Spherical Planet
Well-known member
50, when my Granddaddy crossed the sea with his wife and 12 of his 13 sons and daughters, he eventually settled on Dundee as the opportunities here matched his skillset.I get where your coming from SP, and normally I wouldn't comment on the passing of one of theirs, but and honestly this is great restraint on my part, his hatred of me and my kind wasn't ever hidden, so he will get no sympathy from me let alone compassion.
It turned out to be a good decision in more ways than one.
Don't get me wrong, the stain of sectarianism, bigotry and racism still exists in Dundee - it just isn't as frequent or as common as it is in other parts of the country.
I still get called a Fenian Bastard and a Taig, but (for the most part) they don't call me those names because they understand the meaning - they call me those names because they heard it at Ibrox.
Was Jimmy Bell a good man? The answer is, I don't know. Was Jimmy Bell a bigoted, sectarian racist? Absolutely, but that's due to 150-years of fear and small-mindedness which was drummed into these folk.
We are better. We will be better and someday after we're all long gone - our lessons might make them a little better too.