‘The real issue is change’: Edinburgh University’s first Black philosophy professor on racism and reform

Prof Tommy J Curry reflects on leading the institute’s slavery review – and why it must lead to meaningful action

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or Tommy J Curry the question about Edinburgh University’s institutional racism, or its debts around transatlantic slavery and scientific racism, can be captured by one simple fact: he is the first Black philosophy professor in its 440-year history.

As the Louisiana-born academic who helped lead the university’s self-critical inquiry into its extensive links to transatlantic slavery and the construction of racist theories of human biology, that sharply captures the challenge it faces.

Not just that, Curry suspects he is the first Black academic in the UK to lead a university’s investigation into its links to enslavement and empire. His goal is to guarantee he is far from the last Black professor.