SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD
Primary pupils join campaign
Show Racism the Red Card recently brought together over 80 West Lothian pupils for a day’s workshop hosted by Livingston Football Club.
Eighty-four youngsters from Parkhead Primary School and Toronto Primary School spent a day at the Tony Macaroni Arena exploring anti-racism.
The event launched the 2019/20 education partnership with West Lothian Council and Show Racism the Red Card.
The group were greeted by education worker Chris Priestley, who established the important concept of a ‘shared space’ for all participants allowing everyone to feel their opinions can be safely expressed and that they should always back up ideas with reasoning and consideration for others.
The first of the three workshops saw the young people discover how to identify a hate crime, delivered by Stephen Canale of Police Scotland as part of their Pitchin’ In campaign.
Groups were then offered a tour of the Tony Macaroni Stadium by club official Derek White – for many, this was their first experience of a football stadium.
They then returned for a final workshop on how to safely challenge racism, delivered by Chris Priestley and Alexander Winn of Show Racism the Red Card.
Chris and the team discussed the ‘Five Ds’ – Direct, Distract, Delegate, Document and Delay. The pupils completed their day when they were joined by footballer Raffaele De Vita, who surprised the young people along with Red Card coach and Hibs legend Mickey Weir.
Raffaele provided a very educational, inspiring perspective on his experiences throughout his career, from Italy to Blackburn Rovers and Livingston.