Hamilton MSP slams Trump
President-elect Donald Trump was labelled a “rightwing reactionary” and “small-minded”by Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse MSP Christina Mckelvie.
The comments about the next leader of the United States were made in a Scottish Parliament debate on eradicating hate crime.
They came as the billionaire’s attitudes to the disabled, women and immigrants were addressed.
Ms Mckelvie said: “The rise of hate up to and since the Brexit referendum has caused us all to rethink our place in this United Kingdom, and it has reminded us that we cannot be complacent in anything that we do.”
Quoting the inscription on the base of the Statue of Liberty, she added: “Now that we know that the next President of the United States is a right-wing reactionary who mocks people who have disabilities, believes that he can do what he likes with women and creates an atmosphere of fear of immigrants and immigration, I am reminded of famous words that were written in 1883: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’”
The debate heard that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service produced a report on race crime and crime that is motivated by prejudice related to religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
In 2015-16, 3712 racial charges were reported, which was a few per cent down on the year before and the lowest number reported since 2003-04.
Also in 2015-16, there were 1020 reported charges of sexually oriented crime, an increase of 20 per cent.
Ms Mckelvie went on: “Those reprehensible crimes and attitudes that pit Scots against each other based on nothing more than their differences represent tribalism at its worst.
“Tribalism can become ingrained very quickly. It is passed down as an accidental by-product of one’s environment. It is an attack on anyone who does not quite fit into someone’s preconceptions of what a person should be.
“If a person is deaf, is blind, is in a wheelchair, has special needs, is elderly, is gay or is transgender, some small-minded people – including the president-elect – will object to their differentness.
“In a healthy society, we celebrate difference and we know that people from every kind of background add to the rich tapestry that is humankind.
“I stress the ‘kind’ part of that word because I want a caring, compassionate Scotland that does not want to victimise anyone.
“Victimisation is born out of fear. It is the school-bully syndrome: a person lacks confidence and security in themselves, so they hit out at others in order to compensate.
“Those that use that fear to incite hatred are the most reprehensible.
“Ridding ourselves of such prejudice and hate crime centres on a shift in culture. We need to do more at school, with families and in communities, to build people’s confidence, especially in young people, so that they are able to shake off generations of being told that they are a useless waste of time, will never amount to anything and might as well accept that a life on benefits is all that they are good for and that they would maybe get on one of those poverty porn television shows.”
Central Scotland MSP Margaret Mitchell also hit out at “revenge porn” and people who target the disabled.
She said: “It is very much present in society today and includes wideranging instances of ridicule and abuse being directed at disabled people.”