School racism allegations: This is Edinburgh, not apartheid South Africa or Donald Trump's America – Helen Martin

Racism allegations against several Edinburgh secondary schools are horrifying.

A woman stands with a sign pushing for equality as she joins others at the Black Lives Matter protest in Edinburgh

It would be bad enough if it was down to misguided, uneducated and ignorant pupils, but even more appalling if it turns out to have involved staff and teachers.

The council is investigating it and Councillor Alison Dickie, the vice-convener of the city’s education committee, said: “I am shocked. But there’s no denying that racism exists and we shouldn’t be defensive about that. Racism exists and we must change this.”

Vandalism and rape threats to a girl with a black boyfriend are just a couple of the many complaints which, it is claimed, staff ignored and even police dismissed as a “school matter”.

Twenty-five years ago I asked my son at primary school for the name of the black girl in his class. He didn’t understand because he said “nobody’s black”. True, she had a brown skin – and he hadn’t even noticed that either!

I wouldn’t have thought any teenagers nowadays, except thugs, would be racist, and I certainly believed teachers and principals would have dealt with them, spoken to their parents, and told all that racist behaviour was unacceptable in the school – or anywhere else. Police should be dealing with it too.

If the council confirms these allegations are true, I hope they install an anti-racist system, education and punishment if necessary, in every school.

This is not the old apartheid South Africa, or Trump’s America, or London. It’s Scotland, welcome to immigrants. We don’t want shameful schools, or police.

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