South Scotland regional MSP Brian Whittle made an emotional speech at Holyrood on his encounters with racism as a young athlete last week.

He was visibly upset on Thursday, June 11 as he made the speech during a debate at parliament on solidarity with anti-racism campaigners, where he recounted witnessing racist abuse as a young man and expressed deep regret at his inaction.

Speaking about the episode that took place when he visited London as a 21 year old athlete, Whittle recounted how he had been in a car with three other people when the driver stopped to allow an elderly Asian man to cross the road before suddenly revving the engine and moving forward to frighten him. Whittle said: “I sat in the back in absolute shock, and I’m ashamed to say, shocked into silence.”

He went on to say that the episode had lingered in his thoughts ever since and vowed never to stand by again in the face of racism.

He spoke about some of his sporting heroes, whose successes helped to break down racial barriers and the former Olympic athlete also spoke about how sport can bring people together, either playing in a spirit of competition or sharing the experience of watching gifted athletes succeed.

Closing the speech, he argued that much introspection was needed in this country as well as others, saying: “If we are serious about racism, we must look in the mirror and ask whether that is us – and we should never let racism go unchallenged again.”

Speaking afterwards, Whittle said:“That was a difficult speech to give, not so much because of the experience I was talking about, but because I’ve always felt guilty that I didn’t speak up at the time. So much so that I only told my friends about it when I was thinking about what to say for the speech.

“The scenes we’ve seen in the US have left many of us looking at Scotland’s history and our own actions as individuals more seriously. Very few figures from history whose names adorn streets or statues can be judged as faultless by modern standards and we have to be willing to face that. I’m not sure removing all traces of them is the best way to do that.

“These monuments can also be uncomfortable reminders of darker sides of our past. Acknowledging our failures and educating ourselves about them is how we do better in future.”

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