SCOTLAND’S first black professor Sir Geoff Palmer will lead a review of controversial statues and street names in Edinburgh with links to slavery.
Sir Geoff, 80, will lead the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Legacy Review Group which will meet for the first time before the end of the year.
The human rights activist, who became Scotland’s first black professor in 1989, said it was an honour to be asked to work with the group.
It comes in the wake of protests over the Melville monument in St Andrew Square, which commemorates 18th-century Home Secretary Henry Dundas.
The controversial monument was erected in 1821 in memory of Conservative politician Dundas, who delayed the abolition of the slave trade.
But it has become a source of controversy with a years-long debate over how a plaque should be worded. It was finally resolved in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, as Black Lives Matter activists graffitied the monument.
The group will consider all options, including the removal of statues, as well as looking at street and building names.
Sir Geoff, a professor emeritus in the school of life sciences at Heriot-Watt University said: “I regard this appointment as a great honour and duty to work with the group and the community to ensure the council’s aim of fairness and justice to all is realised.”
He will now recruit other members to join the group to bring together people from a range of backgrounds and expertise.
The academic, who involved in a consultation two years ago on adding a plaque to the statue of Henry Dundas, previously criticised City of Edinburgh council for reaching no agreement.
He told The Herald earlier this year: “I can’t accept a plaque that does not have ‘slavery’ on it.
“What is sad about this is that when the black public sees something like this, should they be surprised the attempt to find any form of reparation or justice has been delayed so long?”
City of Edinburgh Council leader Adam McVey said: “We have a responsibility to face up to our city’s past, the good and the bad.
“While this review is about the story of our city, it’s not about statues of people long gone.
“It’s about people who live here now and their experience.
“The Black Lives Matter movement shone a bright light on structural exclusions faced by people in all areas of life.
“We are committed to investigating, with communities and partners, where any such exclusions might exist in Edinburgh.
“Through this review group we hope to build an improved shared understanding of our Capital’s history by reviewing the origins of our public statues, monuments and street names and their context with events and meanings and making sure we share the true stories with future generations."
Depute council leader Cammy Day said: “This group will make sure we take action where we can in response to lessons learned from the Black Lives Matter movement. “We have a duty to work to understand what the perception is now and what could make it better.”
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