RACIST abuse endured by pupils at a Glasgow primary school following a visit from the First Minister has been "vehemently condemned" by delegates and members at the SNP conference.
After horrific reports of racist comments being aimed at pupils and staff at St Albert's Primary last month, Glasgow Kelvin MSP Kaukab Stewart and city councillor Christina Cannon introduced a topical motion asking for the party to call out the behaviour and assert the party's zero-tolerance approach to racism.
After Nicola Sturgeon visited the school last week, she tweeted a picture of herself with pupils and a number of people responded with racist remarks. This has now been reported as a hate crime.
Stewart and Cannon's motion also condemned reports of racist abuse teaching professionals suffered online after sharing plans for more diversity in education at the Scottish Learning Festival, while they called out anti-Chinese graffiti which has been plastered on Glasgow University buildings.
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The motion passed overwhelmingly.
Stewart said: "When I was at school, I was the only brown face. The issues of racism were the same. This is not a question of numbers, this is a question of racism and it is unacceptable.
"We heard a very robust response from the First Minister in the chamber this week and I hope that brings some comfort to everyone watching this.
"This is not Scotland. Scotland is a welcoming country, and when we are faced with this kind of thing, look at how we came together. It doesn’t stop us, but empowers us to go forward positively."
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Sturgeon called out the "disgusting" abuse aimed at pupils and staff at St Albert's during First Minister's Questions on Thursday.
She said: "Nothing turns my stomach more than the idea of adults that can look at a photo of beautiful clever children and only see the colour of their skin."
The full motion reads: "Conference vehemently condemns reports of the vile, racist abuse teaching professionals from minority ethnic backgrounds have suffered online after sharing plans for more diversity in Scottish Education at the Scottish Learning Festival.
"Conference notes that this month is Black History Month, which makes these incidents all the more shameful, at a time when we should be celebrating the achievements and contributions people from Black and Ethnic Minority communities make to our diverse, multi-cultural society.
"Conference welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to increasing and maintaining the number of minority ethnic teachers in Scotland’s schools, and commends its work in improving levels of racial literacy within the sector.
"Conference would like to assert that the SNP has a zero-tolerance approach to racism in all forms and values the expertise and voices all Black and Ethnic Minority educational professionals bring to Scottish Education and Scotland itself."
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