Celtic ‘identity’ is an anomaly. Generally speaking, the cultural identity of a particular group can be understood and defined by a specific collection of cultural identifiers such as race, history, nationality, religious beliefs and ethnicity, and in order to identify with a particular cultural group, one needs to share in all of these beliefs and experiences.
Not so with the cultural identity of our club and its supporters. The disparity of beliefs, influences and experiences among us defies conventional understanding of what a cultural group should be, and is contrary to the fact that we are a cultural group at all.
Our identity can more easily be defined by our diversity and by what we are not, than it can be by pointing to specific common beliefs and histories. We are Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, atheist and agnostic. Some of us have a strong faith and some of us do not. We are of many nations and ethnic backgrounds.
Some of us identify with our nations of birth and some of us do not. Though our politics are varied and a matter of personal conscience, we have traditionally rejected the politics of exclusion; Fascism, Nazism, Ultranationalism, Supremacism, and all other sub-divisions of right wing politics. We have historically opposed colonialism, authoritarianism, totalitarianism and all forms of political persecution and tyranny.
While the supporters of certain other clubs across Scotland, England and Europe have flirted with, and often embraced, the politics of the far right, Celtic supporters have fought tirelessly against all forms of discrimination and social inequality.
Strange then that even though we are diametrically opposed to the values of certain other club’s supporters, we are consistently portrayed as sharing the same malevolent spirit.
Celtic Park is a sanctuary for the disaffected and the estranged. Those who are alienated from church and state, and outsiders in general, easily identify with a club that has never been made welcome within the Scottish establishment.
The Irish Catholic immigrants and ancestors of those immigrants who made up, and continue to make up, the majority of the Celtic support, have faced 150 years of prejudice and inequality at the hands of a Scottish established order, not known for its advocacy of multiculturalism or generosity of spirit.
Prejudice against Catholics in the Scottish workplace was a common human rights violation right up until the 1990’s, and a latent hostility continues to flourish within certain administrative and regulatory bodies and commissions.
It is embarrassingly obvious why most Celtic supporters cannot identify with the saltire, or its ‘parent’ flag, the Union Jack. It is not, as many bias commentators like to point out, a display of racism, or an unwillingness to integrate. It is an entirely natural response to generations of antipathy, sectarianism and opposition.
That said, our biggest strength is our inclusiveness, and it is this that we must always strive to nurture and advance. For it is this inclusiveness, that is our greatest weapon against intolerance.
It is our inclusiveness, our comradeship with all races, faiths and ethnicities, that will ultimately expose the embarrassing prejudices and repugnant values of those that attempt to suppress and silence us.
We should not fight fire with fire. If we stoop to the level of returning the sectarian and racial slurs, (and in my experience this is a rare occurrence) we alienate ourselves from the true spirit of Celtic, and we become no better than our detractors.
It is our inherent humanity and goodwill that will see us triumph over those that wish to exclude and subdue us, not our ability to self destruct with slogans of hate and hostility.
We posses and display a camaraderie and kindness of character that makes us welcome at stadiums and cities all over Europe and beyond. Our humanitarianism is manifest in the millions of pounds raised for a diverse range of charities and causes, and as a result, the name, Celtic Football Club, is held in the highest regard by millions of people across the globe.
Season 2010/2011 was a testing one for the entire Celtic family, with referees, the SFA, and the BBC being publicly prejudicial against us, while our manager was attacked and threatened by racists and bigots. The dignity and composure with which we carry ourselves in the face of such antagonism, now, and in the future, will be the determining factor in how the world views the Celtic ‘identity’.
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Great article and Hail! Hail! to 99.9% of it.
However, it would break my heart to surrender the Saltire to the bigots.
I think one important goal for Celtic is to show that inclusiveness beats bigotry everytime and in every way. Our club and our supporters have shown this to the world many times over the years, but we need to keep doing it until the message eventually gets through- to the people who need to hear it the most.(You know who I mean). We must keep winning. We must keep showing our way is the right way, the best way, the most successful way.
And, probably naively, I hope that, one day, Scotland as a country will be governed by the same ideals as Celtic.
Nice one Del. That’s why it pains me when even ONE idiot (like that f*cker who got prosecuted for the monkey gestures at Joof last season tarnishes the rest of us with the eejit brush. That gives the Scottish sports meeja and the hunniez ammo to go down the tired old unjustified ‘one side is as bad as the other’ chestnut.
The other side of the coin that gives me great heart is the fact that the aforementioned racist bampot was actually reported by fellow Celtic fans. This is the sort of fact that never gets properly reported.
It’s like the one stick that the hunniez bring out – Mark Walters. The one real incident of shame that has been roundly condemned by all fans and sprang up all sorts of anti-racist and anti-fascist Celtic Supporters organisations.
That is the key word – condemnation from fellow fans and self-policing.
Then again, why am I bothered about how Celtic are perceived by the meeja or the worst of the hunniez? We will forever be damned if we do and damned if we don’t to the haters.
Hail Hail. It’s great to be a Tim.
Self policing has worked well for us for the past 20 years, i remember about 6 years back, Celtic v chelsea at the bridge, on the tube to the game from euston, 1 moron celtic “supporter” started to sing “i would rather be a p@ki than a hun”, the whole carriage turned on him, 1 guy grabbed him by the neck and told him to go to ibrox if he wanted to sing filth like that, never been prouder of our support than the reaction to that 1 scumbag on the tube to fulham broadway! He stood alone for the rest of the journey, even the pals he was with turned their backs on him in disgust and embarrassment.
We are all peoples