Everyone is talking about this picture of a Scots professor and his wife

A picture of a Scottish professor and his Ghanaian wife has gone viral after it kick started a debate about interracial relationships.

Professor Struther and his Justina. Picture: Twitter/@jjsturthersuk

On Boxing Day, Professor John Struthers, who is Professor of Economics at the University of the West of Scotland and also serves as Director of the Centre for African Research on Enterprise and Economic Development, shared a personal photograph on Twitter that widely shared by his students and has since had over 17,000 retweets and 1,500 replies.

Taken at the Queen’s garden party in Edinburgh the image shows Professor Struthers, wearing a kilt, standing beside his wife Justina who wears a traditional Ghanaian dress.

In the post, he writes: “I thought I would share. We’ve had disapproving looks, ‘We are full’, ‘Is that your wife?’ and many more actions questioning our relationship over the last 40-plus years.”

“We haven’t wavered! The best way of fighting racism is living your life, standing tall and educating. #Diversity.”

Professor Struthers’ words have provoked an outpouring of support from social media users, with many sharing details of their own experiences of interracial relationships.

@jstands4jay tweeted: “Total respect for you both. My nan was disowned by her family in the early 50’s for marrying my grandad who originally came from Nigeria (she was from Co. Mayo).

“She chose love over ignorance and bigotry and the rest is history #diversity.”