Black Scottish people explained

Group:Black Scottish people
Population:65,414 – 1.2% [1]
African: 58,636
Caribbean: 2,214
Black and Other Black: 4,564
Region1:Glasgow City
Pop1:23,743 – 3.8%
Region2:City of Edinburgh
Pop2:10,881 – 2.1%
Region3:Aberdeen City
Pop3:9,419 – 4.2%

Black Scottish people (also referred to as African-Scottish, Afro-Scottish, or Black Scottish) are a racial or ethnic group of Scottish who are ethnically African or Black. Used in association with black Scottish identity, the term commonly refers to Scottish of Black African and African-Caribbean descent. The group represents approximately 1.2 percent of the total population of Scotland.[1]

Background

Identity

See main article: Black Scottish identity. The identity of Black Scottish people has evolved since the arrival of Black people in Scotland as early as the fifteenth century, with significant numbers arriving in the twentieth century after World War II.[2] The development of a cohesive Black Scottish identity has progressed, with Black African and Afro-Caribbean descent the most commonly claimed ancestry involved in the sense of identity.[3] Among other factors, studies into the experiences of Scottish Somalis, who tend to be historically newer immigrant groups to the nation, have shown that ethnoreligious factors can complicate the expression of any monocultural or racial identity of Black Scottish.

Census

Black Scottish people by census data
Ethnic group2011[4] 2001[5] 1991[6]
NumberNumberNumberNumber
Black Scottish people65,4141.20%36,1780.72%8,0250.16%6,3530.13%
—African58,63629,6385,1182,773
—Black Caribbean2,2143,430 1,778934
—Other Black4,0183,1101,1292,646
5,439,842100% 5,295,403100% 5,062,011100% 4,998,567100%
At the 2022 census, 2,214 identified as 'Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British', 58,636 identified as falling under the broad 'African' category and 4,018 identified as falling under the 'Other Caribbean or Black' category, for a total of 65,414 making up 1.20% of the Scottish population. Migration from Africa is responsible is largely responsible for the growth in the black population in Scotland, with the African population increasing by more than 21-fold since 1991 when ethnic data was first recorded.[1]

According to the 2011 UK Census, Black Scottish people (self-described as African, Caribbean, Black or any other Black background) were numbered at about 36,000. This figure indicates an increase in population of 28,000 Black Scottish since the previous UK census in 2001.[7] The group represented around 0.7% of Scotland's population, compared to 3.0% of the overall UK population.[8] [9]

The 2001 census recorded 1,778 Black Caribbean people, 5,118 Black African people and 1,129 people in the Black Scottish or Other Black category, for a total of 8,025 Black people in Scotland.[10]

The 1991 census recorded 934 Black Caribbean people, 2,773 Black African people and 2,646 people in the Black other category, for a total of 6,353 Black people in Scotland. This represented 0.13% of the total population of Scotland.[6]

Notable Black Scottish people

Arts and entertainment

Military

The diary of World War I veteran Arthur Roberts has been noted as an important historical document, for its preservation of the historical record of one of the earliest known Black Scottish soldiers.[11]

Sport

Association football

The British Guiana-born Andrew Watson is widely considered to be the world's first association footballer of Black heritage (his father was White and mother Black) to play at international level.[12] [13] [14] He was capped three times for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. Watson also played for Queen's Park, the leading Scottish club at the time, and later became their secretary. He led the team to several Scottish Cup wins, thus becoming the first player of Black heritage to win a major competition.[14]

With some brief exceptions, such as Jamaican born Gil Heron at Celtic, Walter Tull signing for Rangers, and John Walker at Hearts, Black players largely disappeared from Scottish football for the next 100 years until the arrival of Mark Walters at Rangers in 1988. Walters arrival at the club resulted in incidents of racial abuse.[15] [16]

The Scotland national team did not call up a second player of Black heritage until Nigel Quashie (Black Ghanaian father and White English mother), made his debut against Estonia in May 2004. He qualified to play for Scotland, due to having a grandfather from Scotland.[17] Subsequently Coatbridge-born Chris Iwelumo (Black father from Nigeria), has also played for Scotland. Other notable players with black heritage who were born in Scotland, or have represented Scotland, include:

Other sports

Miscellaneous

Social and political issues

Discrimination

The group have faced prejudice and racism in Scottish society. In a Strathclyde University survey, almost 45 percent of black Scottish reported experiencing discrimination between 2010 and 2015.[19]

In fiction

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion - Chart data . . 21 May 2024 . Scotland's Census . . 21 May 2024 . Alternative URL 'Search data by location' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Ethnic Group'
  2. Book: Rebecca Finkel. Briony Sharp. Majella Sweeney. Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity in Critical Event Studies. 2018. Routledge. 978-0815350828.
  3. Book: Millsom Henry-Waring. Moving beyond Otherness: Exploring the Polyvocal Subjectivities of African Caribbean Women across the United Kingdom . 2004. Hecate. Volume 30. At the group interviews, a video on Black Scottish Identity was selected as a focal point for discussions, as it questioned the nature of African Caribbean subjectivities in the UK..
  4. Web site: Table KS201SC - Ethnic group:Scottish Council Area 2011 by Ethnicity (Flat) by Term-time Address (Indicator) . scotlandscensus.gov.uk . Scotland's Census . 9 June 2024.
  5. Web site: Table UV10 - Ethnic group (Scotland): Output Area Code by Ethnic Group in Scotland by Person . scotlandscensus.gov.uk . Scotland's Census . 9 June 2024.
  6. Web site: 1991 census - local base statistics . Nomis: Official Census and Labour Market Statistics . 14 June 2023. Tables L01 to L18: Demographic and economic characteristics > L06 Ethnic group
  7. News: Black and Scottish: 'Are you a Protestant Rasta or a Catholic Rasta?'. 7 October 2019. BBC.
  8. Web site: Analysis of ethnicity in the 2001 Census – Summary report. 2004-02-09. The Scottish Government. 2009-09-30.
  9. Web site: Resident population by ethnic group, 2001 . Office for National Statistics . 2009-09-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629181741/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D7666.xls . 2011-06-29 .
  10. Web site: Table UV10 - Ethnic group (Scotland): Output Area Code by Ethnic Group in Scotland by Person . scotlandscensus.gov.uk . Scotland's Census . 9 June 2024.
  11. News: Jackie Kay on Arthur Roberts: the black Scottish first world war soldier who felt forgotten . Jackie Kay. Jackie Kay. 11 November 2018. The Guardian. Arthur Roberts was a Black Scottish soldier who served in the First World War and died in a care home in Glasgow..
  12. Web site: First Black footballer, Andrew Watson, inspired British soccer in 1870s . Black History Month . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100610052137/http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/andrew_watson.html . 2010-06-10 .
  13. Web site: Andrew Watson . 100 Great Black Britons . 2010-04-04 . 2016-03-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234214/http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/andrew_watson.html . dead .
  14. Web site: Andrew Watson . Football Unites, Racism Divides . 2010-04-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160318234119/http://furd.org/default.asp?intPageID=37 . 2016-03-18 . dead .
  15. Web site: Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research. Black Footballers in Britain – The Late 1980s and After – A 'New Era'?. University of Leicester. June 2002. 6 July 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100728140834/http://www.le.ac.uk/snccfr/resources/factsheets/fs4.html. 28 July 2010.
  16. News: Letters. London . The Guardian .
  17. News: History calls on Quashie . BBC Sport . 2004-05-26 . 2007-08-12 .
  18. The player has appeared for the Scotland national football team
  19. News: Survey finds a third of black and ethnic minority Scottish experience discrimination. 14 September 2015. BBC. Nearly 45% of respondents with a black African Caribbean heritage respondents, agreed with the statement that they had 'experienced discrimination in Scotland in the last five years'..
  20. Web site: Meet the Demoman. Teamfortress.com. 4 August 2015.
  21. Web site: Kroll. Justin. Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand to Star in Joel Coen's 'Macbeth' . Variety. 28 March 2019 . July 5, 2019.
  22. Web site: Goldberg. Matt. Joel Coen to Direct 'Macbeth' Starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand . Collider. 28 March 2019 . July 5, 2019.
  23. Web site: Colburn. Randall. Joel Coen ditches Ethan for Macbeth adaptation starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand . AV Club. 28 March 2019 . July 5, 2019.
  24. Web site: Guardian Staff. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand to star in Joel Coen's Macbeth. Guardian. 28 March 2019 . July 5, 2019.
  25. Web site: Galloway. Stephen. Denzel Washington on Playing 'Macbeth' and His Dream Collaborators . The Hollywood Reporter. 6 June 2019 . July 5, 2019.

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