Racist thug spat in my face and called me a black b ****** says TV’s Jean Johansson
ONE of Scotland’s most popular TV presenters has spoken for the first time about the terrifying racial abuse she suffered before finding fame – and the vile online taunts she still receives.
Jean Johansson, known for shows such as Place in the Sun and Animal Park, has described her ‘shame’ at being racially abused as a teenager while growing up in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, ahead of a documentary dealing with racism in Scotland.
When she announced she would be presenting the BBC programme, she was bombarded on social media with pictures of Nazi flags and white-hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Mrs Johansson, 40, told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: ‘My mum is a black woman who came here from Africa and my dad is white. I have been loyal to my home town. I’m from a strong working-class community. We were protected and welcomed in.’
However, recalling one experience in the late 1990s, she revealed: ‘I was 17 and was working in the McDonald’s drive-through in Greenock.
‘Someone came in who called me a black b ****** and spat in my face. I just stood there with the spit running down my face. It was a Saturday night and was really busy. Everybody was shocked.’
Mrs Johansson was so traumatised she did not call the police. She said: ‘What did I do? I wiped my face and a friend took me home. I was feeling a lot of shame. There would have been CCTV. The police should have been called and the person charged. My manager was young herself, probably also a teenager, so I don’t have resentment there.
‘I should have filed charges but back then there was no such phrase as “hate crime” and it was just something that happened. Calling the police never crossed my mind.’
In Disclosure: The Truth About Scotland and Racism, the TV star talks to others who have faced similar abuse. She is seen breaking down in tears as she hears the emotional tale of Tola, who moved school after pupils and a teacher taunted her with the ‘N’ word.
Mrs Johansson, who is married to former Finland and Rangers striker Jonatan Johansson, said: ‘I never break down. I’ve been a presenter for years and done lots of tough interviews, but Tola made me feel ashamed. I’m ashamed for every adult involved and I’m ashamed of the parents of the kids.
‘I’m ashamed of myself because I’ve been walking around with my head in the clouds when it comes to racism in Scotland.
‘I’ve been naïve and I’m ashamed I’ve been ignoring it, but I can’t deny it as I have been subjected to racism.’ She also speaks to leading human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, who recalls being beaten up as a youth by a policeman in Glasgow. He was arrested multiple times after he lodged a complaint about his treatment. Edinburgh University rector Deborah Kayembe also tells of being forced to move home due to racists.
Mrs Johansson said: ‘Even when I tweeted I was doing the programme I was met with a barrage of abuse. I was sent pictures of Nazi salutes and of someone with a white hood.’
There were 3,285 race hate crimes recorded in Scotland in 2020-2021. From 2017-2020 there were 2,251 racist incidents reported in schools while a recent survey shows 45 per cent of people of colour say they have faced racist abuse in Scotland in the past two years.
Mrs Johansson says the reality of life for people of colour in Scotland is very different to the picture of inclusivity painted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The mother of one said: ‘Every single person of colour in this country has suffered racism. They all have stories.
‘We need to create a new generation that wants to be the rhetoric that Nicola Sturgeon uses about Scotland being open and diverse.
‘I’m not attacking the SNP or Nicola Sturgeon. I hope she watches the documentary and then she can decide whether she wants to use that rhetoric again.
‘We think we are open and tolerant in Scotland – but this is the first time in my life I’ve looked at the things happening around us and it’s not good. It frightens me that one day my own son or nieces might be the victim of it.
‘White people who hear racism in the pub need to shut it down. Schools need to take disciplinary action and we need to make everybody part of our communities.’
‘It frightens me my son might be the victim of it’