Vandals deface mural of first Black Scottish player
SHAMEFUL racist vandals have been condemned after defacing a mural of Scotland’s first Black football player.
Louts sprayed anti-Black Lives Matter slogans and fascist mottos on a depiction of Andrew Watson, who captained the Scottish men’s team in the late 1880s.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf slammed the graffiti and said it highlighted the “depressing” fact racism exists in modern-day Scotland.
The slogans “No lives matter to the world eco forum”, which references an antilockdown conspiracy, and “Die [antifa] Die Scum”, were sprayed on the South Side mural.
Yousaf said: “It’s utterly shameful that a mural to Andrew Watson, the person considered to be the first ever Black player that played for an international team, widely considered to be the first... it’s been defaced.
“It’s been defaced with the ‘All Lives Matter’ slogan that we’ve seen that’s been used often by those on the far-right to delegitimise the Black Lives Matter movement, and that to me is utterly depressing.”
Watson was born in 1857 to a plantation manager and former slave owner, Peter Miller Watson, and a British Guyanese woman named Anna.
Andrew moved to England with his father and sister Annetta in the early 1860s.
He lived in Govan and went on to captain the Scotland team on three occasions, including leading the team to a historic victory against England.
Yousaf said: “It just speaks again to the fact that we’ve still got racism here in Scotland.
“Sometimes we think that racism isn’t an issue here in Scotland or as much of an issue as it is in other parts of the UK, but we still have problems with racism.”
Glasgow city council has a policy to remove offensive graffiti within 48 hours of it being reported.
Both the council and Police Scotland were approached for comment.