Davie Donaldson

Davie Donaldson (born 29 July 1998) is a Scottish Traveller Activist and Social Entrepreneur from Perthshire.^[1] In 2020, he won the "Young Scot of the Year"^[2] award for Equality & Diversity alongside his sister, for his work in advising the Scottish Government on how to reduce racism towards the Scottish Traveller community. He is most known for being one of Scotland's most prominent Traveller rights campaigners^[3] and a well-known spokesperson^[4] for the Scottish Traveller community at Government^[5] and in the media.^[6]

Biography[edit]

Davie was born in Perth, Scotland, to a family of Scottish Scottish travellers.^[7] Throughout secondary school, which included time at Mearns Academy, Donaldson hid his Traveller identity because he believed he had to; "navigate the institutional prejudice and relentless racism that is faced by Travellers".^[8]

Donaldson is now a graduate of Anthropology and International Relations^[3] from the University of Aberdeen^[9] and the Founder of the minority rights organisation Progress in Dialogue.^[10] He also serves as International Commissioner of Culture and Society at the Congress of Nations & States and as Chair of Trustees at the charity Romano Lav in Glasgow.^[11]

Activism[edit]

Davie first took the attention of national press in December 2017^[12] when he told Member of Scottish Parliament at Scottish Parliament Building Equalities and Human rights committee that racism toward Gypsy/Travellers was at a "critical point" and urgent action was needed to help Travellers access the same opportunities as the settled community. He has since drew further attention for having had a sign barring Travellers from a Scottish holiday park successfully removed^[13][14] and for advocating for the official recognition of what he has called the 'attempted eradication of Scotland's Travellers' during the first half of the 20th century.^[15][16]

Donaldson has also been in the media for his criticism^[17][18] of Conservative Douglas Ross, where he stated his priority as Prime Minister would be to bring in "tougher enforcement against Gypsy/Travellers".^[19] Douglas Ross has since apologised for these comments.^[20]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Add External links

This article "Davie Donaldson" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.