For people of colour, racism is an everyday phenomenon which has structural roots and unseen consequences., but too often we only discuss racism when it’s visible. Over the past few weeks, racist taunts towards black football players, worrying statistics around racism in schools, and a Guardian investigation into racial bias have served to remind us of our society’s ongoing race problem. But Mélina Valdelièvre says racism isn’t just a shameful act that ‘bad people’ do and positive thinking won’t make it go away. She says we should confront our own fragility around the ‘r-word’ this festive season…

Immigration continues to be identified as a “pressing concern” by media commentators and policy makers, with surveys showing most Brits have a negative view of it. Socialists tend to have a stock number of responses to this, pointing statistical evidence and redirecting blame to politicians. However, Jack O’Neill argues this is insufficient - we need to directly address the concept of ownership itself to dissuade people’s concerns…

In two weeks time, far-right demagogue Steve Bannon appears in Edinburgh at a BBC-endorsed event called News Xchange. On Conter, several contributors have written extensively about why defeating the far-right through amicable discourse is impossible. Following Nicola Sturgeon’s withdrawal from appearing at the event, David Mitchell’s petition to the BBC to withdraw their endorsement has already garnered over a 1,000 signatures. He writes about Bannon and why he’s so dangerous, calling on as many activists to sign as possible…

Prejudice against Iranians in Scotland and the UK is under-reported and under-investigated as a whole. Azita Jabbari-Arabzadeh, who has lived here for over 20 years, argues Iranophobia is a genuine problem, citing research into opportunities for ethnic groups and her own experiences with racism and prejudice…

Having come under sustained pressure over several months, Labour has officially adopted the full IHRA definition of anti-semitism despite concerns from leading pro-Palestine campaigners. Kishore Lennon assesses what impact these concession will have on the pro-Palestine movement on both sides of the border...

Far right extremist Tommy Robinson's public profile has grown rapidly in recent months as mainstream commentators have fallen over each other attempting to defend his right to 'free speech'. But Jack McCrochan says platforming Tommy and his followers is reckless. Are the left anti-free speech? He argues the opposite...

The response to Trump's visit this week was emphatic and defiant, but some have criticised the rallies for indulging Liberals and tolerating other right wing state visitors. David Swanson dismisses these quibbles and argues the marches united hundreds of thousands of people at a time when it was greatly needed...

Following on from last week's piece on Mental Health Awareness Week, which explored how our capitalist society fundamentally affects our mental health in a negative way, Mélina Valdelièvre shares her own testimony and explores how racism and other social pressures cause problems. The piece is adapted from a speech delivered at the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) on Saturday. It includes real-life stories some may find triggering or upsetting...

Following up on the recent release of 'No Problem Here', Conter is looking to publish articles about racism on the left, issues of racism in Scotland, and hear perspectives from black and POC writers. Poet, writer, artist and playwright Raman Mundair reviews another recent text in this long read: Afua Hirsch's 'Brit(Ish)'. In an age of fast moving identity politics, what does it mean to be British?

In light of recent events, words like 'Zionism' are back in the mainstream discourse. Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign activist Kishore Lennon says concerning developments at a grassroots level here in Scotland demonstrate that there's a long way to go...