Humza Yousaf delivering his 'white people' speech in June 2020 (IN FULL)
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00:00 I will start the speech and end it in the same way. I am angry that, in 2020, we are
00:10 once again confronted with scenes of horrific racial injustice. I am angry that, in 2020,
00:17 we are still dealing with overt racism, subtle racism, institutional racism and structural
00:24 racism. Whichever form it takes, it is still racism. You may well think that, as time has
00:31 moved on, racism has declined and that manifestations of overt racism are no longer commonplace.
00:38 I am afraid that that is not the case.
00:41 I do not have to cast my mind back—particularly far—to somebody calling me a "packy".
00:49 Do not even start me on my Twitter timeline, which is, frankly, a cesspit of racism.
00:56 I am angry because, in this day and age, we are still telling people of colour to go home.
01:04 Brian Whittle—what I thought was a really excellent contribution—says that he remembers
01:08 a time in a bygone era when he would see casual racism on the TV. He does not have to go back
01:16 to a bygone era. I heard it just yesterday. I saw a video clip yesterday of the social
01:23 commentator and author Afua Hirsch on a panel chaired by LBC's Nick Ferrari. She explained
01:31 her views of needing to confront the racism of figures in British history. Nick Ferrari's
01:37 response was, "If you don't like Britain, which is her home, why do you stay?"
01:43 He would simply not have asked that question if a white person was sitting in the chair.
01:50 But people of colour are still fair game when it comes to racism.
01:57 Forget the racial jibes. Forget the slurs that we still have to put up with. Racism
02:03 is literally killing minorities, as we have all seen and we have all referenced. But,
02:11 as everybody has mentioned, racism does not just exist in the United States. The events
02:18 in the United States force us to hold a mirror up to ourselves and to confront the racism
02:23 that exists here—the unconscious, the subtle, the overt, the institutional, the structural.
02:30 On all those fronts, Scotland is not immune.
02:35 This is the part where we should all begin to feel uncomfortable, because we have to
02:39 accept the reality and the evidence in front of us that Scotland has a problem of structural
02:46 racism. As people have mentioned, take this Parliament as an example. Over 300 MSPs have
02:55 come and gone out of this Parliament—our nation's Parliament—and in 20 years not
03:02 a single black member of the Scottish Parliament. Our shame. Not a single female woman of colour
03:12 to our shame. The only four ethnic minority MSPs have all been Scots, Asian and males.
03:21 Take Anas and me—we are hardly even diverse between us. Both male, both born and raised
03:27 in Glasgow's south side, both in our mid-30s, both went to the same private school, both
03:33 middle class. Our fathers even come from the same region in Pakistan. His father happens
03:40 to be the governor of that region. My dad did not quite get there.
03:45 The Conservatives, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats have never had a single person of
03:51 colour make up their ranks in 20 years of devolution. I do not say that to point the
03:57 finger; I say that because we have to make change. They have never had a single MP from
04:03 Scotland who has been non-white in their history. We know that we are not immune either. Some
04:13 people were surprised. They were taken aback even by the mention on my social media that
04:20 99 per cent of the meetings I go to I am the only non-white person in the room.
04:26 But why are we so surprised when the most senior positions in Scotland are filled almost
04:31 exclusively by those who are white? Take my portfolio alone. The Lord President is white.
04:38 The Lord Justice Clerk is white. Every High Court judge is white. The Lord Advocate is
04:44 white. The Solicitor General is white. The Chief Constable is white. Every Deputy Chief
04:49 Constable is white. Every Assistant Chief Constable is white. The head of the Law Society
04:54 is white. The head of the Faculty of Advocates is white. Every prison governor is white.
05:01 Not just justice; the chief medical officer is white. The chief nursing officer is white.
05:06 The chief veterinary officer is white. The chief social work adviser is white. Almost
05:11 every trade union in this country is headed by people who are white. In the Scottish Government,
05:16 every director general is white. Every chair of every public body is white. That is not
05:24 good enough. I do not doubt that, if I looked across the private sector, black and minority-ethnic
05:31 people would similarly be underrepresented at senior levels. This is a collective failure
05:37 on every single one of us. I hope that we are sitting uncomfortably, because these should
05:44 be uncomfortable truths for us all. So do not just tweet #BlackLivesMatter. Do not just
05:52 post a hashtag. Do not just take the knee. As people of colour, we do not need your gestures.
05:57 Yes, solidarity is helpful, but what we need from you is action and for you to be anti-racist
06:03 by your deeds. Do not just tell us how you are not a racist. I take that as a bare minimum.
06:09 You must be anti-racist. Many people have rightly mentioned Sheko Bayoh in this debate.
06:18 Let me start by saying how much I, too, admire the dignity of the Bayoh family that Claire
06:23 Baker referenced in her speech. They have shown great dignity on their long journey
06:31 for answers. They have every right to be angry at how long they have been fighting for those
06:36 answers. As the public inquiry is established, I will not prejudice that inquiry. I will
06:42 simply say that, when the state is faced with such tragic circumstances, we have a choice.
06:50 We either attempt to hide the truth or we go in search of the truth. I hope that, by
06:55 instructing the setting up of a public inquiry, we have demonstrated that this Government
06:59 is seeking the truth in this matter.
07:01 To conclude, there is no black MSP in this Parliament. In a debate about black lives
07:09 matters, there is no black voice here, to our shame. I want the last words in this debate
07:17 to belong to George Floyd. Before I read out the last words of George Floyd, I ask every
07:25 Member to imagine that these words came from your brother, your father, your son, your
07:34 cousin or your nephew, as they had a police officer's knee on their throat for eight minutes
07:39 and 46 seconds. Here are George Floyd's last words.
07:43 "It's my face, man. I didn't do nothing serious, man. Please, please, please. I can't breathe.
07:53 Please man, please somebody, please man. I can't breathe. I can't breathe, please. Man,
08:00 I can't breathe. My face, just get up. I can't breathe, please. I can't breathe, shit. I
08:09 will. I can't move. Mama, mama, I can't. My knee, my nuts, I'm through, I'm through. I'm
08:21 claustrophobic. My stomach hurt. My neck's hurt. Everything hurts. Some water or something,
08:29 please, please. I can't breathe, officer. Don't kill me. They're going to kill me, man.
08:36 Come on, man. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe. They're going to kill me. They're going to
08:40 kill me. I cannot breathe. I can't breathe. Please, sir, please, sir, please. I can't
08:47 breathe." Presiding Officer, I hope we're all angry. That should be our overriding emotion
08:55 when confronted with racism. I hope that every single one of us takes that anger and we use
09:01 it to recommit ourselves as anti-racist. Let us be judged by our deeds, Presiding Officer.
09:08 Our deeds, not just our words. Thank you.
09:30 (Applause.)