Scotland harbours a “dark undercurrent of everyday racism and misogyny”, a leading black presenter has said in the wake of James McAvoy’s claims that his theatre co-stars suffered racist abuse “on a daily basis” during the Glasgow stint of their tour.
Afua Hagan, Pride’ previous Entertainment Editor who has also worked with ITV’s This Morning and Jeremy Vine on Channel 5, said that Scotland should “sit up and take notice” of its discrimination problem, which is “anti-black and anti-Catholic as well”.
Afua Hagan
In an interview with GQ, McAvoy revealed his embarrassment that female cast members of colour faced “sexually explicit and violent” taunts during a two-week run of Cyrano de Bergerac in March.
The actor said that the experience made him regret bringing the production to his home city.
Hagan, who grew up in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, told BBC Radio Scotland this morning that McAvoy’s intervention was “really significant”.
“Because he’s a boy-done-good from Drumchapel who’s now making waves across the US and all across the film industry and all the world,” she said. “For him to call it out is really, really significant.
“I think Scotland has long held itself up as this place that’s massively welcoming, which it can be. But let’s not get it twisted, there is a really dark undercurrent of everyday racism and misogyny that happens all the time in Scotland.
“It’s happening to people as they are walking down the street, as they are in the supermarket. James has described sexually violent and racist remarks being made that is disgusting but also not surprising.”
Hagan added: “I’m not saying the whole of Scotland is racist, that’s not it. I’m not saying the whole of the United Kingdom is racist, that’s not it. But Scotland does have a very dark and very significant racist element, anti-black and anti-Catholic as well.”
Hagan said that she had often experienced staring and snide remarks from strangers.
She said: “I’ve had instances, this is years ago, with a white boyfriend when someone came up to me and said ‘This is disgusting, you two shouldn’t be together, how dare a white person be with a black person’.
“I’ve had all that kind of stuff, and so have friends of mine. It’s not just when things are rowdy. It can be your everyday experience standing at a bus stop.”
Danny Boyle, senior parliamentary and policy officer at BEMIS, a national body for the ethnic minorities voluntary sector in Scotland, agreed that it was not just a “Glasgow Saturday night thing”, when put to him by Kaye Adams on the programme.
He said: “A lot of what James McAvoy and the experiences of his colleagues and cast members have outlined are reflected in what we are hearing from communities across Scotland.
“These incidents are taking place on public transport, in workplaces, in schools, and other public places, so he’s been helpful in trying to highlight an issue that has been going on for a significant period of time and has exacerbated at the moment.”
