Anti-Protestant prejudice

Very little has been published about anti-Protestant prejudice: anti-Protestant prejudices and stereotypes occur but remain anecdotal. This is an area that requires further research and debate. Too often in discussions about sectarianism, it is the extreme and militant arms of the Protestant movement that are cited and remembered: John Cormack (1894-1978) of Edinburgh who started the Protestant Action Society (PAS) and campaigned politically on a 'No Popery' platform; the Reverend John White of the Church of Scotland who wrote the now infamous publication The Menace of the Irish Race to our Scottish Nationality; and Reverend Jack Glass, an extremist Presbyterian minister.

It is often forgotten that many Protestants did not support the demonisation of the Irish, either as an ethnic group or for their religion. Many Protestants saw Irish immigration as a strengthening of Scotland's Celtic identity. Bruce et al (2004: 45) state that 'the campaign against the Irish had only limited political support'. Yet such candidates were returned in council elections in Glasgow and Edinburgh during the1930s.

Equally, there was also anti-Protestant violence. Bruce et al (2004: 22) record sectarian violence against Protestants in the Cumbria area in the late nineteenth century and also describe how the media used derogatory and offensive language to describe both poor working-class Catholics as well as poor working-class Protestants.

Finn (2003: 904-905) reminds us of the need to be analytical and not succumb to simplification. If there is to be genuine diversity and pluralism, it is important that any discussion of sectarianism does not demonise or negate one group.

Anti-Catholic prejudice did and does exist but so does anti-Protestant prejudice. The root causes and the extent of each may be different and in order to help reduce the negative effects of sectarianism, education can open up possibilities for coherent dialogue amongst young people and encourage them to come to an understanding about the various conflicts from a range of perspectives.

Education must allow for comparisons and contrasts to be made between different prejudices without those who speak openly being labelled as bigots. Education should allow for distinctions of identity, culture, tradition and values to be explored and celebrated as positive signs of a diverse society.