that of his erstwhile colleague Neil Doncaster) has not significantly contributed to the atmosphere of mutual recrimination and distrust that permeates every strata of Scottish football now.

 

I do not seek to diminish the part that my club has played in creating that atmosphere over the years, but please donâ??t insult me or the Rangers family by continuing to perpetuate the myth that you and your colleagues are not influenced by the malign forces that have so blatantly and ruthlessly sought the demise of our club at every twist and turn over the past number of months.

 

Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster would do well to heed the current Scotzine poll which asks the question, â??Are Regan and Doncaster fit for purpose?â?

 

Of the 1,012 votes cast so far, 954 â?? over 94% - have resoundingly answered NO, with a massive 689 of those calling for both to be sacked. Only a few hardy souls have seen fit to give them a vote of confidence.

 

â?¢Sack them! (68%, 689 Votes)

 

â?¢No - Both aren't! (26%, 265 Votes)

 

â?¢Yes - Both are! (3%, 29 Votes)

 

â?¢Yes - Regan only (1%, 12 Votes)

 

â?¢Maybe (1%, 10 Votes)

 

â?¢Yes - Doncaster only (1%, 7 Votes

 

This is not a poll of Rangers fans â?? Scotzine can hardly be considered a supporter of the Rangers cause â?? it is the statement of disenchanted and disgruntled Scottish football fans. Regan and Doncaster would do well to take note.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

it says green didn't say religious biggotry then goes on to describe religious bigotry against us.

 

I think its clear enough green meant religious bigotry.

 

I'm sure at least some of what went on was because of bigotry I'm less sure how wise greens comments were.

[Thinker 887]

it says green didn't say religious biggotry then goes on to describe religious bigotry against us.

 

I think its clear enough green meant religious bigotry.

 

I'm sure at least some of what went on was because of bigotry I'm less sure how wise greens comments were.

 

It would have been unwise if he'd said religious bigotry or sectarianism but he didn't.

 

The resounding voice of the fans of the other SPL clubs was to punish Rangers - and their motivation for wanting that was NOT because any wrong-doing had been proven, it was because they hate Rangers.

 

That's bigotry - in it's broadest sense anyway: blind hatred of a group or creed of people.

 

A St Mirren fan I argued the case with eventually cracked and said one of his main motivations for wanting to see Rangers suffer was bitterness about the slaggings he got as a kid in the playground: "What have your team ever won?" etc. This guy's in his late 40s. When I pointed out that the decision to eject Rangers from the SPL could lead to redundancies at his own club, he merely shrugged.

 

Blind hatred.

 

Bigotry.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Thinker

[Juancornetto 1]

A St Mirren fan I argued the case with eventually cracked and said one of his main motivations for wanting to see Rangers suffer was bitterness about the slaggings he got as a kid in the playground: "What have your team ever won?" etc. This guy's in his late 40s. When I pointed out that the decision to eject Rangers from the SPL could lead to redundancies at his own club, he merely shrugged.

 

Blind hatred.

 

Bigotry.

 

Now multiply that by 1000 and you start to get near the level of hatred that the Celtic minded have for us. Green is right to call it as he see's it and the fact he's only been here five minutes, as popcorn teeth, commented only makes it worse.

[der Berliner 3,716]

The point is, he is essentially an outsider entering Scottish football and simpy calls it as it is. What the mhedia and the SFA fling at him show the ineptness of their own (inbred) perception.

[calscot 0]

As soon as clubs started declaring they were going to vote with the opinion of the fans, describing their decision as "some of it driven by bigotry" becomes a charge that is totally indefensible. All it takes is one bigoted quote from a fans forum as proof.

[bluebear54 0]

The hand wringer within me says that Green was unwise to make the statement.

I'm still not sure if you put indisputable proof before the SFA that they will return a balanced verdict.

However, it may have been a good move.

As the excellent post points out, it's blatantly obvious that bigotry and anti-Rangersism is absolutely rife in Scottish football.

That's the issue that the governing bodies should be addressing. Pouring oil on troubled waters.

However, they've actively polarised the situation - along with the willing help of a good section of the media.

This is not healthy for Scottish football.

Not at all.

[Blue Moon 1,280]

The hand wringer within me says that Green was unwise to make the statement.

I'm still not sure if you put indisputable proof before the SFA that they will return a balanced verdict.

However, it may have been a good move.

As the excellent post points out, it's blatantly obvious that bigotry and anti-Rangersism is absolutely rife in Scottish football.

That's the issue that the governing bodies should be addressing. Pouring oil on troubled waters.

However, they've actively polarised the situation - along with the willing help of a good section of the media.

This is not healthy for Scottish football.

Not at all.

 

He has mentioned something that people would rather bury their heads in the sand and deny exists than to face up to the unpalatble truth that there is bigotry.

 

It will be interesting to see what comes of this as we have been accused as being bigots for years and Green has been here long enough to know that. Green is correct in his statement, of that I have no doubt, and In that case I do not think he was wrong to say it.

 

I think Green probably did use the word in its wider sense as I myself often do when describing our detractors. However when the word is used to describe us religious bigotry is meant.

 

If the authorities see this as a disciplinary issue it will be scandalous. Unfortunately the media will be cowardly and dare I say it, bigoted, towards Green over this. Not one of them challenged Regan's comments about Green, when his own conduct has been much worse.

 

It shouldn't be too difficult for Green to defend himself as the evidence is overwhelming.