Cannot believe this bigotry

Often those with a positive view will not comment...so probably majority OK with the proposals but as ever the minority grab the headlines!

It's probably that, plus the fact that some people lose all inhibition on social media and post things they wouldn't dare to say to people face to face.

What's FB?

Facebook

Oh! Shows I am up to date!!!!!

They may not dare to say things face to face but they still hold the views

Just a sample.....

Think it's a disgrace, they can't even supply enough houses and food for the poverty in Aberdeen as it is! They should really consider looking after their own people before trying to accommodate people from another country because shortly our country will be just as poor and corrupt as the country's the refugees are fleeing!

Sheer blind ignorance and prejudice. A disgrace to Scotland.

Sadly it's a view shared by many

I see a lot of similar ignorant and vitriolic postings on FB, but they are usually full of spelling and punctuation errors. My son posted a very wise thing one of the interesting things about the migrant crisis is that it does seem to be bringing out the closet racists, making them easier to make fun of and then subsequently avoid. I have been truly shocked by comments posted by colleagues, have really seen a glimpse of their true character.

One of my 'friends' (who's an ex work colleague) on FB frequently shares xenophobic rubbish. I'm really surprised by her attitude.

I never look at Facebook, I don't think I'm missing much.

Facebook is fine - it's what you make of it. Through it I am in touch with a lot of ex-colleagues and other friends that I wouldn't have been able to contact any other way. I receive posts from several special interest groups, too, on subjects as diverse as Variety performers, steam locomotives, and photo retouching!

It's Twitter that I can't be doing with... it just seems incoherent, but it is used by such as Dr Lucy Worsley, Eric Idle, Stephen Fry, Mary Beard, Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins - so I take a peek now and again...

Annie You can't stop people holding certain views, however reprehensible you personally may consider them.
That's what living in a free country means, that people are free to hold views that other people find reprehensible.

The problem is that when they are posted on social media, unless people who oppose those views come out and say so, it gives the impression that those views are more widely held than they probably are. And Twitter and Facebook are not moderated or edited in the way that letters to the editor oif a newspaper are.

I will put my hand up and say that when I see extreme things posted, I don't respond, because I don't want to get into an argument with the sort of person who holds those views and expresses them in an abusive way.

Perhaps that's part of the problem.

I think you are right jane - when you read stories about people who have been bullied and trolled online it does make you hesitant about posting a rational argument to an extreme view.

Those people,have a right to feel threatened.Our free way of life our tolerance,the fact that we don't have civil wars is one the reasons the immigrants want to come here.So if they want to voice their opinions,they (at least most of them)are not racist.They are just saying,in a free country ,they don't want it.And apparently,they are in the majority.
Something should be done to make their own countries a better place to live.Mass migration is Not the answer.
And nobody who knows me could ever accuse me of racism.
But if anyone asked me if I wanted the immigrants here,I would say no.Only because of the vast numbers.Do I feel threatened ? Yes I do.

Words 14 and 15 Mark...

I know not easy, and not being flippant.

But the UK as it is has always be a land of emigration- celts, Romans, Saxons, Angles, Picts, Vikings, Huguenots, Irish, Indians (in return), Apartheid refugees, Italians, French (London is full of them, and not particularly well integrated either) and so many many more.
It has made us a particularly tolerant and strong country- 100 Syrian refugees won't make much difference to Aberdeen, I'm sure.

I wonder what would come out of the envelope if any of us were lucky enough to be cases for 'Who do You think You are'. Do you have any idea about yourself?

I don't really see how our individual origins relate to the views about immigrants to those people who are concerned about the effect it may or may not have on their area.

The UK was far less populated when our ancestors settled here.

But they did have a massive influence on the culture and the country. The point being, that many of our forebears, recently, or a long time ago, were part of mass migrations that did have a huge bearing on shaping the country.

Some of our forebears came and took over the country with massive violence- imposing their culture and language, and often their religion. Others came and needed support and help for a while, before becoming hugely infuential in the country's progress in so many fields.

Yes, I'm aware of all that.

I'm just saying that overstretched finances and lack of facilities for current residents is more of a perceived problem by those who are worried about taking in immigrants.

Yep, that is why I said I was aware it is not easy and that I was not being flippant. But Mark wrote about the 'tolerance' of the British people- which made me think about the rest of the post- it seemed incongruous and in contradiction.

A friend is moving back to Aberdeen next week with his wonderful malysian wife, so I hope this won't make it difficult for them.

Yes,I'm well aware of my roots.And yes,we are a bit of a mixture,My Husbands family has a lot more of a mix.Thats got nothing to do with the situation now though has it? I certainly don't and would not ever,judge a person by the way they look.
I am saying that people,and they are the many,have a right to say they are not happy with the influx of immigrants,without being labeled.As I say,most are not racist,they just feel their way of life is being threatened.These people include a lot who's own parents were immigrants.

Ever read Arthur Miller's 'View from the Bridge'?

And yes, the National Front in the South of France if full of second and third generation Italian and Spanish immigrants- who have the North Africans and those from the Balkans. A well known phenomenon.

Saw on the news the other day about so many Syrian refugees being sent to Bradford, and I did think 'why oh why' - hasn't Bradford not got enough on its plate?!?

... who HATE (not have).. sorry.