Fife launches education plan to promote greater awareness of black history and slavery

The new Enslavement Education Action Plan has been developed with input from a number of experts from various organisations including St Andrews University, Educ8, Herriot-Watt University and the University of Glasgow.

Councillor Neil Crooks, who chaired the working group which produced the plan, said: “Today it’s incomprehensible that British society would find enslavement of people acceptable in any form. However, this wasn’t the case in the past and here we are hundreds of years later still coming to terms with racism.

“People are different in so many ways, but the colour of a person’s skin does not compartmentalise anyone into any of those singular human traits.

"So why is colour such an ongoing issue and what is being done about equality of opportunity in this so-called enlightened 21st century society?

“The slave trade and its impacts are far-reaching and complex and have affected every part of society.

"We cannot consider this in isolation, instead, we must look at in the context of ongoing issues of racism and inequality in areas such as income, education and health, and the continuing under-representation of people from Black and minority ethnic communities.

“Our plan sets out a number of actions which we hope will promote greater awareness among Fife’s young people and the wider community of the slave trade and its continuing impact and legacy in Fife, Scotland and beyond.”

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