When Social Constructs Shape Belonging
S he stepped off the train at Dunfermline with that familiar half smile she wore whenever she entered a new Scottish town. It was that expression many immigrants learn, the one that says, “I am hopeful,” and “I am cautious,” at the same time. The air was crisp, clean, and comforting. It felt like home, but she already knew that the idea of home was not shaped by wind, granite or the charm of old cobbled streets. It was shaped by people, perception, and by the unseen rules that dictate who gets to belong and who must keep proving themselves.
This is the story of Scotland today. Statistics give us the numbers, but people give us the truth, and this is why Black Scottish Stories exists.
Scotland Is Changing,Yet Social Constructs Are Slow to Catch Up
The Scotland of 2022 is not the Scotland of a decade ago. The most recent Census revealed that 388 thousand people out of roughly 5.44 million now come from Black or other minority ethnic backgrounds, making up about 7.1 percent of the population. This marks an 84 percent increase since the 2011 Census.
Source: Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights, Census 2022.
Young people especially are reshaping the landscape. The CRER report also shows that among those under 18, 11.6 percent come from BME backgrounds, a clear sign that the makeup of future Scotland will be more diverse than ever.
On paper, Scotland is becoming a mosaic of cultures, languages, and identities. However, belonging is not built on paper. Only lived experiences can truly show the processes. Belonging is built in classrooms, on buses, in workplaces, in the quiet unnoticed corners of everyday life where social constructs decide who is fully accepted and who is gently, subtly, or aggressively reminded of their difference.
“Demographics may change a nation on paper, but belonging is shaped in the quiet negotiations of everyday life.”’
AyaLash
The Burden of Location- Where You Live Still Predicts What You Face
Facts show that many Black and ethnic minority communities are not simply living in Scotland. They are living in specific pockets where inequality is concentrated.
CRER’s 2024 analysis revealed that BME people are 60 percent more likely to live in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to their White Scottish or British counterparts.
African, Arab, Caribbean, and Black groups are among the most affected.
For children, the picture is even more troubling. Thirty percent of BME children live in the most disadvantaged decile of Scotland’s deprivation index. It is not just about income. Deprivation shapes education, health access, housing stability, mental wellbeing, community safety, and opportunities that determine futures before they even begin.
When a nation’s children are born into unequal conditions, the impact ripples through generations. And for many families, the postcode becomes a silent social construct, one that dictates their options long before they learn how to pronounce the names of the streets around them.
The Reality of Racism Today- Not Past, Not Exaggerated, Not Imagined
We often hear, “Scotland is very welcoming.” And it is, in many ways. Kindness is real. Community is real. However, so is discrimination.
A 2025 University of Glasgow study shows that 35 percent of Black, Asian, and visible minority ethnic people in Scotland reported discrimination in the last two years.
Forty percent experienced discrimination when applying for jobs.
Thirty eight percent experienced it when trying to progress in their careers.
The Scottish Household Survey 2023 also revealed sharp differences in lived experiences.
Seventeen percent of minority ethnic people reported discrimination.
Six percent of White Scottish respondents said the same.
Harassment follows a similar pattern, and in many cases carries heavier emotional weight. Recent research shows that among minority-ethnic people in Scotland, one in ten have suffered a racist physical attack in recent years. For many the experience remains unspoken. Only a fraction feel able to report it, and a distressingly large share accept racism as part of everyday life.
These numbers show the daily realities people carry into workplaces, schools, churches, bus stops, supermarkets, and neighbourhoods. They show the quiet things parents pray their children do not have to face. They are the reasons many people rehearse their reactions in their minds before stepping out of the house.
Why Social Constructs Matter- Because They Shape Lives Before We Even Notice
Race is a social construct. A story the world (the western world), decided to tell and retell until it became a measuring stick for worth. Race is not a biological truth.
So when a Black child grows up in Scotland, they grow up navigating stories that were created without them in mind. Stories about intelligence, beauty, identity, strength, belonging.
These constructs determine who gets seen as Scottish without question and who must constantly validate their right to be here. They determine who gets assumed competent at work and who gets over supervised. They determine who feels safe walking home and who keeps checking their shoulders.
Even though these constructs are invisible, their effects are not. You can see them in health statistics, employment outcomes, educational attainment, and income patterns. You can hear them in the questions people ask, the jokes they make, the assumptions they carry. You can feel them in the tension a person holds in their body when they are “the only one” in a space.
Where Stories Take Over- Filling the Gaps Data Cannot Explain
This is where storytelling becomes powerful and necessary.
Statistics show what is happening. Stories reveal why, how it feels, and what is at stake.
When a young Black Scot says, “People still ask me where I am really from,” numbers cannot capture that frustration.
When a Black immigrant mother describes being afraid to speak up at work because she does not want to be labelled difficult, data cannot tell that story.
When a family moves to a new Scottish town hoping for peace but finds new forms of bias, the data stays silent.
Black Scottish Stories exists to break that silence. To take the coldness of numbers and give them warmth, humanity, perspective, and dignity. To remind Scotland that behind every demographic report there is a full human life.
What Scotland Can Become- A Country That Welcomes and Fosters Belonging
The future of Scotland is diverse, relational, layered and hybrid. It is Scottish with flavours from Accra, Kingston, Lagos, Harare, Kampala, Mogadishu, and the Caribbean Islands.
But diversity and intention can transform a nation.
Scotland can choose to confront the social constructs that hold people back. It can choose better policies for housing, mental health, employment, and anti racism. It can choose stronger support for families navigating cultural transitions. It can choose to amplify voices that reveal truths no institution can fully capture on its own.
Scotland can choose to honour stories, not just tolerate them.
This Is Why We Continue- Because These Stories Matter
Every time I sit across from someone telling their story, I feel that mix you get when truth meets courage. They speak for themselves, and for the many whose voices have been dismissed, misinterpreted, or erased.
Black Scottish Stories is a platform acting as a mirror, a doorway and a bridge. It is a place to record the lives shaping Scotland’s present and future, one story at a time.
Belonging is built, and building requires truth, empathy, courage and time.
But most of all, it requires stories.
