Neil Lennon blasts ‘Ku Klux Klan’ attitude of those who attack him as Hibs boss hits out at ‘racism’ in Scottish society
Lennon was hit with a coin in a fiery end to the Edinburgh derby but the Celtic legend is sick of the abuse he has been taking ever since he entered the Scottish game
NEIL LENNON has compared the "racist" abuse he takes in Scotland to the sick actions of the Ku Klux Klan.
The boss was pelted with a coin thrown from the Hearts support during Wednesday night's Edinburgh derby.
But there was also sick grafitti daubed on a wall near Hearts' stadium before the match which read 'hang Neil Lennon'.
And the former player and manager is disgusted with the treatment he receives.
He said: "That effigy outside the ground before the game is sectarian or racist.
"Hanging people was something the Ku Klux Klan did in the 1960s - maybe that's the mentality of the people who want to write this stuff."
Lennon says he has been getting the abuse since the day he signed up at Parkhead.
And he insists that those who target him are not just taking aim at one individual - they are deliberately attacking his culture.
Lennon added: "Everyone tries to skirt round it. That's the basis of it, has been since 2000.
"The first day I stepped on to the pitch at Windsor Park as a Celtic player I was booed every time I touched the ball, having previously played 36 times and had nothing.
"But it was my association with Celtic, being high profile - there's no question in my mind that was the reason behind it.
"You call it sectarianism here in Scotland, I call it racism. If a black man is abused, you are not just abusing the colour of his skin, you are abusing his culture, his heritage, his background.
"It's the exact same when I get called a Fenian, a pauper, a beggar, a tarrier.
"These people with the sense of entitlement or superiority complex. And all I do is stand up for myself."
Partick Thistle boss Gary Caldwell - a former Celtic team-mate of Lennon's - was among those .
But that attitude has left Lennon furious.
Lennon hit back saying: "People should know better. It's pretty poor all this - I was goading people, I bring it on myself.
"There's an effigy outside Tynecastle saying 'hang Neil Lennon'. That was before the game. Did I bring that on myself?
"This has got to stop. Everyone says I play the victim. I don't. I had 15 years in England of nothing, so the first day I step into Scotland this sort of stuff began.
"And it's not because I'm an aggressive character. You all know me. I'm not aggressive at all. I'm competitive, sometimes I cross the line just like any normal manager. So this 'brings it on himself', I'm very angry about those comments."
Lennon has been taking abuse for years now - but still can't get his head around the vitriol he is forced to deal with.
He said: "I'm a footballer, I'm not a criminal. I don't go around throwing bricks and stones and bottles at people.
"I don't go around attacking people in the streets. I'm a football manager.
"I don't break the law. I try and do a good job wherever I can.
"I try and put on a team who entertain, I try to win things, I'm competitive, yes.
"But I will not take any nonsense from people. Why should I?
"Maybe I'm the first one to stand up for myself in a long, long time but there's people before me, who were Irish and played for Celtic, took a hell of a lot of abuse as well.
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"But maybe they weren't as prominent or maybe they didn't have the voice or the platform that I have these days."
Lennon was hit on the jaw by a pound coin thrown from the main stand at Tynecastle on Wednesday night, just minutes after Hearts keeper Zdenek Zlamal was struck by a Hibs fan.
Both linesmen were also hit by missiles on a night of Halloween horror in the capital.