An innovative approach to diversifying the curriculum is being highlighted today with the launch of a set of books co-created by primary school pupils and professional writers. Last year, 18 pupils from St. Albert's Primary in Glasgow worked with 3 professional writers to create stories with characters that represent the school community. “We can be Heroes” is a collection of stories written by BAME pupils and authors. 100% of the stories feature BAME* characters. In 2018, it was found that only 1% of children’s books had a main character who was Black, Asian or minority ethnic. UK-wide, over ..read more

CRER’s Deputy Director, Carol Young, reflects on the Scottish Government’s call for views on the Public Sector Equality Duty Review. Scottish Government has a long standing commitment to review the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duties in Scotland. These duties, applying to a wide range of public bodies, set out the practical measures that organisations must take to show how they’re meeting their obligations on eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation; advancing equality of opportunity; and fostering good relations. The review is taking a staged approach, with publica ..read more

CRER's Deputy Director, Carol Young, reflects on the commitments made by Scotland's institutions in the wake of Black Lives Matter and the part everyone can play in keeping up the momentum for anti-racism in Scotland. George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police in Minneapolis one year ago sent a shockwave of grief and outrage across the world. As we wrote at the time, in the 20 year history of our organisation, we have never seen anything approaching the level of interest in anti-racism that was triggered by his death. We were, like others, immensely relieved – although not reassured – by th ..read more

All of the main political parties have now published their manifestos ahead of the Holyrood elections on the 6th May 2021. These manifestos reveal the parties’ visions for Scotland’s future and show the priority given to challenging racial inequalities and racism. Manifestos cover devolved areas of policy, all of which are of relevance to minority ethnic people in Scotland. This blog post highlights specific policies and plans around race equality and anti-racism, discussing relevant commitments from the main five political parties currently represented at the Scottish Parliament. However, it ..read more

The next UK-wide census was due to take place on Sunday 21st March 2021. However, the census in Scotland has now been delayed until 2022. CRER’s Policy and Research Officer Kirsty McNeill considers the potential impact of the delay for race equality policy and practise. The census has collected information about the population every 10 years since 1801 (except in 1941, when no census was taken due to the Second World War). It is the most complete source of information about the population that we have. National censuses in Scotland have previously been taken on the same dates as those in othe ..read more

CRER’s latest research report shows that even before the Covid-19 pandemic, minority ethnic people in Scotland were suffering disproportionate levels of poverty. Particularly worrying is the lack of progress on employment gaps and the recent stark rise in poverty levels for children in minority ethnic families. Policy and Research Officer Kirsty McNeil explores our findings. In Scotland, someone from a Black and minority ethnic (BME) background is around twice as likely to experience poverty as someone from a white Scottish/British background. There is a danger that, in 2020 and for years to ..read more

Black History Month 2020 has ended, but as we leave October behind, we need to keep up the same levels of energy for learning, discussion and reflection. CRER’s Policy and Research Officer, Kirsty McNeill looks back at the events of BHM2020. CRER has co-ordinated a uniquely Scottish Black History Month during October every year since 2001. However, just like so many other events this year, BHM2020 could not be business as usual. Covid-19 and the related safety measures meant we could not meet in person, so our programme was, for the first time, all online. However, despite these necessary res ..read more

This guest blog has been written by Melissa Craib and Amy-Beth Miah. The authors are both mixed race and Care Experienced, they are keen to highlight that both of these are intertwined. We’ve lost track of the amount of times we’ve been asked “where are you from?”. Many People of Colour will have already discovered that when your first answer is not accepted, people are not asking where we live, were born or raised. Instead they want to know about our race and heritage, the thing that in their eyes differentiates us from them and gives them a right to ask the question. Growing up you learn ab ..read more

Recent statistics released by the Scottish Government show that across all measures, poverty rates for children in minority ethnic families have risen in recent years. CRER’s Policy/Research Officer, Kirsty McNeill, discusses one of the key findings of CRER’s forthcoming report on poverty and ethnicity. The Scottish Government have far reaching, ambitious targets to reduce the percentage of children living in poverty by 2030.[1] However, as The Child Poverty Action Group highlight, without additional ‘urgent and immediate’ actions, these statutory child poverty targets will not be met. In Aug ..read more

Ahead of the forthcoming Scottish Parliament debate on Motion S5M-22770: Advancing Equality and Human Rights for Minority Ethnic People and Communities, CRER’s Policy/Research Officer, Jenny Galbraith, looks at an important new set of recommendations that could bring about the change needed to meet the motion’s goals. Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP’s motion on Advancing Equality and Human Rights for Minority Ethnic People and Communities comes at a time when the trajectory of racial inequality in Scotland hangs in the balance. The motion, which focuses particularly on the impact of Covid-19, rea ..read more