Black History Month 2025: what can be learned from Glasgow’s 850th anniversary?
Black History Month (BHM) is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black and other racialised communities in Scotland and across the UK. This year, BHM coincides with Glasgow’s 850th anniversary – a moment that invites reflection on the city’s complex history and the public health lessons we can learn from it.
In today’s climate of political tension, stagnating healthy life expectancy, and widening health inequalities, it’s vital to understand how historical injustices continue to shape the health and wellbeing of Black communities in Glasgow and Scotland. This blog explores key moments in Glasgow’s history through a public health lens, highlighting how racism – both structural and interpersonal – has long impacted health outcomes, and what we can learn to create a fairer, more equitable future.
The transatlantic slave trade and the legacy of inequality
Glasgow’s prosperity is deeply tied to its role in the transatlantic slave trade. Wealth generated from tobacco plantations – worked by enslaved Africans and Caribbeans – funded many of the city’s iconic buildings, such as the former Cunninghame Mansion, now the Gallery of Modern Art, and the Mitchell Library. Many statues around the city also represent tobacco lords and colonial masters responsible for atrocities around the world. Whilst this physical legacy is visible, the psychological and social impacts of slavery and colonialism are less acknowledged.
(Tobacco Merchant's House, Miller street)
The racialisation of Black people as “Other” was used to justify slavery, and this ideology laid the foundation for the systemic racism that persists today. Structural inequalities underpinned by bias and discrimination rooted in this ideology, continue to shape access to healthcare, employment, housing, and education – key determinants of health.
Wider institutional acknowledgement and apology for Glasgow’s involvement in slavery only began in the late 2010s following longstanding efforts from local activists such as Sir Geoff Palmer, Councillor Graham Campbell and organisations like the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights. Prior to this, such history was erased from our cultural memory. Acknowledging this past is not just about justice – it’s a public health imperative. We cannot address health disparities without confronting the historical and ongoing impact of racism.
Key figures in Black Scottish History
In today’s climate, in the UK and across Europe and the West, growing anti-immigration and racist movements are dominating media and mainstream politics. The view that other cultures and ethnicities don’t belong here and are a threat to our society are gaining popularity. However, looking back at history we can see the presence and contribution of Black people in Scotland dating as far back as the early 1500s.
A prominent figure in Glasgow’s public health history is James McCune Smith. In 1832, McCune Smith, enrolled in Medicine at the University of Glasgow. His graduation five years later was a landmark moment as the first African American citizen to obtain a medical degree.
McCune Smith had a long career as a respected medical doctor, writer, and civil rights advocate. After his graduation, he was granted a trainee position at the Glasgow Lock Hospital. The Lock Hospital was for women with sexually transmitted infections and was operated almost like a prison. Whilst working at this institution, McCune Smith campaigned for the welfare of the patients and published articles in the London Medical Gazette which exposed the mistreatment of patients, and use of painful experimental drugs, at the hospital. These articles are also the first known research papers to be published in a British medical journal by an African American.
Despite these achievements, McCune Smith was relatively unknown until 2021, when the University of Glasgow named the newly opened James McCune Smith Learning Hub in his honour.
McCune Smith’s legacy is a reminder of the importance of representation in medicine and public health. His advocacy for patient welfare and social justice remains relevant today, as certain communities continue to face barriers to accessing equitable healthcare and are underrepresented in medical leadership and research.
The Battle of George Square
Another important historical moment in Glasgow’s public health history was the 1919 Race Riots which demonstrated early attempts to use economic insecurity as fuel for racial scapegoating.
These riots took place in the days leading up to the Battle of George Square, a historical moment in Glasgow’s socialist and trade union movement. This demonstration was organised by the Clyde Workers Committee who mobilised 90,000 workers to support workers’ rights and the movement towards a 40-hour working week at that time.
(1919 - George Square after police baton charge on Bloody Friday)
However, the movement also incited racial hostility, with some prominent and memorialised trade union leaders like Emmanuel Shinwell (leader of the British Seafarers’ Union and Independent Labour Party MP in 1922 for Linlithgow) and Willie Gallacher (member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and Communist MP for West Fife from 1935-1950), blaming overseas labour for job losses.
Such figures called for a “colour bar” in trade unions to exclude African and Asian sailors from joining, and also called for their exclusion from the labour market, increasing their risk of economic marginalisation, job insecurity, and social exclusion. Although there was some resistance to this rhetoric from within the socialist movement at the time – such as the Workers Dreadnought whose response was: ‘The fight for work is a product of capitalism: under socialism race rivalry disappears’ – eight days before the Battle of George Square, a group of African and Asian sailors were attacked, inciting the 1919 Race Riots.
The injustice of this racial scapegoating is highlighted in a 1919 letter to the press by the African Races Association of Glasgow:
‘Did not some of these men fight on the same battlefields with white men to defeat the enemy and make secure the British Empire? Why can't they work now in the same factories with white men? […] Is the treatment meted out to them now compatible with the British teaching of justice and equity, or is it an exhibition of British gratitude?’
Why this history matters today
The legacy of racism in Glasgow’s history is not confined to the past. As research shows, Black and other racially minoritised communities continue to face disadvantage in the labour market, healthcare services, housing and other areas critical to health and wellbeing.
Public health must be proactive in addressing these injustices. That means investing in culturally competent care, tackling bias in health systems, and amplifying the voices of Black communities in policy and practice. It also means learning from history – not just to understand where we’ve been, but to understand where we’re going.
In our next blog, we’ll return to the present to explore the current contributions and challenges faced by Black communities in Glasgow, and Scotland today, and the responsibility of public health organisations in driving change.
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