THE Scottish grand-nephew of the first British black Army officer says the UK has “a long way to go” to tackle race inequality.
Edward Finlayson, 69, from Edinburgh, reflected on his ancestor Walter Tull’s struggle in overcoming adversity.
Tull served in the First World War as a second lieutenant. He died aged 29 in March 1918 while leading an attack during the second Battle of the Somme.
Tull also played for Tottenham Hotspur despite facing racial discrimination and was the first black player to sign for Rangers.
Finlayson said Tull’s remarkable story of resilience continues to inspire so many people more than 100 years after his death
But racial inequality continues to hamper the lives of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people, Finlayson said, as he described how he witnessed the civil rights movement and anti-racist campaigns that dominated the Western world in the 1950s and 60s.
“Almost 60 years from that period, and we are still looking at images and stories of Black Lives Matter, and that’s not just in the US, we have cases in the UK,” he said.
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