DAY RACISM’
Greg Dron, 22, South Side of Glasgow, political consultant “IMAGES of protests against racial prejudice and police brutality have flooded into news streams over the past week. As demonstrations gather momentum across the US and the UK, my family and friends have acknowledged the need for action, sharing their anguish at the racial injustice that remains so prevalent across the globe.
“In light of these developments, I am saddened that there has been little word on Glasgow’s personal relationship with Black history, and crucially, Scotland’s own contribution to the subjugation and oppression of Black people.
“But this is no surprise to me. For too long there has been little public acknowledgement of how Scotland, and Glasgow in particular, found large proportions of its wealth through slavery. The evidence of this is not so much under our noses, but often above our heads.
“The names of some of Glasgow’s most infamous streets pay homage to an era of unprecedented wealth creation and mass exploitation. Buchanan Street is named after so-called ‘Tobacco Lord’ Andrew Buchanan and Ingram Street is a tribute to
Archibald Ingram, a wealthy plantation owner. But this is only one part of a trend that sees Black experiences erased from popular Scottish history.
“I only recently discovered that in 1919, amidst the infamous Red Clydeside protests, Black sailors staying on the Broomielaw were attacked by white sailors and members of the public with bricks, bottles and knives. This event has been conveniently removed from the romanticised accounts of Glaswegian folklore, presumably in an attempt to preserve and protect a distinctly Scottish self-image of progressivism.
“A century on, I, a Scottish man of Jamaican heritage, watched proudly as MSPs pledged ‘total solidarity’ with the Black Lives Matter movement. But they did so in a Scottish Parliament that has managed in two decades and five elections to elect just four members from BAME backgrounds.
“I’ve been encouraged by the support expressed over the past week. But moving forward, these good intentions must be matched with real activism. It’s vital that any conversation, retweet, like or share stating that ‘Black Lives Matter’ is grounded in an acceptance that Scotland has played its own role in a brutal history and now has a duty to serve its minority communities.”