Is there much racism in Edinburgh or was this a one off occurence?

Scottish people hate just about every other nationality. As well as other Scottish people!

Pubs sell beer, men drink beer, men become idiots.

A pub is not a fair sample to conduct a study of social norms. There are idiots in every city in the UK. What you experienced was wrong but it is not at all reflective of Edinburgh.

Just to be fair, a Scottish friend of mine recently told me he suffered real abuse from Irish men in a pub in Kilkenny because of his Scottish accent. Neither he nor I consider Kilkenny to be a racist place. People with drink inside them can be a menace.

I am sorry that happened to you. BUT!! I - an American - moved to Edinburgh during the George Bush years. I was living there when the war began and when he was re-elected. Many Scots would ask me questions about American politics, the war, why the American public would re-elect him, all kinds of things. BUT, (another one) no one was ever mean to me. Now that is not to say that bigotry and racism doesn't exist everywhere, it does. There is whole new crop of Neo Nazis popping up every other week. Look at the conflict in Albania, Bosnia, the Sudan. Whole countries are plagued with bigotry and racism that leads to ethnic cleansing.

I would not shy away from the experience of attending uni in Edinburgh if that is what you desire. There are far more people who are not racists than there is people who are racists. Live your life and be a good citizen and kind to others. You will attract the same type of people to you.

I would say that this was a one-off occurence. Unfortunately, racism is something we have to live with; it is rife everywhere. Try going out on a night in Moscow!!!! As for the Scottish-English thing; well it still exists in the background but in general the Scots get on well with the English. I have lost count of the numbers of Scots and English that are inter-married. So it is no big deal!

Like every nationality on earth you get some really bad b*stards and some really nice people us Scots are no different.
There are some rangers fans and bigoted unionists that feel the need to discriminate and humiliate Irish people because they are Irish - Don't worry since 2007 when the SNP took charge of the Scottish Government Racist Attacks and Violence fell by 31% until 2010, We have had a few problems recently with parcel bombs but the Scottish Government cracking down it will gradually stop.
A Nationalist sentiment is developing in Scotland and the type of nationalism is very inclusive, Scottish Nationalist generally get on very well with other nationalists (Welsh,Irish and YES English Nationalists too)

Don't worry you be fine

It is not racism. Scots = Irish genetically.
This is called sectarianism and comes from Northern Ireland.

The individuals concerned were doubtless from the Glasgow area where sectarianism is rife among the lower orders of society who are of Northern Irish ancestry.

This behaviour is most unusual in Edinburgh and does not exist in the universities. They will pull your leg about being Irish though! But only in fun.


P:S: Mr Og's comment criticising the Unionists is unworthy of him. The Scottish Unionist Party has little to do with the bigoted nutters in Northern Ireland. For details on what is now a fringe of the Scottish Tories See http://www.scottishunionistparty.co.uk/.

If you would like to visit areas like Kremlin, Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral than you will have to head to Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation and one of the country's hottest locations for foreign visitors and you can be one of them if you look with hotelbye . In Moscow you will even see the world popular theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre, the gem in the crown of Moscow's rich national life. Moscow has lot to provide and without a doubt you will enjoy a holyday here.

there have very serious society and government. My family sell their properties and move back to London.

They dislike the English with a Passion