Question reference: S5W-22254
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 19 March 2019
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Current status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 28 March 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the report, Slavery, Abolition and the University of Glasgow, by the university, how it will encourage other Scottish public institutions to undertake studies on Scotland's role in the slave trade.
Answer
In December 2017 we published the Race Equality Action Plan outlining more than 120 actions we will take over the course of this Parliament to secure better outcomes for minority ethnic communities in Scotland. One of the commitments made is to mark the International Decade for People of African Descent over 2018-2019 with an innovative programme of events.
We have noted the publication of the report by Glasgow University, “Slavery, Abolition and the University of Glasgow”, and the interesting approach it takes to quantifying and addressing the historic implications of slavery for the institution. While we have no plans to directly replicate this for the whole of Scotland, we will consider how the report, and the approach it sets out, can inform our plans for the International Decade as we take these forward.